Best time to visit Ladakh

The best time to visit Ladakh depends on how much cold you can cope with. If snow covered mountain peaks and the chance to glimpse snow leopard are your thing, then head for February or March. If warmer days, Buddhist festivals and flower filled valley trekking is more your scene, then visit July to September. But Ladakh is a very special place all year round, and expert holiday companies know this. So read more below for details of the trips they offer, and when.

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Best time to visit Ladakh

The religious festivals in Ladakh are spectacular, but even more so out of season when the selfie crazed tourists have gone. Festivals between October and May are blissfully beautiful.

Most people travel in summer July-September when there are hot, sunny days and the nights are pleasant. Also, the roads, trekking routes, hotels and restaurants are open, with high passes closing during the later winter months. However, winter is superb here for seeing snow leopard descend from high peaks in search of food, the trekking routes between April and June are practically empty, and yet skies are still clear and homestays are open. Although nights are cold, so you need to be prepared. Winter is also a time for traditional monastery festivals, such as the Thiksey Festival in November, which are magnificent and totally authentic events.

Call us for the best time to go to Ladakh

Ladakh Weather Chart

MIN °C

MAX °C

RAIN (mm)

JAN

-13

-1

FEB

-12

MAR

-6

APR

-1

MAY

JUN

JUL

AUG

SEP

OCT

-1

NOV

-7

DEC

-11

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Ladakh travel advice

Tips on what to expect

Valerie Parkinson, tour leader from our Ladakh partner, Exodus:

“Don’t expect 5 star luxury – there are good hotels and simple guest houses but be prepared for basic accommodation outside of Leh, but no bars or pubs. There is usually (but not always) WiFi in the hotels in Leh but outside of Leh and trekking there is no mobile signal or WiFi – a real treat of being cut off from technology. There aren’t really air conditioned coaches either.”

“If you love trees and forests don’t go to Ladakh. It is a wonderful mountainous desert with a wonderful landscape of multi coloured barren mountains – blues, purples, greens and browns – the mountains shine in the high altitude light but there are not many trees.”

When to go

Valerie Parkinson:

“If you want to see the masked dances at a monastery festival don’t go to one in the summer (ie. Hemis, Phyang or Tak Tok) as they are full of tourists. Find a festival off season (Oct-May); you will be one of the very few visitors at that time and can enjoy the experience. Spittuk, Tikse, Chemre, Stok and Matho all have festivals off season. At Matho the state oracles appear and thousands of Ladakhis come to see the spectacle so it is very busy.”

Jonny Bealby from our partner, Wild Frontiers:

“In terms of what to pack think trekking and adventure, so plenty of layers, with lightweight and slightly heavier fleeces, some good walking boots and probably walking poles. You’ll probably need a head torch and the like as you are almost bound to so some camping. And I really advise carring a ‘Life Straw’ self-filtering water bottle. So many tourists go to Ladakh and work their way through literally hundreds of plastic bottles. If you have one of these brilliant devices you can cut that out completely. “

Valerie Parkinson

“Take a reusable water bottle and whilst in Leh visit the dzomsa – for Rs7 you can buy safe drinking water. Plastic is not recycled in Ladakh and plastic never biodegrades at high altitude, so try not to buy drinks in plastic bottles. Try the fresh apricot juice or sea buckthorn juice – also available at the dzomsa.”

Altitude tips

Jonny Bealby:

“First and foremost, beware of the altitude, particularly if flying in from Delhi. The difference in altitude is over 3,000m which is pretty intense and needs to be managed. As such take the first couple of days very easy: walk around Leh, sit on rooftops enjoying the amazing views, drink plenty of local tea and don’t do too much – at most visit the Indus Valley monasteries but not much more. And avoid lots of heavy red meat, it’s much harder to digest at altitude.”

Jim O’Brien, Director of our partner, Native Eye Travel:

“If you are travelling in Ladakh or Kashmir, try and coincide your visit to one of the monasteries when morning prayers are going on, because it is something else to see. Especially the small ones off the main monastery trails.”

Jonny Bealby:

“Although you are very welcome in the monasteries, you should observe rules while there, and of course not smoke, but also not wearing shorts or anything revealing… which goes for both sexes.”

Ladakh travel advice

At Responsible Travel, we think the best people to advise our travellers are often... other travellers. They always return from our tours with packing tips, weather reports, ideas about what to do - and opinions about what not to.

We have selected some of the most useful Ladakh travel advice that our guests have provided over the years to help you make the very most of your holiday – and the space inside your suitcase.

...Leh is a lovely town to start in and you feel you learn about the culture, particularly Buddhism.

– Ellie Hawksley

“Listen to your leader and drink plenty of water to avoid altitude sickness. Don't do too much when you first get to Leh in order to acclimatise properly. Enjoy the views!!!... The cultural elements were great too and a brilliant way to acclimatise safely… Leh is a lovely town to start in and you feel you learn about the culture, particularly Buddhism. Don't expect lots of snow peaked mountains… but gorgeous none the less!” – Ellie Hawksley, trekking in the Markha Valley

“This was a trip of a lifetime for me as I had wanted to visit this area for a long time. The holiday surpassed all expectations by far! … Be prepared for different temperatures and aware of the effect of the high altitude on your wellbeing.” – Irene Nicoll

Make sure you have good telescope, binoculars and camera lenses. Even if you don't see snow leopards, they are needed for the birdlife. Suggest getting a solar powered charger for electrical equipment - they don't weigh much and work really well. Have a care if you suffer from vertigo - you will be climbing up the side of mountains and walking along narrow trails in order to get good vantage points! My most memorable part? Actually being able to watch snow leopards in the wild - the main aim of the trip. We spent nearly 50 hours watching interaction between several different cats including hunting and mating – Liz Cooke on our Snow Leopard tracking in the Himalayas holiday

...Be prepared for different temperatures and aware of the effect of the high altitude on your wellbeing.

– Irene Nicoll

More relevant guides

Written by Catherine Mack

Best time to visit Ladakh