What's on in Leh (Ladakh), India through the year

Busy — Winter break in India, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

• Rule

  Inner Line permits for the valleys

  1 Jan – 31 DecBook early

  Nubra, Pangong, Tso Moriri and the Dah-Hanu villages sit inside the protected belt and need a permit issued in Leh, foreigners on a different form from Indian nationals. Agencies turn it round in a day; the checkpost will not. Source ↗

• Opening

  Chadar trek on the frozen Zanskar

  15 Jan – 20 Feb · usuallyTrail seasonRiskBook early

  The Zanskar river freezes hard enough to walk for a few weeks in deep winter, and permits and a registered agency are required. Warm winters have thinned the ice and cut seasons short, so nothing is bookable with confidence until the December reports. Source ↗

Still on: Ladakhi Losar (1 Dec – 10 Jan (usually)), Pangong and the lakes freeze (20 Dec – 10 Mar (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Festival

  Dosmoche at Leh Palace

  10 Feb – 5 Mar · usuallyMajor festival

  The old-year festival below the palace: cham dances, then a thread-cross effigy carried out of town to take the year's bad luck with it. Deep winter, so almost nobody from outside Ladakh sees it. Source ↗

Still on: Inner Line permits for the valleys (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Chadar trek on the frozen Zanskar (15 Jan – 20 Feb (usually)), Pangong and the lakes freeze (20 Dec – 10 Mar (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Opening

  Srinagar road reopens

  20 Mar – 15 May · usuallyTrail season

  The army's engineers cut Zoji La open through spring and the Srinagar road is normally the first of the two highways back, somewhere between late March and the middle of May. Until it goes, Leh is reachable only by air. Source ↗

Still on: Inner Line permits for the valleys (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Dosmoche at Leh Palace (10 Feb – 5 Mar (usually)), Pangong and the lakes freeze (20 Dec – 10 Mar (usually))

Busy — Summer vacation (Kerala / far south) in India, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Nature

  Apricot blossom in the villages

  5 Apr – 10 May · usuallyWildflowers & blooms

  The orchards along the Indus at Nubra, Sham and Turtuk flower before the passes open, which is the argument for coming early and flying in rather than driving. Source ↗

Still on: Inner Line permits for the valleys (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Srinagar road reopens (20 Mar – 15 May (usually))

Busy — Summer vacation (north & east) in India

• Opening

  Manali highway season

  25 May – 15 Nov · usuallyTrail seasonClosures

  The high road in over Baralacha La and Tanglang La opens at the end of May once the Border Roads Organisation has cut through, and closes with the first heavy snow in November. Dates move by weeks either way. Source ↗

Still on: Inner Line permits for the valleys (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Srinagar road reopens (20 Mar – 15 May (usually)), Apricot blossom in the villages (5 Apr – 10 May (usually))

Peak crowds — Hemis Festival, Trekking and high-pass season

• Festival

  Hemis Festival

  24–25 JunMajor festivalCrowded

  Two days of cham mask dances in the courtyard at Hemis for Padmasambhava's birthday, on the tenth day of the fifth Tibetan month. It falls in the busiest fortnight of the Ladakh year and the taxis to the monastery are booked out. Source ↗

• Season

  Trekking and high-pass season

  15 Jun – 15 Sep · usuallyTrail seasonCrowdedBook early

  The window when Khardung La, Chang La and the trekking routes are all open at once, and when Leh runs at capacity. Everything above the town needs a day or two of acclimatising first, whatever the season.

Still on: Inner Line permits for the valleys (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Manali highway season (25 May – 15 Nov (usually))

Busy — Trekking and high-pass season, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Inner Line permits for the valleys (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Manali highway season (25 May – 15 Nov (usually)), Hemis Festival (24–25 Jun), Trekking and high-pass season (15 Jun – 15 Sep (usually))

Busy — Trekking and high-pass season, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Inner Line permits for the valleys (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Manali highway season (25 May – 15 Nov (usually)), Trekking and high-pass season (15 Jun – 15 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — Trekking and high-pass season, Ladakh Marathon

• Festival

  Ladakh Marathon

  5–20 Sep · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  Four days of races out of Leh in September, from a five-kilometre run to an ultra over Khardung La at well over five thousand metres. Every bed in town goes the week before it. Source ↗

Still on: Inner Line permits for the valleys (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Manali highway season (25 May – 15 Nov (usually)), Trekking and high-pass season (15 Jun – 15 Sep (usually))

Busy — Autumn break (Dussehra / Diwali) in India, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Inner Line permits for the valleys (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Manali highway season (25 May – 15 Nov (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Inner Line permits for the valleys (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Manali highway season (25 May – 15 Nov (usually))

Busy — Winter break in India, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Ladakhi Losar

  1 Dec – 10 Jan · usuallyLunar New Year

  Ladakh keeps its new year two months before the Tibetan one, with ibex-shaped bread, fire processions through Leh and masked dances at the monasteries. Deep winter, almost no visitors, and every guesthouse shut but a handful. Source ↗

• Nature

  Pangong and the lakes freeze

  20 Dec – 10 Mar · usuallyIce season

  The high lakes set solid from about the turn of the year, and the road out to Pangong runs on cleared snow when it runs at all. The guesthouses out there are shut, so it is a long day from Leh and back. Source ↗

Still on: Inner Line permits for the valleys (1 Jan – 31 Dec)