Delhi to Leh Alchi Nubra Valley Tour Package

Route: Delhi airport to hotel

Your driver meets you at arrivals and takes you to the hotel. Nothing is planned for the evening.

The flight to Leh leaves early tomorrow. Every flight to Leh leaves in the morning, because winds pick up later in the day at an airport about 3,250 m high. Tonight is for sleep.

Route: Delhi – Leh (flight) – Nimmu – Nurla

The flight crosses the Himalaya into the Indus valley. Your guide and driver meet you at Leh airport, and you drive west along the river without stopping in town.

About 40 km from Leh, at Nimmu, the Zanskar River joins the Indus. The two rivers run side by side for a short stretch, one silt-green and one blue-grey. It is the first stop, and a short one.

Nurla is a village of about 350 people, close to 3,000 m, on the road that once linked Central Asia with India. It sits about 500 m lower than Leh. The Ladakh tourism advisory asks new arrivals to rest on the first day and to add no more than about 500 m of height a day after that. Today is for rest. Sit on the terrace, drink plenty of water and skip alcohol tonight.

Route: Nurla – Alchi (25 km) – Tingmosgang – Nurla

Alchi Choskor stands at about 3,100 m on the south bank of the Indus, roughly 65 km west of Leh. It has six temples from the 11th to 13th centuries. Local tradition names the translator Rinchen Zangpo as its founder. Wall inscriptions point to a noble called Kaldan Sherab. Scholars still debate which is right.

The main temple is the Sumtsek, and it is small. Inside stand three bodhisattvas about four metres tall, and their painted robes carry tiny scenes of court life, cloth patterns and Buddhist stories. Photography is not allowed inside. Flash damages the old mineral pigments, and the rule is enforced. The temples fill quickly after 9 am, so the visit starts early, and your guide explains what to look for before you go in.

The Human Story: Alchi Kitchen

Lunch is at Alchi Kitchen. Nilza Wangmo, who grew up in Alchi, opened it in 2016. She trained young women from nearby villages to cook and serve. The menu is Ladakhi: skyu, a wheat-pasta stew; chutagi, bow-tie pasta in a local sauce; khambir, a fermented bread; mokmok (momos) filled with apricot or walnut; and Tashi Tagye tea, an eight-ingredient blend.

The afternoon is easy. Walk through Tingmosgang, 6 km from Nurla, or through the orchards near your hotel.

Food: Skyu, chutagi, khambir and Tashi Tagye tea at Alchi Kitchen

Route: Nurla – Lamayuru (33 km) – Nurla

Lamayuru sits at 3,510 m, about the same height as Leh. It is one of the oldest monasteries in Ladakh. Its oldest surviving temple, Seng-ge-sgang, is credited to Rinchen Zangpo. The monastery once housed up to 400 monks and has around 150 today.

The land around it looks like the surface of the moon. The story goes that the yogi Naropa drained a lake that filled the valley, and that the monastery was founded on the dry bed. The pale, eroded ground does look like an old lake bed. Walk a short stretch of it with your guide, then return to the monastery.

The afternoon is free. Nurla is a farming village, so walk through the apricot and apple orchards and along the irrigation channels that feed them.

Route: Nurla – Likir (about 38 km) – Basgo – Leh

Likir monastery was founded in 1065 at the order of King Lhachen Gyalpo, the fifth king of Ladakh. It belongs to the Gelug order today. A gilded Maitreya statue, 23 m tall and completed in 1999, is visible from the roof.

Basgo, at 3,292 m, was once an important cultural and political centre and appears often in the Ladakhi Chronicles. Walk among its ruins and gompas before the last stretch to Leh.

You reach Leh, at 3,500 m, in the afternoon. That is 500 m higher than Nurla. Check in and rest. There is nothing planned for the evening.

The Human Story: The Potters of Likir

Likir Pottery is a family studio below the monastery. The family works with clay dug from the mountain at about 3,600 m and fires it in a cow-dung kiln. Their method is a hand-spun wheel called the skor. You join a two-hour workshop, shape a bowl and watch how the family works the clay.

Route: Leh – Thiksey (19 km) – Shey (15 km) – Hemis (45 km) – Leh

Thiksey monastery has twelve storeys and looks like a smaller Potala. Its 15 m Maitreya statue was installed for the Dalai Lama's visit in 1970 and took four years to build. Morning prayers begin around 7 am. Sit at the back and listen to the monks chant in unison.

Shey was the summer capital of Ladakh. The present palace and monastery were built in 1655 by Deldan Namgyal in memory of his father, Sengge Namgyal. Inside is a 12 m copper Buddha, gilded with about 5 kg of gold, made by a Nepalese sculptor with copper from the Lingshet mines in Zanskar.

Hemis was re-established in 1672 by King Sengge Namgyal and follows the Drukpa lineage. Its courtyard shows paintings of the Eighty-Four Mahasiddhas from the 17th century, made with ground mineral pigments. In 1894 a Russian journalist claimed that Hemis held a manuscript about Jesus in India. Scholars reject the claim, and the story is worth hearing as a story only.

Route: Leh – Old Town – Leh Palace – Stok (15 km) – Leh

The morning starts with a walk through Leh's Old Town with LAMO, the Ladakh Arts and Media Organisation, from its centre below the palace. The walk takes two to three hours through narrow lanes, past craft workshops and wood-fired bakeries. In 2008 the Old Town was placed on the World Monuments Watch list as an endangered site.

Leh Palace was built around 1600 by Sengge Namgyal. It has nine storeys and was built in the style of the Potala Palace. When Dogra forces took Ladakh in the mid-19th century, the royal family moved out and the palace was left to decay. The Archaeological Survey of India is restoring it. From the roof you can see all of Leh.

Lunch is a home-cooked Ladakhi meal. In the afternoon, drive to Stok Palace Museum.

The Human Story: The Royal Family at Stok

After the Dogra takeover, the Namgyal family moved from Leh Palace to Stok Palace, built in 1820. The museum holds old coins, royal seals, textiles, jewellery and thangkas around 400 years old. Stok also sits at the foot of the Stok range, with a view of Stok Kangri (6,150 m).

Food: Try thukpa (noodle soup), momos and butter tea (po cha). Butter tea is an acquired taste, and one cup is enough.

Route: Leh – Khardung La (40 km) – Khardung village – Khalsar – Sumur (about 24 km beyond Khalsar)

The road climbs from Leh through two military check posts, South Pullu and North Pullu. Your guide handles the permit paperwork, and you carry your passport.

Khardung La is 5,359 m by GPS survey. Signs at the top claim about 5,602 m, and the claim to be the world's highest motorable road is out of date, since higher roads now exist in eastern Ladakh. Stay at the top for no more than 15 minutes. The air is thin, and it is colder than you expect, even in summer.

The descent runs through Khardung village to Khalsar, where the road forks. Nubra Valley averages about 3,050 m, lower than Leh. You reach Sumur, on the Nubra River, by afternoon. Check in, rest and walk through the village at dusk.

Route: Sumur – Samstanling – Panamik (23 km) – Sumur

Samstanling monastery stands above Sumur and is about 150 years old. It is quieter than the big monasteries near Leh. Your guide will ask the monks whether you may sit in on prayers.

Lunch is home-cooked in a Sumur family's kitchen. Ask the family about the two harvests the valley grows each year.

In the afternoon drive to Panamik, the last point open to visitors on this side of the valley. Its sulphur hot springs were used by Silk Route caravans. Ensa monastery, about 250 years old, is close by.

The Human Story: Sumur

Sumur sits on the Nubra River at about 3,100 m. Summer afternoons run roughly 18 to 28°C, and evenings cool to 5 to 12°C. Nubra's irrigated fields give two harvests a year and stay green against the dry hills. A walk through them with your guide is the best way to see the village.

Route: Sumur – Khalsar – Diskit (about 44 km) – Hunder (8 km) – Sumur

Diskit monastery was founded in the 14th century by Changzem Tserab Zangpo, a disciple of Tsong Khapa. It belongs to the Gelug order. On the ridge beside it stands a 32 m Maitreya statue. Building began in April 2006, and the Dalai Lama consecrated it on 25 July 2010.

Hunder is 8 km beyond Diskit. Its cold-desert dunes stretch for about 7 km between the two villages, at around 3,050 m. Come in the late afternoon, when the light is soft and the wind has dropped.

The Human Story: The Camels of Hunder

The double-humped camels here are not native to Ladakh. Silk Road traders brought them across the passes, and when the trade route closed in 1950, many were left in Nubra. A count in 2015 found 211 animals, including 21 calves. Hunder families began offering camel rides in 2003, and the income helped the herd recover.

There are concerns too. Owners say the nose reins can cause minor bleeding, and the valley has no dedicated vet service. The ride on this trip is short, about 15 minutes. If you prefer to watch, your guide will walk the dunes with you instead.

Route: Sumur – Khalsar – Khardung La – Leh

The road climbs to Khardung La again, and this time you cross it well acclimatised. Food options at the top are limited, so lunch is taken in the valley or packed by the hotel.

You reach Leh in the afternoon. The evening is free for the Old Road cafes and the main market.

Route: Leh, as you choose

This day has no fixed plan. Rest if you need to, or choose from a few options.

The main bazaar is good for shawls and small crafts. Ask where a shawl was woven and who made it, and take your time. Magnetic Hill is about 30 km from Leh, on the highway toward Nimmu. The road looks like it climbs, but it actually slopes downhill, and the surrounding land tricks the eye. Shanti Stupa suits a sunset visit.

Route: Leh – Delhi (flight)

You fly out of Leh early in the morning and reach Delhi before midday. The rest of the day is free. A half-day with a Delhi guide can be added if you wish.

Route: Delhi hotel to airport

Your driver takes you to the airport in time for your international flight.