Road trip · Himachal & Ladakh, India

Manali–Leh Highway

Manali → Leh

Three hundred miles across the roof of the world — five passes over 13,000 feet, moonscape plains, and monasteries hanging off cliffs at the far end.

298 mi · 4 days · best Mid-June–September (passes open) · $

The route

ScenicEatStayDetour

Start, finish and every stop, pinned — turn-by-turn in one tap.

Relaxed pace

7h 27m

total driving

1h 52m

driving per day

miles per day

Driving times are estimates at a ~40 mph touring pace (stops, photos and traffic add to the clock).

Fewer overnights are marked than the suggested days — plan where you’ll sleep along the way.

🚗 30 mi · ~45 min
1
Sissu waterfall
Scenicmile 30
First stop past the Atal Tunnel, where Lahaul's bare mountains begin.
🚗 32 mi · ~48 min
2
Jispa night
Staymile 62
Sleep at 10,500 ft — the acclimatization stop that makes the rest possible.
🚗 28 mi · ~42 min
3
Baralacha La, 16,040 ft
Scenicmile 90
Three watersheds part at one wind-blasted prayer-flag pass.
🚗 40 mi · ~1h
4
Gata Loops
Scenicmile 130
Twenty-one numbered hairpins climbing a bare mountain face.
🚗 40 mi · ~1h
5
More Plains
Scenicmile 170
A dead-flat 25-mile plateau at 15,700 ft — the strangest straight you'll ever drive.
🚗 115 mi · ~2h 53m
6
Thiksey Monastery
Detourmile 285
Little Potala at dawn — monks' horns echoing down the Indus valley.

🚗 13 mi · ~20 min

🏁 Leh

Ideal: suvMinimum: compactAWD helps but isn't requiredHybrid recommended

Mountain roads are more comfortable and surefooted in an SUV

Make it yours

Ask Arya to pace this drive around your DNA — where to linger, what to skip, and where to sleep.