10 DAYS ITINERARY

Day 1:- (DELHI to JAMMU / PATNITOP)

• Start early from Delhi to cover the Delhi – Jammu distance of 620 kms. The roads are excellent, but would take about 12 hours to cover the total stretch of the journey depending on the intermittent breaks you take. If you can extend yourself further to Patnitop, it would be a good experience to stay at a beautiful hill station.

DAY 2:- JAMMU / PATNITOP to SRINAGAR

• Cover the distance of about 310 / 230 kms from JAMMU / PATNITOP to Srinagar by road. The drive is stupendous, especially after JAWAHAR tunnel.
• Spend your evening strolling around the DAL lake or take a quick ride in the SHIKARA to experience the floating market. You can also shop around the floating market for sarees, dress material, pashmina shawls etc. Spend the night at SRINAGAR.

DAY 3 :- SRINAGAR to KARGIL

• Enjoy the ride through the lush green meadows enroute Sonmarg. Experience the dreaded ZOJILA pass and the route passing through the beautiful valleys with the Indus river flowing alongside.
• At DRASS, view the TIGER HILL & TOLOLING tops towering around Drass. Enroute, do not forget to visit the KARGIL WAR MEMORIAL after DRASS. The names of all the soldiers, who had laid down their lives during the KARGIL war are etched. Spend overnight at Kargil.

DAY 4 :- KARGIL to LEH

• Start early on this day preferably at 07:00-07:30 am, so as to cover the SHAM valley enroute.
• Start from the MULBEK MAITREY BUDDHA statue enroute, visit the LAMAYURU Monastery. If time is managed properly, you can also visit the ALCHI & LIKIR monasteries which are with small detours from the Srinagar – Leh Highway. Places like BASGO plains, NIMMU SANGAM, GURUDEV PATHER SAHIB, MAGNETIC HILL can be covered as these places are on the highway itself. If time doesn’t permit, you can skip LIKIR monastery.
• Check in at LEH.

DAY 5 (LEH LOCAL SIGHTSEEING)

• Take rest at the Hotel. Please do not exert yourself by moving out at high altitude destinations immediately.
• Keep yourself appropriately hydrated by ELECTRAL / ORS etc.
• Preferably pre-book the ILP’’s online OR request the hotel service to arrange for the ILP’s. They may charge you a nominal fee, but since you are hard pressed for time, it may not be the best idea to do it yourself. The process may take about 2-3 hours.
• You can visit the local places during the day like SHANTI STUPA, HALL OF FAME, LEH PALACE & STOK museum, SHEY PALACE, THIKSEY monastery. If you feel any fatigue, return back to the hotel.
• All places are worth visiting, but if time does not permit, then you can look at omitting LEH PALACE. Please don’t miss out on SHANTI STUPA, HALL OF FAME, THIKSEY monastery & HEMIS monastery. You can cover the monasteries, Hall of Fame during the day time & keep SHANTI STUPA for the evening.
• Visit the local market in the evening. You can come across some good stuff like show pieces / jewellery in the Tibetan Market. Explore Leh Main Bazaar & the Changspa road for various souvenirs & multi cuisine restaurants.
• Check the Leh Taxi Union price list for various locations. I am sharing the link with various taxi fares for your convenience (https://www.ladakhtaxiunion.com/rate%20list.html). Also refer to the pricing of various packages in my article. It should give you an idea.
• Preferably speak to the drivers directly & finalize the rates as per your Itinerary. Try to book the same taxi for the complete tour, so that you can have good bargaining power for the entire program.
• Overnight at Leh.

DAY 6 NUBRA VALLEY (Total Travel- 190 kms)

• Start early for NUBRA valley. Halt at the famous KHARDUNGLA PASS enroute for some quick photographs of the so called Highest Motorable Road.
• Descend on the other side of Khardung la, enroute halt for a cup of tea / snack at the beautiful KHARDUNG village.
• Cover the most beautiful DISKIT monastery & the 32 feet Buddha Statue.
• Don’t forget to visit HUNDER to experience the famous Bacterian camel (2 humped camel) rides on the sand dunes. You will definitely keep wondering about where the hell did this sand dunes patch come in the middle of nowhere.
• If you are at KHALSAR by 12.00 noon, you can first visit SUMUR & PANAMIK & then while on return visit the DISKIT MONASTERY & the HUNDER sand dunes in the evening.
• Overnight stay at HUNDER / DISKIT.

DAY 7 PANGONG LAKE (Total travel :- 165 kms)

• Start early (06:00 – 07:00 am) since it would take about 5-6 hours to reach Pangong via Shyok route. Check at Agham village for road conditions via Shyok river route before you proceed. In case, it is not feasible, take the alternate route through Wari La. You also have the option to return to Leh & continue further on the regular route through KARU – SAKTI & CHANGLA pass. The distance would be a bit longer comparatively.
• Check in at Camp sites / Home stays in Pangong To (refer stay options). Spend some good quality time at Spangmik, visit the 3 IDIOTS shooting spot.
• Overnight at PANGONG LAKE.

DAY 8 PANGONG to LEH / SARCHU or PANG.

• Post breakfast, start your return journey for Leh via the CHANG LA pass. Enroute as the time permits, visit the HEMIS monastery a little after KARU,  THIKESY, STAKNA monastery in case you had not covered it on DAY 5.
• Overnight at LEH if you have to take a flight back to your home.
• Alternately, if you are exiting via the Manali -Leh highway, please visit the HEMIS monastery & continue to SARCHU via TANGLANG LA pass.

DAY 9 SARCHU to MANALI

• PANG /SARCHU to MANALI is quite a scenic drive with a couple of high altitude passes like the NAKEELA pass, LACHUNGLA pass, GATA LOOPS, BARALACHA LA & the ROHTANG LA.
• Overnight at MANALI.

DAY 10 MANALI to CHANDIGARH

• A distance of about 315 kms to be covered takes you through the beautiful valleys alongside the BEAS river till MANDI. Post MANDI, the journey would mostly be through the plains.
• You are back to your civilian life & the urban jungle.

TO SUMMARIZE

To visit the complete Ladakh region would take countless days. It cannot be limited to 15 days. However, these 15 days program gives you a complete insight of the Ladakh region. Ex- Delhi & Chandigarh to your destination travel period would be over and above this Itinerary depending on your mode of travel. Hence please factor in the same.

Not everyone would have the liberty to take an extended vacation. Mostly, people come to Ladakh with a limited time frame due to their professional commitments. Although, I strongly recommend a minimum of 15 days Itinerary for the Ladakh region, I have tried to make an optimum itinerary for almost every period starting from 3 days to 11 days.

If you find the above article useful, please forward the same to your friends, families, & contacts planning to visit Ladakh. Should you like to make any suggestions / recommendations in improvising the standard Itinerary, you are most welcome to write your suggestions in the comments section below.