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.
Thimphu is one of only two national capitals in the world without traffic lights, the other being Ngerulmud in Palau. A set of lights was installed in the city and removed before it ever operated.
Source: Thimphu
There are about 20 alpine lakes, peaks and meadows within reach of the Aru valley, and in winter, when Aru gets heavy snow, skiing and heliskiing have been practised.
Source: Aru, Jammu and Kashmir
Drass, on the Srinagar road west of Kargil, sits at about 3,280 m and is often described as one of the coldest inhabited places in the world, with winter lows far below −20 °C.
Source: Dras
McLeod Ganj takes its name from Sir Donald Friell McLeod, a Lieutenant Governor of Punjab in the British period. The 'ganj' ending, meaning a market or neighbourhood, is common across north India.
Source: McLeod Ganj
A shrine in Nako protects a rock believed to bear the footprint of Padmasambhava, marking his visit to the area, along with a stucco statue and murals.
Source: Nako, Himachal Pradesh
Kharsali, home of Yamunotri's priests, hosts the goddess in winter. Around 1830 the village was painted by Charles Bentley, and an engraving of it, The Village of Kursalee, illustrated a poem by Letitia Elizabeth Landon published in 1838.
Source: Kharsali
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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