A long empty road runs through the barren mountain desert on the Leh to Mahe route in Ladakh.

Srinagar to Leh · 9 Days

Srinagar to Leh — the Overland Journey

Three nights in Srinagar and three in Leh, with the classic two-day drive between — the overland with room to breathe at each end.

Day by Day

9 Days, In Full

The overland to Ladakh at a steadier pace. Three nights in Srinagar for the Dal Lake, the Mughal gardens, and the wooden old city with its shrines and shawl workshops. The drive over Zoji La to Kargil, then across the passes into Ladakh. Three nights in Leh: a rest day, the palace and Shanti Stupa, and the monasteries at Thiksey and Hemis. It is the version to book if the point is the journey itself, and it leaves Nubra and Pangong for a longer trip. Open roughly June to October.

Srinagar

Arrive in Srinagar and a First Shikara on Dal Lake

You land at Srinagar and drive to the lake, twenty minutes or so. The afternoon is easy. A shikara ride on Dal Lake is the way to start: a slow paddle past the houseboats, into the lanes of the floating gardens, out to open water for the light on the mountains. Back on shore there is time for tea and a walk along the boulevard. The evening is free. Srinagar sits at about 1,600 metres, so the air is cool even in summer.

Srinagar

Srinagar — the Mughal Gardens and Pari Mahal

A day along the eastern shore of the lake, where the Mughal emperors built their gardens. Nishat Bagh climbs the hillside in twelve terraces, one for each sign of the zodiac. Shalimar Bagh, built by Jahangir for Nur Jahan, runs water down a central channel between chinar trees. Chashme Shahi is small and built around a spring. Above them, Pari Mahal is a terraced ruin with the best view in the city. The afternoon can add the tulip garden in season, or a carpet workshop.

Srinagar

Srinagar — the Old City, Hazratbal and Shankaracharya

A day in the older parts of Srinagar. The Shankaracharya temple sits on a hill above the city, up a long stair, for a wide view over the lake and the valley. Hazratbal, the white marble shrine on the western shore, holds a relic of the Prophet and looks straight across the water to the mountains. In the old city, downtown, a walk on foot takes in the wooden Jamia Masjid, the riverside shrines, and workshops for papier-mache and copper. It is the day that shows how the city lives.

A truck drives a rough mountain road below bare high-altitude peaks in Ladakh, India.

Srinagar → Kargil

Srinagar to Kargil — Over Zoji La

The first day of the overland to Ladakh, and a long one. The road leaves the Kashmir valley at Sonamarg, then climbs the switchbacks of Zoji La, at about three and a half thousand metres the second-highest pass on the route and the one that closes the road all winter. Beyond it the landscape turns bare and brown. Drass, soon after, records some of the lowest temperatures of any inhabited place on earth, and has a memorial to the 1999 conflict on the ridges above. Kargil, the old caravan town on the Suru river, is the night stop. The drive takes most of the day, and an early start matters.

Pale, wind-eroded slopes fold into ridge after ridge under a thin high-altitude sky — Ladakh's lunar badland country.

Kargil → Leh

Kargil back to Leh — Mulbekh, Lamayuru & the Sham Valley

The return drive east, retracing the Srinagar road but stopping at whatever you skipped on the way out. The Mulbekh Buddha, if you missed it. Lamayuru again, or Rizong, or the Alchi paintings if there is time. The road climbs back over Fotu La and Namika La and drops into the Sham valley. It is a full day of driving, six to seven hours plus stops, with the altitude rising the whole way. Back in Leh by evening.

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 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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