Kargil & Drass
The old highway’s hardest, most storied stretch
The overview
Why travellers come here
The overnight stop between Kashmir and Ladakh, and much more than that: Drass is the second-coldest inhabited place on earth and home to the Kargil War Memorial at Tololing, while the Suru valley south of Kargil hides some of Ladakh’s greenest villages and its Buddhist rock carvings.
When to come
June–September.
Bar height shows how well Kargil & Drass works that month, from 1 (avoid) to 5 (prime).
Getting there
On the Srinagar–Leh highway: 205 km from Srinagar over Zoji La, 230 km from Kargil on to Leh.
Good to know
1 night on a trans-Ladakh journey. On the Srinagar–Leh highway: 205 km from Srinagar over Zoji La, 230 km from Kargil on to Leh. If you are short on time, we can compress this into a long day trip, but you will see less than half of it.