Ladakh motorcycle road trip: map, GPS track and tips
All the information you need to plan your motorcycle trip to Ladakh
In this article, you’ll find all our tips for organizing your road-trip to Ladakh: itinerary, choice of motorcycle, practical information, budget, etc.
- If you’re planning a trip to Ladakh, our book EXPLORE LADAKH will be a great help. You can also download our GPS tracks here.
- If you’d like to rent a motorcycle, you’ll find our recommendations in this article.
Hello! We're Olivia & Victor, authors of the OunTravela guides.
Over the years, our passion for adventure has led us to create original travel guides sold in over 70 countries worldwide. Our mission is to spread a travel philosophy based on adventure, freedom, improvisation and exploration. Our guides inspire travellers to explore the world's forgotten paths, encountering wilderness and civilization.
We hope you find this article, based on our own experience, useful.
Enjoy your reading!
Why travel to Ladakh in India?
Ladakh is a wild land known for some of the highest roads in the world. This Indian region, nestled in the Himalayas between Tibet and Pakistan, is the ideal terrain for an unforgettable road-trip!
Ehemed with towering peaks (some over 8,000m high), you’ll pass through lush green valleys with abundant wildlife. As the altitude increases, the landscape becomes more arid, and only a few camels and Buddhist monasteries perched on the mountains remain. Huge lakes rise out of the mountains… in short, we fell in love with this place. The terrain is particularly well-suited to exploration by motorcycle, and motorcycle rentals are plentiful in the capital Leh. It’s also possible to hire a 4×4 with driver. You can also add outdoor activities (horse trekking, hiking, rafting…) and cultural activities (monastery visits) to your stay .
How to plan your motorcycle road-trip in Ladakh?
There is no tourist guide to organize a road-trip in Ladakh. Only the agencies in Leh can help you plan your itinerary. They’ll probably suggest that you go with a guide.
During our first stay in Ladakh, we didn’t want to depend on a guide. So we improvised on the spot, based on a topographical map of the area. This trip inspired us to write our own compendium of the region’s most beautiful trails, as an article or a map would not suffice.
The map below provides a brief overview of the ideal 2-week itinerary. For further information, please refer to the book EXPLORE LADAKH, available here.
Please note that certain areas of Ladakh require an “Inner Line Permit”.
Our Ladakh book: between guidebook and road-book
Halfway between a tourist guide and a road-book, our book EXPLORE LADAKH is a collection of photos and detailed maps of the region’s twelve most beautiful motorcycle, 4×4 and bicycle trails.
Take a look at this video to find out what awaits you in the book and on the trails of Ladakh!
EXPLORE LADAKH is a departure from traditional guidebook formats, as it doesn’t list all the best addresses and tourist sites. We provide detailed maps and practical information to help you plan your own itinerary.
Each trail is presented on a satellite map, showing roads, main sites of natural or cultural interest (monasteries, lakes, glaciers, hot springs, etc.), viewpoints, camping spots and key points (gas stations, water points, etc.). These maps are accompanied by explanatory texts to complement the data on the map (data on the terrain, on the surrounding landscape or on the villages encountered).
The book also contains informative texts on Ladakh’s culture, flora and fauna. Finally, part of the book is dedicated to technical advice and all the equipment you need to set off safely and independently (camping gear, basic mechanics, etc.).
What you need to know before visiting Ladakh
Spoken languages
Indian
A little English
Tip: carry a small glossary with you.
Visa
Note also that the Inner Line Permit isrequired to visit certain areas of Ladakh.
Airline tickets
Paris – Delhi: 350-400โฌ return ticket
Delhi – Leh: โฌ70-120 v.v.
We chose to fly to Leh, saving time and offering an incredible view of the Himalayas!
Best season: June to September
Cost of living
– Food: โฌ1-5 for a restaurant meal
– Airbnb Leh: โฌ20-30
– Unauthorized camping is permitted except in a few border areas which are clearly signposted.
– Petrol: โฌ0.5/L
– SP petrol: โฌ0.6/L
– Vodka: โฌ2 per 1L bottle
Motorcycle rental
There are many motorcycle rental agencies in Leh. Prices are non-negotiable, as they are regulated by local authorities. Our choice was Royal Enfield’s Himalayan 410cc, which has excellent off-road capabilities and can take you anywhere. Price of the Himalayan 410cc: 2000 rupees / day (approx. โฌ25). You’ll also need 2โฌ/day for a luggage rack and 2 x 5L cans of petrol (essential). Read more about motorcycle rental in this article.
4x4 rental
In Leh you’ll only find chauffeur-driven car rentals, with prices regulated by the Ladakh Taxi Union. You’ll find driverless 4ร4s in Chandigarh and Manali. Please note that since October 2019, it is forbidden to visit certain areas with a rented vehicle outside Ladakh: the Nubra Valley and Pangong Lake, for example.
Budget for a 2-week motorcycle road-trip in Ladakh
For a two-week road trip to Ladakh in 2025 for 2 people, you’ll need to budget around โฌ1308 per person. This road-trip consists of 12 days with two rental motorcycles (Himalayan Royal Enfield), three days of acclimatization in Leh and two days in New Dehli. The budget calculation is based on our personal experience!
Our favorites in Ladakh
The Zanskar valley
This valley, nestled at an altitude of 4,000m, offers breathtaking glacier views! You feel very small surrounded by these immense mountains. We pass through typical villages with terraced fields. You’ll come across lots of livestock and wild animals: marmots, horses, goats and yaks. Getting up close to these pure-white glaciers will be an unforgettable experience!
Lake Pangong
Perched at an altitude of 4,250 m, Lake Pangong stretches 134 kilometers between India and Tibet. A new track provides access from the Nubra valley without passing through Leh! Camping here at night allows you to see the bird show at sunset: hundreds of birds fly in to take up residence in the smallest lake for the night. The morning is even more mesmerizing, with the mountains and lake changing color every minute, and the first rays of sunlight making this place hypnotic.
The Nubra Valley
Landscapes that are still different, but still sumptuous: here, sand dunes and green pastures lie between mountains. It’s hard to believe, this place is truly unique. We found a totally crazy bivouac spot: we slept on a sand dune where a few shrubs grow. Slightly elevated, the view of the valley is breathtaking!
Lake Tso Kar
What a surprise to arrive on this multicolored lake with islands of white salt. Wildlife is abundant here! Hundreds of birds live near this lake, and it’s a sight to see them fly away with their reflection in the lake… In the valley behind the lake, tracks go on forever, with no end in sight. You’ll come across herds of wild horses. An ideal place for a bivouac.
The Sham Valley
You’ll find many monasteries and typical villages in this valley. We’ve unearthed two magnificent trails here! One, where you don’t need to be afraid of heights, is on a mountainside with views of mountains of every color! The other is one of our top 3 most beautiful trails in Ladakh. What can we say? We stopped every 5 minutes to take photos, this kind of trail where every bend reveals a new landscape… each time more beautiful… thrills guaranteed!
Lake Tso Moriri
Another jewel of Ladakh… the color of this lake varies according to the time of day: blue, green, turquoise. In summer, nomads pitch their tents on the shores of this lake with their herds. The calm atmosphere is conducive to meditation…
If you have any questions(rental, itinerary, visa, etc.), don’t hesitate to join our facebook discussion group dedicated to overland travel. Here you can share your experiences and discover the adventures of other travelers.
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EXPLORE LADAKH - GPS tracks
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EXPLORE LADAKH - Book
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you’re welcome! I hope you had a nice trip ๐