Kashmir and Ladakh Tour: 12 Days from a Srinagar Houseboat over Zoji La to Leh, Nubra and Pangong

Arrive in Srinagar and settle onto your houseboat

Your driver meets you at Srinagar airport. A shikara, the canopied wooden boat of the Kashmiri lakes, takes you the last stretch to your houseboat on Nigeen Lake, the quieter, less crowded neighbour of Dal Lake. Srinagar sits at about 1,600 metres, so the air is fresh but the altitude is gentle, a good first step before the high country of Ladakh.

Kashmir's houseboats date from the British era, when outsiders were not allowed to own land, so they built on the water instead. Many are carved from cedar, with panelled sitting rooms, chandeliers and verandas over the lake. Spend the afternoon on the deck as kingfishers dart past, flower and vegetable sellers paddle by, and the light changes on the mountains.

Your host will likely offer you kahwa, Kashmiri green tea brewed with saffron, cardamom and almonds. In the late afternoon, take a short shikara ride along the lake edge if you feel like it, then settle in for a home-cooked Kashmiri dinner on board.

• ArrivalMeet at Srinagar airport; shikara to your houseboat
• AfternoonRelax on the lake with a cup of kahwa
• Late afternoonOptional short shikara ride

OvernightSrinagar, 3 nights, on a heritage houseboat on Nigeen Lake.

The floating market and the Mughal gardens

Rise before dawn for a shikara ride to the floating vegetable market on Dal Lake, where farmers trade produce from their floating gardens boat to boat in the first light. It is over by about sunrise, so the early start matters. Paddle back through the channels past lotus beds and lakeside houses, and warm up with noon chai, the pink, salted Kashmiri tea, and fresh bread from a local baker.

After breakfast, visit the Mughal gardens built along the lake shore, terraced with fountains, water channels and giant chinar trees: Shalimar Bagh, laid out by the emperor Jahangir in 1619 for his wife Nur Jahan; Nishat Bagh, the largest, with twelve terraces running down to the water; and Chashme Shahi, with its spring, whose water many Kashmiris still drink. The gardens are at their best in spring for flowers and in autumn, when the chinar leaves turn red and gold.

End the day at Pari Mahal, a ruined 17th-century garden and observatory on the hillside, for sunset over Dal Lake.

• DawnFloating market by shikara
• MorningShalimar Bagh and Nishat Bagh
• AfternoonChashme Shahi
• SunsetPari Mahal

OvernightSrinagar, on a heritage houseboat on Nigeen Lake.

The old city and Kashmiri crafts

Walk through the old city of Srinagar, along the Jhelum River with its old wooden bridges and houses with carved balconies. See the Jamia Masjid, whose great courtyard is surrounded by halls held up by 378 cedar columns, and the Khanqah-e-Moula, a carved and painted wooden shrine on the river bank that can be admired from outside. Dress modestly, and women should carry a scarf to cover their hair at mosques and shrines.

Visit the Hazratbal shrine on the far shore of Dal Lake, a white marble mosque that holds a relic revered as a hair of the Prophet Muhammad. Then see a workshop where artisans make papier-mâché, hand-knotted carpets or pashmina shawls, Kashmir's most famous craft. Your guide can explain how to tell real pashmina from machine-made copies; there is no obligation to buy.

The afternoon is yours to rest on the houseboat. In the evening, try a wazwan, the Kashmiri multi-course feast, with rogan josh, gushtaba and saffron rice, served on your houseboat or in town.

• MorningOld city, Jamia Masjid and the Jhelum River
• MiddayHazratbal and a craft workshop
• AfternoonFree on the houseboat
• EveningKashmiri wazwan dinner

OvernightSrinagar, on a heritage houseboat on Nigeen Lake.

Up the Sindh Valley to Sonamarg

Leave the lake and drive up the Sindh Valley, past rice fields, walnut trees and villages, to Sonamarg, the 'Meadow of Gold', the last stop in Kashmir before the climb to Zoji La. The road follows the Sindh River as it narrows between forested slopes, and you can stop for photographs wherever the light is good.

It is a deliberately short driving day, so your body starts adjusting to altitude. At about 2,800 metres, Sonamarg is more than 1,000 metres higher than Srinagar, so drink plenty of water and take things slowly.

In the afternoon, walk or ride a pony to the Thajiwas Glacier, at the head of a side valley ringed by peaks and pine forest. The walk is a few kilometres each way over uneven ground; agree pony prices through your guide before setting off. Early in the season, snow may still lie on the lower slopes. Evenings are cold here even in summer, so unpack your warm layers tonight: you will need them over the next week in Ladakh.

• MorningDrive up the Sindh Valley
• AfternoonWalk or pony ride to the Thajiwas Glacier
• EveningRest and early dinner

OvernightSonamarg, 1 night.

Over Zoji La to Drass and Kargil

The pivotal day. The road climbs in tight bends cut into the mountainside to Zoji La, the pass that links the Kashmir Valley to Ladakh. On one side are green slopes and forest; on the other the landscape turns bare, brown and enormous. Snow often lines the road even in June. The pass usually opens in late spring and closes with the winter snows, and convoys or one-way traffic can cause delays, so we start early and keep the day flexible.

Descend to Drass, one of the coldest inhabited places in India, and stop at the Kargil War Memorial, which commemorates the conflict of 1999 fought on the peaks above the road. Your guide can point out Tololing and Tiger Hill, two of the heights where the fighting took place. Photography is allowed at the memorial but not of military installations along the road.

Continue to Kargil on the Suru River, a town of Shia Muslim Balti culture, and the halfway point to Leh. At about 2,700 metres, it is a comfortable height for the night. Have an early dinner and rest.

• Early morningLeave Sonamarg for Zoji La
• MiddayDrass and the Kargil War Memorial
• AfternoonArrive in Kargil

OvernightKargil, 1 night.

Mulbekh, Lamayuru's moonland and the road to Leh

Today you enter Buddhist Ladakh, and you notice the change at once: whitewashed chortens, prayer flags and mani walls carved with mantras appear by the road. At Mulbekh, see a 9-metre figure of Maitreya, the future Buddha, carved into a rock face more than a thousand years ago. Cross the Namika La and Fotu La passes, decorated with prayer flags. Fotu La is the highest point of the drive, so step out slowly for photographs.

Stop at Lamayuru, one of the oldest monasteries in Ladakh, perched above the eroded, yellow 'moonland' landscape. Continue along the Indus past Alchi or Likir if time allows, Magnetic Hill, and the Sangam, where the Indus meets the Zanskar.

Arrive in Leh in the evening and check in for three nights. Because you have climbed gradually from Srinagar, your body is better prepared than if you had flown in, but Leh is still at about 3,500 metres. Rest, drink plenty of water, skip alcohol tonight, and tell your guide if you have a headache or feel unwell.

• MorningMulbekh Maitreya; Namika La and Fotu La
• MiddayLamayuru Monastery and the moonland
• AfternoonThe Indus Valley, Magnetic Hill and the Sangam
• EveningArrive in Leh and rest

OvernightLeh, 3 nights, at The Grand Dragon Ladakh or similar.

A light day in Leh: the palace and the Shanti Stupa

A gentle day, still respecting the altitude. Visit Leh Palace, built in the 17th century by King Sengge Namgyal, nine storeys of mud brick and timber that recall the Potala Palace in Lhasa. From its roof you see the old town below and the Stok Kangri range across the valley.

Walk slowly through the lanes of the old town, among whitewashed houses and stupas, and see the Jama Masjid and the Moravian Church, reminders that Leh was a crossroads of Central Asian trade.

At sunset, drive up to the Shanti Stupa, a white peace pagoda built by Japanese and Ladakhi Buddhists in 1991, for views over Leh and the Indus Valley. In the evening, browse the main bazaar for pashmina, turquoise and Tibetan crafts, and try momos and butter tea.

• MorningLeh Palace and the old town
• AfternoonRest
• SunsetShanti Stupa
• EveningLeh bazaar

OvernightThe Grand Dragon Ladakh or similar.

Thiksey, Hemis and the monasteries of the Indus Valley

Leave early to reach Thiksey Monastery for the morning prayers, when monks blow long horns from the roof and chant in the assembly hall. Built up a hillside in tiers of white and red, Thiksey is often compared to the Potala Palace. Its temple to Maitreya, the future Buddha, holds a 15-metre seated statue that rises through two storeys.

Stop at Shey Palace, the old summer palace of the Ladakhi kings, with its large gilded Buddha, then cross the Indus to Hemis, the largest and richest monastery in Ladakh, re-founded in the 17th century and hidden in a side valley. Its museum holds thangkas, statues and ritual objects, and its masked Hemis festival in June or July is the biggest in Ladakh.

On the way back, visit Stok Palace, still the home of the former royal family, with a small museum of their crowns and costumes, or the small monastery at Stakna on its rock above the river.

• Early morningMorning prayers at Thiksey
• Late morningShey Palace
• AfternoonHemis Monastery and museum
• OptionalStok Palace or Stakna

OvernightThe Grand Dragon Ladakh or similar.

Over Khardung La to the Nubra Valley

Drive north up a road of hairpin bends to Khardung La, one of the highest motorable passes in the world, at about 5,300 metres, strung with prayer flags. Stop only briefly for photographs: at this height, 15 to 20 minutes is enough.

Descend into the Nubra Valley, where the Shyok and Nubra rivers meet. It was once on the caravan route from Ladakh to Central Asia, and it is lower and warmer than Leh. Visit Diskit Monastery, the oldest and largest in Nubra, and the 32-metre statue of Maitreya Buddha that looks down the valley.

In the late afternoon, walk out onto the sand dunes at Hunder, where double-humped Bactrian camels, descendants of the Silk Road caravan animals, graze among the sea-buckthorn bushes. A short camel ride at sunset is optional.

• MorningKhardung La
• AfternoonDiskit Monastery and the Maitreya statue
• SunsetHunder sand dunes and Bactrian camels

OvernightNubra Valley, 1 night, at a deluxe desert camp in Hunder.

Along the Shyok River to Pangong Lake

A long, remote and spectacular drive along the Shyok River, through a wild valley of scree slopes and glacial streams, then up to Pangong Lake. Your driver brings a packed lunch. The road passes small villages such as Shyok and Durbuk, with stretches of rough track and stream crossings, so expect a bumpy ride in places. Permits are checked at army posts along the way, and your guide handles them. In rare cases of landslides or high water on the Shyok road, we route you back via Leh instead.

Pangong Tso is a saltwater lake about 130 km long at about 4,250 metres, of which less than half lies in India and most of the rest in Tibet. Its colour shifts from deep blue to turquoise to green through the day as the light changes; late afternoon is often the best.

Nights at Pangong are cold even in summer, and you are sleeping higher than Leh, so take it easy, drink water and wrap up warmly. On a clear night the stars are extraordinary, and the Milky Way is easy to see.

• DayDrive along the Shyok River
• Late afternoonPangong Lake
• NightStargazing

OvernightPangong Lake, 1 night, at a lakeside camp such as Pangong Retreat Camp.

Sunrise at Pangong and over Chang La to Leh

Wake early to watch the sun rise over Pangong, when the lake is still and the mountains turn gold. It is, for many travellers, the single best moment of the trip. Wrap up well: the hour before sunrise is the coldest of the day, often below freezing even in summer. Take a slow walk along the shore while the camp prepares breakfast.

After breakfast, drive back towards Leh through Tangtse, where Himalayan marmots often sit up beside the road in summer, then climb to the Chang La, another pass of about 5,300 metres. As at Khardung La, stop only briefly at the top. Small army-run tea stalls on the pass sometimes serve hot tea to travellers.

Descend through the villages of the Sakti valley, green with barley fields in summer, and stop at Chemrey, a 17th-century monastery built up a conical hill, or at Thiksey if you would like one more monastery. You reach Leh in the afternoon, back at a more comfortable altitude, with time for a hot shower and a rest.

The afternoon is free for final shopping, or to rest after a demanding but rewarding stretch of high-altitude travel.

• SunrisePangong Lake
• MorningDrive over Chang La
• AfternoonFree in Leh

OvernightLeh, 1 night, at The Grand Dragon Ladakh or similar.

Fly home from Leh

Transfer to Leh's Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport for your flight to Delhi and onward. Flights leave in the morning, when mountain weather is most reliable, so expect an early start; the hotel can usually pack breakfast if needed.

Security checks at Leh are thorough and the terminal is small, so your driver gets you there about two hours before departure. Keep a warm layer in your hand luggage for the early morning. We recommend leaving a buffer of a day before an international connection, in case weather delays the flight. If you have a free day in Delhi, we can arrange a hotel near the airport and a guide or driver.

• MorningTransfer to Leh airport