Friends, in this article, I would take you through the Itinerary starting Ex-Delhi & ending at Chandigarh. Depending on your choice, preference & budget of travel, you can reduce the number of days, in case you are travelling by AIR.

15 DAYS Itinerary (DELHI – LEH Local Sightseeing – NUBRA – TURTUK – PANGONG – HANLE – TSOMORIRI – LEH / MANALI).

Day 1:- (DELHI to JAMMU / PATNITOP) 620 – 710 kms.

  • 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 (335 – 310 kms)

  • 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 (215 kms)

  • 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 (220 kms)

  • 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 (114 kms)

  • 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 LEH – NUBRA VALLEY (Total Travel- 203 kms)

  • Start early for NUBRA valley and 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. The village offers a 270 deg view of the towering mountains surrounding it.
  • Cover the most beautiful DISKIT monastery & the 32 feet Buddha Statue.
  • Proceed to TURTUK & check in Homestay/ Guesthouse (refer stay options). In the evening go for a stroll along the Indus river. See the towering peaks of the KARAKORUM range in the neighboring Pakistan from the border village.
  • Request for assistance from the Guest house for a briefing on the history of Turtuk. They would most certainly be obliged to show you around & proudly narrate the history of TURTUK.
  • Overnight at Turtuk.

DAY 7 TURTUK –

  • Spend a day at Turtuk. Cross the old Wooden bridge and take a stroll in the upper village (Farol) of Turtuk early morning. From there, you can proceed to Waterfall, a tricky ascend and visit the monastery enroute.
  • Mix up with the friendly localites. They can take you through the history of Turtuk. Experience the cultural diversity. A Muslim village, in the middle of a Buddhist territory in a Hindu nation. Go around the village to see the Natural Cold Storage, the Polo Ground, Brokpa Fort, Water Mill, Mosque & the Tyakshi Village.
  • Check if the Army permits travel beyond Tyakshi till THANG (11 kms from TURTUK) which is the last village, just 2 kms before the border. When I visited last time, they were not allowing civilians beyond Tyakshi.
  • Overnight at Turtuk.

DAY 8 TURTUK – HUNDER – SUMUR – PANAMIK- HUNDER (217 kms).

  • Bid farewell to one of the most beautiful gem of Ladakh sight-seeing & proceed to Hunder.
  • Check in at Hunder (refer stay options at Hunder). Don’t forget to experience the famous Bacterian camel (2 humped camel) ride on the sand dunes at Hunder. You will definitely keep wondering about “where the hell did this sand dunes stretch come in the middle of nowhere”.
  • Visit SUMUR for the STAMSLING MONASTERY & the Hot Water Springs at Panamik. If time permits, you can go as further as WARSHI village.
  • Overnight at Hunder.

DAY 9 HUNDER – SHYOK ROUTE – 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 10 PANGONG LAKE – HANLE (via Chusul – Tsaga – Loma – Hanle) 162 kms

  • Check out & proceed to HANLE via Chusul – Tsaga – Loma This is one of the most beautiful route of all. Pangong Lake beyond MERAK is mesmerizing.
  • Check in at a Guesthouse / Homestay in HANLE (refer stay options in Hanle). Visit the only India’s Highest Astronomical Observatory in Hanle.
  • Do some leisure walks in the meadows. Experience the basic & simple lifestyle of the villagers.
  • Overnight at HANLE.

DAY 11 HANLE – UMLING LA (via Photi-La -Ukdungle) (Total Travel 210 kms)

  • In case you are able to obtain permits for UMLING LA, make a day’s tour to Umling La (the new World’s Highest Motorable Pass). Do go through the list of precautions for visiting High Altitude Passes.
  • If not, you can visit PHOTI LA & return back to HANLE.
  • Visit the HANLE Monastery to experience the 360 degrees exquisite views from its terrace. On one side, see the dwarf sized mountains in the backdrop of the gigantic On the other side, you can see India’s Highest Observatory & HANLE village.
  • Overnight at HANLE.

DAY 12 HANLE – TSOMORIRI LAKE (via Loma – Nyoma – Mahe Route (Total Travel :- 150 kms)

  • Check out & proceed to KORZOK (Tsomoriri Lake) via Chusul – Loma – Mahe route. 
  • Check in at Camp sites / Homestays / Guest Houses at KORZOK (refer stay options). Spend a peaceful evening on the banks of Tsomoriri, one of the biggest High Altitude Lake in India.
  • Overnight at Tsomoriri

DAY 13 TSOMORIRI Lake – Tsokar Lake – Leh (232 kms) / Keylong  (345 kms, Manali side).

  • Visit the Korzok Monastery in the morning, check out & proceed on your return journey via Tsokar Lake. Depending on your destination, you can choose whether to exit at Leh OR proceed to Sarchu / Jispa / Keylong on the Manali side.
  • For tourists exiting from the Manali side, this route would save about 136 kms of return journey to Leh. Tourist exiting on the Srinagar side OR returning by flight, would have to reach Leh back.
  • In case you have missed out any monasteries on Day 5, you can cover them on the return journey to Leh. Monasteries like HEMIS, THIKSEY, STAKNA & SHEY can be covered enroute.
  • Overnight at Leh / Sarchu / Jispa / Keylong (depending on your exit side).

DAY 14 SARCHU to MANALI (220 kms)

  • 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 15 MANALI to CHANDIGARH (315 kms)

  • 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.DAY 5 PANGONG LAKE–HANLE (via Chusul – Tsaga – Loma = Hanle, Total :- 161 kms)

I strongly recommend to keep one day as a buffer with you in addition to the above program considering the uncertainty of the circumstances. Ladakh being a snow desert, weather conditions may deteriorate resulting in slowing down your travel itinerary.  Road blockages arising as a result of landslides, etc may delay your journey. Hence an extra day in hand would ensure that the planned journey is completed seamlessly. In case, the journey goes as planned, you can always spend the extra day at Manali.

TO SUMMARIZE

To visit the complete Ladakh region, would take countless days. It cannot be limited to 10-15 days. However, this 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 10 days to 15 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.