Himalaya only · Saver trips from ₹7,500
Try "Spiti", "snow leopard", "Char Dham", "homestay", "Tiger's Nest"
Himalaya only · eleven valleys, west to east
Villages packed onto the sunny side of a slope, joined by old salt, wool and pilgrim paths. We plan trips into eleven of them, from ₹7,500 Saver trips by shared jeep and homestay to the best lodges in the range.
Everest 8,849 m · Nanga Parbat to Namcha Barwa ≈ 2,400 km
The arc
From Kashmir in the west to Arunachal in the east, the Great Himalaya runs about 2,400 km. The dotted line follows its crest through twelve real summits. Hover a hive to see what it costs and when it is open.
Pick your price, keep the valley
Same valleys, same altitude rules, same planner. What changes is how you move, where you sleep and what you spend.
Trips from, per person₹7,500
The affordable Himalaya. Shared jeeps and state buses, homestays and government tourist bungalows, local food. Simple, safe, and planned so the money goes to the valley.
Trips from, per person₹38,000
A private car and a driver who knows the road, good three and four star hotels and the best homestays, with time built in for altitude and weather.
Trips from, per person₹1,10,000
The best hotels and lodges each valley has, a private guide, and slow days. The Himalaya at its most comfortable.
The affordable Himalaya
State buses, shared jeeps, homestays and government rest houses. Prices are per person from the start point, indicative 2026, with the trade-offs written down.
Saver trips
Saver trips
Saver trips
Good in October
Photo: KennyOMG · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Trailhead village for Lidderwat, Kolahoi and Tarsar
Photo: Anirvan Shukla · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Old caravan town at 3,500 m, and where every Ladakh trip begins
Photo: This Photo was taken by Timothy A. Gonsalves. … · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
A riverside stop on the Manali–Leh road at 3,200 m
Photo: Atarax42 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
The Yamuna's shrine, where rice cooks in a hot spring
Photo: Saroj Pandey · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Potters, pagodas and the king of curds
Photo: Pinakpani · CC BY 4.0 · Commons
Misty forest village at the gate of Neora Valley
Photo: Devsutapabublu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
A ridge town with a giant Buddha and Sikkim's only tea garden
Photo: Christopher J. Fynn · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
The old capital where two rivers meet below the dzong
Field notes
Small, true facts from inside each hive, with the source named so you can check. They change each day.
Pasighat was founded by the British in 1911 as an administrative post, making it the oldest town in Arunachal Pradesh. It is the headquarters of East Siang district and sits at about 155 m on the Siang.
Source: Pasighat
Sonamarg was a gateway on the old trade routes linking Kashmir with Ladakh and Tibet, and Baltal, 15 km east of the meadow, sits at the foot of the Zoji La pass.
Source: Sonamarg
In winter, when snow closes the passes, the frozen surface of the Zanskar river, called the Chadar, has long served as a walking route between Zanskar and the Indus valley.
Source: Chadar trek
At the 2011 census Jispa had 202 residents in 51 households, a small farming village that swells with travellers every summer.
Source: Jispa
Apples and rajma were introduced to the Harsil valley by Frederick Wilson in the mid-nineteenth century, and the apple variety he brought is still cultivated. His large wooden house in Harsil, Wilson Cottage, burned down in 1997.
Source: Harsil
Mukteshwar's ridge carries orchards of a regional station of the Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture alongside the veterinary institute, part of why the area grows apples, apricots and plums.
Source: Mukteshwar
Planners' picks
Photo: Fulvio Spada from Torino, Italy · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons
Comfort
Private car with driver
Photo: Anirvan Shukla · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Comfort
Private SUV with driver; local car in Padum where required
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain · Commons
Comfort
Private car with driver
Photo: Sumita Roy Dutta · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Comfort
Private SUV with driver
Photo: McKay Savage from London, UK · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Comfort
Private car with driver
Photo: Skalvanov · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Comfort
Private car with driver
Photo: Gerd Eichmann · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Comfort
Domestic flights to Lukla, private car in Kathmandu, five days on foot
Photo: Auli Raha (অলি রাহা) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Comfort
Private car with driver
The almanac
Dark cells are the best months, pale cells are good, empty cells are closed or hard. A ₹ marks months when rooms and transport cost least.
Coming up
Photo: Himalayaputra · CC BY-SA 4.0 · CommonsKullu's great autumn gathering begins on Vijayadashami, the day Dussehra ends elsewhere in India. For seven d…
Photo: Shivam Kumar 766 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · CommonsTwice a year the doors of Kedarnath change hands between summer and winter. In spring the Panchmukhi doli of …
Photo: Jorge Láscar · CC BY-SA 3.0 · CommonsDashain is the biggest festival of the Nepali-speaking Gorkha community, and in the Darjeeling hills it is th…
Photo: Rahul Kumar Shakya · CC BY-SA 4.0 · CommonsTihar is the five-day Gorkha festival of lights, held around Diwali. Each day honours someone: crows, dogs, c…
Read before you go
Photo: Fulvio Spada from Torino, Italy · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons
Kashmiri food runs on mutton, rice, dried spices and milk-free gravies coloured with Kashmiri chilli and cockscomb flower. L…
Photo: Rodmantyler · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Almost every night in Spiti is above 3,000 m, and the high villages pass 4,400 m. Enter from Shimla through Kinnaur so your …
Photo: Gerd Eichmann · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Nepal is one of the cheapest Himalayan trips for Indian travellers. With a hostel bed, dal bhat and tourist buses, you can t…
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