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Ladakh (Leh) Getting There & Around

Getting There

Ladakh tourism provides with regular means of transportation in the city of Ladakh. You can get to Ladakh by road or by air. Both the means of transport are quite fascinating, though one must admit that the overland route is by far the more interesting alternative.

Alliance Airways operates a daily return flight from Delhi to Leh.
The town is also connected by air to Chandigarh, Jammu and Srinagar. Get your tickets booked well in advance, especially from June to August, as the limited number of flights tend to remain overbooked during the tourist season.

There are two overland routes to the region – one from Srinagar (open approximately from June to October) and the other from Manali (open approximately from July to September). It takes 2 days by the overland routes to reach Ladakh. A regular bus service operates on the routes; cabs can also be hired from both Srinagar and Manali for the journey. Remember that the overland trip will help you acclimatize to the high altitude.

Getting Around

By bus

Ladakhi buses run from Leh to the surrounding villages. They are often overcrowded and generally disorganised and poorly run. Daily buses or mini buses run to Alchi, Basgo, Dha-Hanu, Likir, Nimmu, and Saspul; twice daily to Chemray, Hemis, Matho, Stok, and Tak Tok; hourly or more often to Choglamsar, Phyang, Shey, Spituk, Stakna, Thiksay.

By taxi

You will find in Leh a number of local taxis, that will take you to the surrounding monasteries much faster and more comfortably than Public transport. Rates are fairly steep compaired to elsewhere in India.

By truck

Trucks often stop for hitchhikers, who are usually expected to pay half the bus fare, bargaining may be necessary. They are slower than the buses and sometimes stop for long periods to unload cargo.

By motorbike

In Leh there are a number of shops that will rent motorbikes, mostly the world famous Royal Enfield 1948 model, still made in India today (350 and 500 cc model). Rents are fairly cheap, and if you are are used to old bikes and left hand side driving, it is certainly a great way to move around if short of time, and certainly far cheaper than local taxis. Be careful though, this are mountain roads and will surely encounter a great number of Indian army vehicles to and fro.

By bicycle

The scenery would be magnificent at the pace of a bicycle, however one would need to be well prepared with full camping equipment. There is a bit less than 1000km of paved roads in Ladakh. The Manali-Leh-Srinagar road makes up about half of that, the remainder being spurs off it. As such it’s not possible to string together a loop, and the only route that would avoid backtracking would be to follow the Manali-Leh-Srinagar road. You would need to check the current situation and think carefully to decide if travling in Kashmir is more of a risk than you want to take.

In addition to the paved roads there are some trekking routes that would be possible to ride a lightly loaded sturdy mountain bike on, perhaps hiring a horse and handler to take your baggage?

By foot

For the traveler with a number of months it is possible to trek from one end of Ladakh to the other, or even from places in Himachal Pradesh . The large number of trails and the limited number of roads allows you to string together routes that have road access often enough to restock supplies, but avoid walking on motor roads almost entirely. See below in the Do section for more info.