Best Time to Visit Leh-Ladakh

June to September

Months to avoid: November to May (airport occasionally open but roads to passes and Nubra/Pangong are snowbound and impassable; most guesthouses closed)

Recommended stay: 7-10 days

Plan Leh-Ladakh for June to September. Give it 7-10 days. The window to avoid is November to May (airport occasionally open but roads to passes and Nubra/Pangong are snowbound and impassable; most guesthouses closed).

What the season gets you

• Thiksey Monastery at 6am, monks in burgundy robes, butter lamps, chanting that vibrates in your chest, and almost no other tourists that early
• Pangong Tso stretches 134km into Tibet and changes colour by the hour, camp on the shore overnight to see both sunrise and sunset on the same water
• The Manali-Leh Highway is 479km of river valleys, scree passes, and road signs that say things like 'Be Gentle on My Curves', riding it on a motorcycle is a legitimate bucket list item for the kind of people who hate that phrase