The tiered white-and-ochre buildings of Thiksey monastery cascade down their hilltop above the Indus plain.

Ladakh · 7 Days

Ladakh — Monasteries & the Sham Valley

A week among the monasteries of central and western Ladakh, at a low, kind altitude — Thiksey, Hemis, Alchi and Lamayuru, with two nights in the Sham valley.

Day by Day

7 Days, In Full

Ladakh for people who come for the monasteries and the culture, not the high passes. It keeps to the Indus valley and the Sham valley the whole way, so nothing is higher than about 3,900 metres. Thiksey at dawn, Hemis in its gorge, Alchi's Kashmiri paintings, Lamayuru above its moonland, Likir's potters, the ruined fort at Basgo. Two nights in the Sham valley means none of it is rushed. Seven days, a gentle pace, the richest monastery route in Ladakh.

The flat rooftops of Leh town stacked up the hillside, the bare Ladakh range rising behind them under a thin high-altitude sky.

Leh

Arrive in Leh — Rest and Acclimatise

You fly into Leh in the early morning, over the main Himalayan range. The airport sits at 3,500 metres, so the first day is a rest day, and this is not optional. Your guide checks you in and asks you to do very little. Drink water, eat lightly, sleep if you can. A short, slow walk to Leh market in the afternoon is as much as you should do. Giving the body a full day here now prevents altitude sickness later.

The white dome of Shanti Stupa on its hilltop above Leh, the old town and bare ridges falling away below

Leh

Leh — Old Town, Palace and Shanti Stupa

A gentle first full day, still close to the hotel. The morning is Leh's old town: the bazaar, the mosque, and the nine-storey palace above it. The climb through the palace floors is slow but short. In the afternoon, drive up to Shanti Stupa for the view over the valley. Sankar Monastery, a working gompa a short way from the centre, fills any spare time. An early night before tomorrow's monastery run.

The Thiksey monastery complex tiered up its hill above the Indus valley, Ladakh

Leh

The Indus Valley Monasteries — Thiksey and Hemis

A full day among the great monasteries south-east of Leh. Start early at Thiksey, a twelve-storey monastery on a hill, for the dawn prayers if you are up to it. Then Hemis, the largest and richest in Ladakh, hidden in a side gorge. Shey, the old royal palace with its giant seated Buddha, and Stok are on the way back. It is a lot of driving, but the roads are good and the valley is beautiful. Back in Leh by evening.

An empty ribbon of tarmac unspools west across the high desert floor below Ladakh's bare, wind-scoured ridgelines.

Leh → Sham Valley

Leh to the Sham Valley — Basgo, Likir & Alchi

A drive west down the Indus, dropping in altitude the whole way, which helps. First stop is Basgo, a ruined mud-brick fort and its Maitreya temples on a wind-carved ridge. Then Likir, with its huge open-air gilded Buddha and, if you want it, a short turn at a village potter's wheel. The main visit is Alchi, the eleventh-century monastery on the river flats, with wall paintings found nowhere else in Ladakh. You reach your hotel at Nimmu or Nurla by late afternoon.

An ancient whitewashed monastery clings to a rocky spur, its ridgeline strung with weathered prayer flags above the valley.

Sham Valley

The Sham Valley — Lamayuru & the Moonland

A day further west into the oldest corner of Ladakh. The road climbs over the Fotu La pass to Lamayuru, one of the oldest monasteries in the region, set on a crag above pale, folded hills that guides call moonland. There is time to walk the monastery and its old cave rooms. The village below has a teahouse for lunch. On the way back, a stop at Wanla or Rizong, a strict monastery reached on foot up a side valley. Back at the hotel for the night.

A traveller stands on a bluff where a braided river cuts through bare Ladakhi mountains on the road back to Leh.

Sham Valley → Leh

The Sham Valley back to Leh — Magnetic Hill & the Hall of Fame

An easy drive back up the valley to Leh, with the classic Sham stops on the way. The Indus-Zanskar confluence, where the clear green river meets the grey one. Magnetic Hill, a quick stop where the road plays a trick on the eye. The Gurudwara Pathar Sahib, a Sikh shrine built around a boulder. Closer to town, the Hall of Fame, the army's museum of the region's mountain wars. You are back in Leh, at a higher but now familiar altitude, by early afternoon.

An empty ribbon of road running out of Leh along the Indus valley floor, the bare mountain range framing a last look at Ladakh.

Leh

Depart Leh

Leh's flights leave early, so this is usually a dawn transfer to the airport. The take-off, back over the Himalayan range, is as good as the flight in. If your flight is later, there is time for a last walk in the market or a visit to the Hall of Fame museum near the airport. Your guide sees you off. Most onward flights connect through Delhi.

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luxury · 6 Nights