Ladakh is the one Indian trip where the itinerary has to be built around physiology first and sightseeing second. Leh sits at roughly 3,500 m, and almost everything worth reaching from it — Khardung La, the Nubra valley, Pangong Tso — is higher still.
That is why the first two days are not a waste of the holiday but the thing that makes the rest of it possible. A properly built Ladakh itinerary does nothing at all on arrival day, keeps day two gentle with the old town on foot and Shanti Stupa at sunset, and only then starts on the monasteries: Thiksey at morning prayers, then Hemis and Shey. The passes come after that. Khardung La is crossed above 5,300 m, high enough that oxygen support carried in the vehicle is a sensible precaution rather than theatre, and the descent into Nubra brings you to the Hunder dunes and the double-humped Bactrian camels that live nowhere else in India. Pangong Tso at first light, at around 4,350 m, is the payoff, and it justifies the long transfer via Shyok to be standing there for it.
Two administrative points catch people out. Indian nationals need Inner Line Permits for Nubra, Pangong and Tso Moriri, arranged in Leh before setting off. And road access is seasonal: the Srinagar and Manali highways open roughly June to October depending on snow clearance, while Leh’s airport operates year round — so a flying itinerary has a considerably longer window than a driving one.
Group size matters more here than on any other trip we run. Altitude affects people unevenly and unpredictably, and a small group can reshape a day around one traveller who has had a bad night where a coach simply cannot. Anyone with a cardiac or respiratory condition should clear the trip with a doctor before booking, and it is worth keeping a full day back in Leh between the last high-altitude night and the flight home.
Ladakh adventure itineraries
Ladakh High Passes Expedition
A properly acclimatised run at Ladakh's high country, with two full days in Leh before any pass is attempted. Nubra by camel, Pangong at first light, and Khardung La…
From ₹62,000 per person, twin sharing
How to plan it
Packing is a bigger part of this trip than of most, because the daily temperature swing at altitude is severe and there is nowhere to buy what you forgot once you are past Khardung La. Our packing guide for mountain travel covers the layering that actually works, and the things people consistently leave out.
For the wider picture — the monasteries, the lakes beyond Pangong, and how the seasons shape what is reachable — the Ladakh tour packages page has the detail.
Where this sits
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