zLeh + Srinagar

Your domestic flight from Delhi to Leh is included. Upon arrival at the airport, you’ll be warmly greeted and escorted by private car to the comfortable Grand Dragon Hotel. This first afternoon is at leisure so that you can relax and acclimate to Leh’s high-mountain altitude.  Meals L+D

Your day begins after breakfast with a gentle walking tour through this ancient city, filled with traditional mud-brick homes and dotted with Buddhist stupas. You’ll also visit the Leh Palace, built in the 17th century, and the Ladakh Arts & Media Organization (LAMO), a unique charitable trust that was established to articulate an alternative vision for art and media in the region. After lunch at the Tibetan Kitchen, a popular restaurant in the heart of town, you’ll enjoy a guided tour of Munshi House, an historic centuries-old residence restored by LAMO. A brief presentation from a local scholar offers further insight into the town’s rich architectural heritage. Enjoy a cup of traditional Ladakhi tea as you take in the views of the Old City from the terrace of the Munshi House. Before returning to your hotel, you’ll spend time at the city Bazaar and meet a Buddhist monk to learn more about the region’s enduring spiritual beliefs.  Meals B+L+D

Mountain-bound and isolated from the rest of the world behind sheer walls of rock and ice, Ladakh encompasses the highest inhabited land in the world. And here in this remote mountain region, rich traditions of Mahayana Buddhism still flourish in their purest form as they have for centuries. Today’s private sightseeing tour takes you into the Indus Valley to explore these enduring ancient Buddhist traditions. Accompanied by your knowledgeable and insightful personal guide, your tour will include both the Thiksey and Hemis Monasteries. Before returning to Leh, you will also visit Shey Palace, the former summer residence of the King of Ladakh.  This evening’s dinner includes a cooking demonstration that offers further insight into Ladakhi culinary traditions.  Meals B+L+D

After an early breakfast, set out with your personal car, driver and guide for the spectacularly scenic journey to Yangthang, a tiny cluster of traditional old homes built around a village square and shrine. From here, you’ll enjoy a guided 2-hour hike following paths that trace a route through a river gorge. Your destination is the Rizong Monastery, built nearly 200 years ago on the side of a mountain on the north side of the Indus River. From here, a 20-minute walk brings you to the Chulichan Nunnery where our expert guide will offer insight into the daily lives and spiritual traditions of its young residents. In the afternoon, you’ll visit Tia and Tingmosgang, two villages where you can experience the timeless rhythms of rural life here in the high mountains of northern India. After the day’s sightseeing, you’ll continue to the mountain village of Nurla where you’ll check in to The Apricot Tree, a welcoming hotel nestled among apricot and apple trees overlooking the Indus River.  Meals B+L+D

The Lamayuru Monastery which you’ll visit this morning is one of the oldest and largest in the region. And with its imposing, white-washed façade and remarkable setting at the top of a wildly eroded cliff surrounded by scree-covered mountains, it truly is a wonder to behold. After lunch, your private sightseeing continues in Alchi, a monastic complex comprised of different settlements and a splendid thousand-year-old monastery renowned for its marvelous frescoes. Then return to the Grand Dragon Hotel in Leh for dinner and your final night in Leh.  Meals B+L+D

After breakfast, you’ll be escorted to the airport for your included flight to Srinagar, where you’ll be met and chauffeured to your choice of hotel: Enjoy a spacious lakeview guestroom at the deluxe Vivanta by Taj Dal View Hotel, or check in to the enchanting Lalit Grand Palace, built in 1910 as the residence of the Maharajah Pratap Singh.  Meals B

After breakfast, your private car, driver and guide will be waiting to show you the highlights of Srinagar, a fabled destination of colorful houseboats, placid waterways and lakeside gardens all set against a backdrop of towering Himalayan peaks. Your day begins at Hazratbal, a Muslim shrine of shimmering white marble built to house a holy relic of the Prophet Mohammad. Next you’ll visit three of Srinagar’s finest Mughal gardens. Shalimar Bagh, known as the Garden of Love, was built by Emperor Jahangir in 1619 as a gift for his beloved Queen. With its symmetrical layout, cascading terraced pools and marble pavilions, Shalimar Bagh is a stunning example of traditional Mughal design. Your private sightseeing also includes Nishat Bagh, celebrated for its terraced gardens and fountains overlooking Dal Lake, and Chashma Shahi – a smaller garden commissioned by Shah Jahan, the great Mughal Emperor who also built the Taj Mahal. Your private sightseeing finishes this afternoon at Shankaracharya Temple; set on a densely forested hill and dedicated to Lord Shiva, this is reputed to be the oldest shrine in the entire Kashmir Valley. This evening, you’ll embark a traditional Kashmiri shikara for a delightful cruise across the calm and beautiful waters of Dal Lake.  Meals B

Today’s privately guided excursion takes you into the Kashmiri countryside to Gulmarg, a broad bowl-shaped valley of rolling meadows surrounded by towering pine and fir trees. If you wish, you can join your guide for a pleasant hike to Khilanmarg, an upland meadow that offers unrivaled views of snow capped Himalayan peaks and the shimmering lakes of the Kashmir Valley.  Return to Srinagar where your evening is at leisure.. Meals B

After a leisurely morning, your private car and driver will take you to the airport for your included flight to Delhi where our tour services end.  Meals B