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If you ask me for Leh Ladakh standard itinerary, then this blog post will be the best for you. We know that we are all working people, can hardly manage a weeks holiday to travel. If you can take 5 working day leaves and add 2 weekends then you get 9 days of travel. So here it is, Leh Ladakh itinerary in 9 days .
Checkout our guide to Leh Ladakh trip from Mumbai.
Day 1 Reaching Ladakh
Today we begin trip to Leh Ladakh. Our suggestion would be to reach Leh on Day 1. There are multiple ways to reach Leh, but the fastest option would be flying in. You can take direct flight to Leh from Mumbai or from Srinagar or Delhi.
If you have many days at hand to spare then you choose to travel by road from Srinagar or Manali. That we will cover in our detail Travel Guide.
Today’s day is a rest day. Doesn’t matter what time you reach make sure you take ample rest and sleep as much as you want to get acclimatised to high altitude. Leh is located 11480 feet above sea level, so you might get AMS. Make sure you take it easy today, if you feel okay then you can visit the Leh market.
Day2 Leh Sightseeing and off to Sham Valley trip
Today we start early to do Leh Sight seeing and proceed to Sham Valley. Start with Hall of Fame visit which is a war museum maintained by Indian army, has an entry ticket of almost ₹300 with camera charges and light and sound in the evening. You can skip if you want to save money.
Then proceed to Pahar Sahib Gurudwara, en route clicking pictures of the stunning landscape. From here proceed to Magnetic Hill, an optical illusion that makes you feel the Hill is pulling your car engine switched off up hill.
Next stop will be Zanskar Sangam, an epic place to do river rafting and photoshoots. It’s visually stunning to see Indus and Zanskar river meeting distinctly in two separate colours. However, one advice is to take the photos from the road that way the Sangam will be clearly visible. You can chose to go for rafting which will take up time and money. You can have lunch at the Sangam Cafe.
After that we head towards Alchi Monstery and plan to stay here for the night. Enjoy the view on the way its stunning. On reaching visit the monastery and call it a day.
Day3 Sham Valley Sightseeing
Day 3 kept for few more monasteries. You start early and visit Moon Land near Lamayuru Monastery. However, on the way you can see Basgo monastery as well where you can stop for few shots. No need to go all the way to Basgo you can see it from the road itself.
The landscape here looks other worldly. It resembles with landscape from moon thus giving this name. You can visit this place for some shots. Next stop will be Lamayuru Monastery. A beautiful monastery to enjoy at your on time. If you complete Day 2 early you can also spend the night in Lamayuru.
Now you can head towards Kargil to see Kargil war memorial or you can choose to return from Lamayuru to Leh. On the way visit Likir Monastery. Not a lot of detour but well worth it. If you are not going all the way to the monastery but do make sure to see the huge Golden Buddha statue.
In the evening enjoy Sunset from Shanti Stupa in Leh. Shanti Stupa is a beautiful place to see Leh town. If you have time then you can cover Spituk Monastery and Leh Palace as well.
Day4 Nubra Valley Tour
Day 4 is all set to explore Nubra district. We start really early today around 7am or before. Today we will cross one of the worlds highest motor able road Khardungla Pass. Throughout the year this pass remains snow covered and if you are lucky you an enjoy snowfall here. Khardungla is 17,582ft above sea level, so please take it slow as long as you are here. Choose not to stay beyond 20-30mins, else you might get AMS.
After that along and beautiful way to Turtuk village. A village that was not even part of India before 1971. The landscape suddenly changes amidst the Karakoram ranges. Therefore, you will halt at many places for photographs and will reach the village afternoon. Enjoy the sunset at the village in its Vegan Cafes. Spend the night in the village, check here where to stay in Turtuk.
Day 5: Nubra Valley Sand dunes in Ladakh
Wake up early morning, then catch the sunrise in Turtuk Village. Hike up to the Turtuk Monastery for a good glimpse of the K2 ranges. The hike will take 30mins to 1hr based on your fitness level. After breakfast leave for Nubra Valley.
It will take 2-3 hrs to reach Hunder in Nubra valley. Check in to your hotel and then head out for lunch and visit to Diskit Monastery. In the evening watch the sunset in Hunder. You can chose to ATV rides or double hump camel ride here. Stay the night at Hunder.
Day 6: Drive to Pangong Tso Lake
Sixth Day of this epic Leh Ladakh itinerary you proceed towards Pangong Tso Lake. You might cover Tsumur and Panamik on the way to Pangong Tso. The road to Pangong will be spectacular. This is the infamous lake from the Bollywood movie 3-idiots. The sooner you be there is better to enjoy the most of the spectacular landscape in Leh Ladakh. For instance, you might get lucky and spot wild ass in the nature as we did.
Day 7: Explore Hanle and Tsomoriri
Today you really need to wake up early may be 5AM in the morning. Enjoy the lake sunrise all by yourself. Most important reason to start early is to cover Hanle Gompa on the way to Tsomoriri lake. It will be a long day so be prepared and take absolutely necessary stops.
If you are covering Hanle then mostly you will reach Tsomoriri late afternoon. Check out the Tsomoriri lake before sun goes down and get settled in a cozy home stay. As you can stay by the lake camps in Pangong but not in Tsomoriri.
Day 8: Tsokar Lake and Back to Leh
Today start early and visit Tsomoriri in case you could not see the lake properly the night before. After that head towards Tso kar lake and spend some time there before heading back to Leh.
We could not cover Tsomoriri or Tsokar or Hanle in our trip for a reason that we will cover some other day.
On the way back to Leh if time permits cover Thicksey and Hemis Monastery. Therefore, our recommendation will be Thicksey for sure, you can chose to skip Hemis.
You will reach leh late evening. Enjoy the night stay at Leh.
Day 9: Time to say GoodBye to the magical land of Leh Ladakh
Today you fly back home. Depending on your flight timing you can chose the activity for the day. Either go for shopping in Leh Market or rent a scooter to explore left out places (may be Hemis, Leh Palace or Thicksey).
In conclusion this is our 9 days Leh Ladakh Itinerary where you can cover the most important parts of Leh Ladakh. If you have more days you can explore on your own lazy pace. However, you can customise this itinerary by skipping one or two monasteries.
Do let us know in comments if you have any questions on our Leh Ldakh 9 days itinerary.
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Hello . How did u apply or manage the permits if traveling without a travel company
I applied online, but post covid you don’t need permit if you are indian citizen