Plan trip

Route map

Roads, passes and the long way round

Choose a road and travel it stop by stop: the altitude at every pass, the distance between villages and the places worth pausing for. Every line follows the real road, measured from open map and terrain data.

Hard · June to mid-October

Manali to Leh

The classic high-altitude road trip from Himachal into Ladakh. Most traffic now takes the Atal Tunnel and skips Rohtang; the high passes beyond Keylong are the real adventure.

Distance
426 km
Duration
2-3 days
Highest
5,328 m

About this route. Road line and driving distances from OpenStreetMap (routed with OSRM); elevation profile from the Copernicus GLO-90 elevation model. Roads in Ladakh change with the seasons: always check current conditions locally before you travel. Use it to plan, not to navigate.

Permits: No permit is needed via the Atal Tunnel; a separate online permit is required only if you drive up to Rohtang La itself. The highway is seasonal (usually June to mid-October), so check pass status before you set off.

Elevation profile

1,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0000 km100 km200 km300 km400 kmmetres above sea levelTanglang La
Terrain heights along the road from the Copernicus GLO-90 elevation model (tunnels drawn straight through).
Waypoints and altitudes for Manali to Leh
StopKmAltitude
Manali01,910 m
Atal Tunnel28.33,060 m
Keylong69.53,080 m
Jispa91.13,260 m
Baralacha La144.14,890 m
Sarchu175.14,280 m
Pang250.94,510 m
Tanglang La316.85,328 m
Upshi377.53,400 m
Leh425.73,500 m

Stops

Stop 1 of 10 · Town

Manali

Altitude 1,910 m · km 0 of 426

Start. Most people break the journey at Keylong/Jispa or Sarchu.

Nearby
  • Old Manali
Manali

Route lines and distances: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), routed with OSRM. Elevation: Copernicus GLO-90 digital elevation model, © DLR / Airbus, provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA, via Open-Meteo; and NASA SRTM via OpenTopoData. Roads in Ladakh change with the seasons; always check current conditions locally.