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Key Monastery on its hilltop above the Spiti River
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Photo: Prasad Gaude · CC BY-SA 4.0
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Spiti or Ladakh — two high deserts, and how to choose between them

Spiti or Ladakh: two high deserts of monasteries and bare mountains. Distance from Delhi, height, how each is reached in winter, permits, and how to choose.

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Both are high, cold deserts north of the main Himalaya, full of Buddhist monasteries and bare mountains. They feel alike in photographs. They are very different trips.

Ladakh: bigger and easier to reach

Leh sits at about 3,524 m and has an airport with flights from Delhi. From Leh people go to the monasteries of the Indus valley, such as Thiksey and Hemis, and on longer trips to Nubra Valley and Pangong Lake, which need a permit. Flying straight to this height needs a slow first day; the three-day Leh plan starts with rest.

Spiti: smaller and quieter

Kaza, Spiti's main town, sits at about 3,650 m. The valley is reached only by road, and the trip is the drive itself, through Kinnaur or over the Kunzum Pass from Manali. Key Monastery, Dhankar and the high villages such as Kibber are the heart of it. The eight-day Spiti circuit lays out the full loop.

Photos: Bernard Gagnon Canon EOS REBEL T4i (CC BY-SA 4.0) — via Wikimedia Commons, resized.

How to choose

See how to reach Leh, the best time to visit Leh and the best time to visit Kaza.

Planning a trip?

Places to visit

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A covered walkway under a canopy of colourful prayer flags beside a red prayer wheel rack and a stone bench at the Mahakal temple
Mahakal Temple, Darjeeling — the Shiva shrine on Observatory Hill
Darjeeling
Sunset Point, Kasauli
Sunset Point
Kasauli
A small white temple with a red-banded dome on a ridge facing a line of snow peaks near Munsiyari
Nanda Devi Temple, Munsiyari — the ridge temple facing the Panchachuli peaks
Munsiyari
The red entrance gate of Nahan Fort, with arched doorway and crenellated top
Nahan Fort
Nahan
A portal building beside the Atal Tunnel highway, with bare mountains behind
Atal Tunnel
Manali
A long green cast-iron verandah running along old brick laboratory buildings with red roofs
Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Mukteshwar — Koch's microscope and the 1900 cold room
Mukteshwar
The white dome of the Umananda temple among trees on Peacock Island, seen from above with the Brahmaputra behind
Umananda Island — Peacock Island and its Shiva temple in the Brahmaputra
Guwahati
The painted, multi-tiered front of Yiga Choeling Monastery with gilded finials, red windows and a flag above the entrance
Yiga Choeling Monastery, Ghum — the Old Ghoom Monastery and its Maitreya statue
Darjeeling
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A large flock of Amur falcons wheeling in a grey sky over the Doyang reservoir region of Nagaland
Pangti — the Naga village whose name flew to Africa on a falcon
In 2013 a satellite-tagged Amur falcon named Pangti flew from a Naga village to Kenya in 13 days. How Pangti went from trapping falcons to protecting them.
A blue sleeper-class train standing at a platform beside a yellow Hindi and English station board reading Dehradun
How to reach Uttarakhand from Delhi — road distances, the railheads at Haridwar, Dehradun and Kathgodam, and the two airports
Delhi to Uttarakhand by road in km for Haridwar, Dehradun, Nainital, Almora and Badrinath, plus the railheads at Haridwar, Dehradun, Kathgodam and the airports.
The Tehri reservoir, a long green lake between forested hills, with the dam at its edge
Tehri — the lake in the hills that works like a battery
Tehri's pumped-storage plant stores spare power as water: it pumps the Bhagirathi up into the Tehri lake, then lets it fall back through turbines when needed.
A wild female snow leopard resting among grey boulders in Ladakh, almost the same colour as the rocks
Snow leopards — two of every three in India live in Ladakh
India's first snow leopard count estimated 718 in the country and 477 of them in Ladakh, about two in three. What the 2019–2023 survey found, state by state.
The snow-covered Kanchenjunga range rising above dark forested ridges under a deep blue sky, seen from Sandakphu
Sandakphu and the Singalila National Park — West Bengal's highest point and the trek along the ridge
Sandakphu at 3,636 m, West Bengal's highest point, with views of Everest, Kangchenjunga, Lhotse and Makalu; the Singalila ridge trek, its seasons, red pandas.
The footbridge at Kasol over the Parvati
What a Kasol trip costs on the ground — the honest price sheet
The Parvati valley's prices as bands with the date checked: rooms in Kasol and Chalal, taxis to Barshaini and Malana, a Kheerganga guide, and what is free.

Destinations to explore

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Namgyal Monastery, the Dalai Lama's temple complex in McLeod Ganj
Dharamshala
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The long red-brick Forest Research Institute with white columns and two domed towers across a wide lawn
Dehradun
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Bhulla Tal, a small green lake with a wooden footbridge, pine trees and cottages on the slope behind in evening light
Lansdowne
2 itineraries · 3 places
The grey stone Kedarnath Temple with its tall tower and a yellow roof, below green slopes and snow-covered peaks
Kedarnath
2 itineraries · 4 places
The Tirthan river running green between boulders and forest
Banjar
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The tall dark beehive-shaped dome of Kamakhya Temple above smaller red domes and a trident among trees
Guwahati
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Questions people ask

Which is better, Spiti or Ladakh?

Ladakh is bigger and better connected, with flights to Leh, more places to stay and famous lakes such as Pangong. Spiti is smaller, quieter and slower, with old monasteries and villages along one valley. Choose Ladakh for a first high-desert trip with less road time, and Spiti for a quiet road trip.

Can I go to Spiti or Ladakh in winter?

Yes to both, in different ways. Spiti is reached in winter by the Kinnaur road from Shimla, which Wikipedia describes as open all year, while the Manali side is shut. Ladakh in winter is reached by air, because Wikivoyage says flights are the only option when the roads close. Both are very cold, so plan carefully.

Do I need a permit for Spiti or Ladakh?

Indian visitors need no permit for Spiti itself, while foreigners need one for parts of Kinnaur on the road in. In Ladakh, visitors need a permit for protected areas such as Nubra Valley and Pangong Lake, applied for online through the Leh district's permit site. Read our permit guides for both before you plan.