Itinerary & Budget (Ladakh)

Itinerary

You need minimum 3 days itinerary and suitable budget to as many days as you want in Ladakh. You would want to keep coming back to Ladakh. Your itinerary and budget will depend upon what you would like to cover in the days you have for your Ladakh trip. Below is a sample 10 day itinerary for your reference. There will be a lot of travelling.

Leh- Day 1

Arrive at Leh. Most of the flights land before noon.
Check into hotel. Relax for a few hours. Gauge the weather. Note your body’s response.
Set out for lunch. it will help you better in acclimatizing. Explore the markets. You may book your taxi if you have not done so already.
Spend the day at leisure without doing anything to test your limit. If you feel uneasy or any discomfort, take it slow. If the symptoms aggravate consult a doctor.

Leh- Day 2

Take a local Leh trip.
Start with Shanti Stupa.
Head to Leh Palace.
Next stop will be the school that featured in the movie “3 idiots” called Rancho’s school.
Next go to Shey Monastery. Have your lunch in the nearby restaurants.
Visit the Thiksey Monastery.
Stop by the Indus viewpoint on your way back.
Visit the local market to buy some relics or shop from the Tibetan market before retreating to the hotel.

Sham Valley- Day 3

Visit the sham valley or the western side of Leh.
Start early to cover all places at the earliest or to spend enough time at each point without feeling rushed.
First stop will be Magnetic Hill. You can enjoy ATV rides. Then you will stop at Gurudwara Patthar Sahib.
Next you will travel to the famous Zanskar Valley. Spend time by the confluence of the Indus and the Zanskar river called the Sangam. You can do river rafting or a river safari. During peak seasons, it gets very crowdy here.
By lunch time you will be at the Alchi monastery. Walk a little further down the path to the monastery. You will get a good view of the Indus Valley. The monastery stays closed from 2-3 pm so you may have your lunch before going to the monastery or after coming from it.
If you have chosen to go to Lamayuru visit the Likir and Lamayuru monastery and spend the night there.
On your return journey to Leh, you will stop at the famous ‘Hall of Fame’. The place closes by 5:30PM so try to make it early. There also takes place a light show at night. For which you will need to come separately. You can go to Zorawar Fort too.
After the long day, have dinner and retreat to your hotel for a good sleep.

Nubra Valley- Day 4

This journey is going to be thrilling. It will take about 4 hours to reach Nubra Valley.
You will stop at the mighty “Khardung La’. The ascent of about 16000 feet is stunning and exciting as you find snow all round the year. A maximum of 15 minutes is enough to avoid any complication. But if you are comfortable, you may spend longer time taking pictures and exploring one of the highest motorable road.
You can have your lunch on the way. On reaching Diskit, visit the Diskit Monastery or just visit the huge Maitreya Buddha statue and enjoy the view of Diskit Monastery from there.
Next point is Hunder sand dunes. Take a Bactrian camel ride. Walk on the dunes. Sit and admire the view or take an ATV ride.
Check in to the hotel and spend the night there.

Turtuk- Day 5

Set out for Turtuk – one of the last villages of India.
It is a long journey of 85km, taking about 4 hours due to difficult roads in long stretches .
See the India – Pakistan border. Discover the stories. Explore the village, if you can. Have lunch and return.
You will be so tired on this day that by the time you reach your hotel you would want to just fall on your bed.

Pangong- Day 6

This day you embark on your most awaited journey of Ladakh and probably the main reason of you taking this Ladakh trip – the Pangong Lake.
The entire route from Nubra to Pangong is a nature’s gift to mankind with rivers, mountains, valleys, canyons and everything in between.
Check in to your hotel. have your lunch . Spend several hours beside the lake. Take pictures on the iconic 3 Idiots scooter or the seats.
Soak in the view of The Majestic Pangong before going back to the hotel.

Hanle- Day 7

This day go to Hanle. The 7-8 hours route is a beautiful one. At times you will feel that you are lost and are going nowhere, but trust you driver, he knows how to navigate.
Once you reach Hanle, visit the Indian Astronomical Observatory.
You will find many wild ass and black necked crane. You can go on a bird watching trip or just enjoy the galaxies visible in the clear night sky. Walk around the place as there is not much to do here.

Tso Moriri- Day 8

Your journey from Hanle to Karzok will take 4 -5 hours approximately.
Once you reach Karzok, check in to your hotel. Have lunch. Go to the Tso Moriri lake and spend your remaining time there.
Have your dinner and take rest in your hotel.

Leh- Day 9

Return to Leh.
Stop at Taglang La on your way and get a glimpse of how wondrous Manali – Leh highway is. This pass is 17482 ft. You can enjoy a bit here.
While returning, visit the Hemis Monastery and the Stakna monastery.
Go to your hotel in Leh. You will be exhausted yet your heart will be full and brimming with happiness.

Day 10

Take the flight back to Delhi. Say good bye to Leh with a promise to come back soon.

You may add to or delete from below to adjust your itinerary as per your budget for covering Ladakh. Some other popular Ladakh itineraries are as under:

3 days: (Leh – Sham – Pangong – Leh)
4 days: (Leh – Sham – Nubra – Pangong – Leh) or (Leh – Nubra – Pangong – Tso Moriri – Leh)
5 days: (Leh – Sham – Nubra- Turtuk – Pangong – Leh) or (Leh – Sham – Nubra – Pangong – Tso Moriri – Leh) – This is the most preferred itinerary.
6 days : ( Leh – Sham- Nubra – Turtuk – Pangong – Tso moriri – Leh)
7 days: ( Leh -Sham – Nubra – Turtuk – Panamik – Pangong – Tso Moriri – Leh)

Budget

A group tour or a bike tour may reduce your expenses quite a bit. Otherwise, the length of your itinerary will keep increasing your budget while in Ladakh. All in all, your budget will have the following major parts:

Flights: New Delhi to Leh (return flights): ₹7,500-9,000
Taxi: ₹10,000-12,000 per person for an itinerary of 7 days in Toyota Innova or similar vehicle. This might be lower depending on the vehicle, days, and number of people.
Accommodation (Breakfast and dinner included): ₹2,500-3,000 per day. This is when you chose the MAP(Modified American Plan). For details check out suggestions. It may touch ₹4000 in Pangong and Tso Moriri lakeside areas. Day trips will help reduce this cost to Rs.2000 per day.
Food: After MAP type accommodation food will cost you up to ₹300-500 per day. It will include lunch, snacks, or refreshments. Mostly you will find Maggi/Momos, depending on where you are at the time of lunch.
Permits: ₹500 per person
Other expenses: ₹500 per day
Total cost per person (for sample 7 days) : 9,000 + 12,000 + (3,000 * 7) + 500 + 500 + (500*7) =₹46,500 maximum