A narrow gravel road cut into a sheer mountainside high above a valley

Srinagar–Leh Overland 7N 8D

Drive in over Zoji La and let the road do the acclimatising.

Duration

7 Nights · 8 Days

From, per person

₹39,999

Rating

4.9

Check dates

The plan

The best way into Ladakh and, in our view, one of the great drives anywhere. You climb from 1,585 m at Srinagar to 3,500 m at Leh across two days, which acclimatises you for free.

Runs mid-May to late September only — Zoji La is closed by snow outside that window and nobody can open it for you.

D01

Arrive Srinagar

Srinagar · 1,585 m

Met at the airport and driven to the Boulevard — about thirty minutes. The rest of the day is deliberately empty: a shikara out onto Dal Lake at sunset, and nothing else scheduled.

Meals: Dinner

D02

Srinagar to Kargil over Zoji La

Kargil · 2,676 m

The big driving day. Sonamarg, then the climb to Zoji La at 3,528 m — a single-track shelf road cut into the mountainside — and down to Kargil for the night.

Meals: Breakfast, dinner

D03

Kargil to Leh

Leh · 3,500 m

Over Namika La and Fotu La, past the Lamayuru moonscape and Magnetic Hill. You arrive in Leh having climbed gradually for two days, which is the whole point of driving in.

Meals: Breakfast, dinner

D04

Leh, gently

Leh · 3,500 m

Still low and slow. Leh Palace and Shanti Stupa in the afternoon, both short. Thiksey at dawn for the morning prayers if you're feeling well — we decide on the morning, not in advance.

Meals: Breakfast, dinner

D05

Over Khardung La to Nubra

Nubra · 3,048 m

Up over Khardung La at 5,359 m — twenty minutes at the top, no longer — then down into the Nubra valley. Bactrian camels on the Hunder dunes in the afternoon. Oxygen is carried in the vehicle.

Meals: Breakfast, dinner

D06

Turtuk & the Shyok

Turtuk · 2,900 m

The Balti village near the line of control, only open to visitors since 2010. Apricot orchards, a different language and a genuinely different culture. Back to Nubra or straight on to Pangong.

Meals: Breakfast, dinner

D07

Shyok road to Pangong

Pangong Tso · 4,350 m

The direct road along the Shyok river rather than back through Leh. Overnight in a tented camp on the shore — basic, cold, and worth it for the light on the water at dawn.

Meals: Breakfast, dinner

D08

Depart Leh

Leh · 3,500 m

Leh flights leave early and are the first to be cancelled in bad weather. We build a buffer into every Ladakh itinerary and will not book you a same-day onward connection.

Meals: Breakfast