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From Town Tools. For the current version, visit https://www.towntools.org/leh-ladakh-in/month-by-month
Leh has two towns in one: a summer town reached by two highways and packed with visitors, and a winter town reached only by air, where residents play ice hockey and keep their own festivals. This is what each month is really like — from past-year patterns, with the caveats that matter at 3,524 m.
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The current month is selected to start.
January
Flights are the only way in, and the town belongs to its residents: ice hockey season at the Karzoo rink runs to mid-February. Cold beyond anything most visitors have planned for, and hotels largely shut — but the most Ladakhi month there is.
Weather
Deep winter — days below freezing, nights far below, intense sun off the snow.
Prices
low
Crowds
quiet
This is the pattern of past years, not a forecast. Road opening and closing dates move by weeks with each snow year, festival dates (Losar, Dosmoche) follow the Tibetan lunar calendar and shift against these months, and the 2025–26 winter — when the Srinagar highway stayed open for the first time on record — shows the pattern itself is changing.
How to reach LehThe official seasonal windows for both highways.
SACHET (NDMA)Official weather warnings for Leh district.
The year at a glance
January
Flights are the only way in, and the town belongs to its residents: ice hockey season at the Karzoo rink runs to mid-February. Cold beyond anything most visitors have planned for, and hotels largely shut — but the most Ladakhi month there is.
February
Dosmoche, the town's late-winter festival with masked monk dances at Leh Palace, usually falls in February, and ice hockey runs to mid-month. Flights-only access continues; come for the winter culture or not at all.
March
The quiet in-between: roads still shut, ice going soft, the town readying for the season. Little reason to visit unless you have people here.
April
The Srinagar highway has traditionally reopened around late April or May, but never count on it for a plan. A shoulder month for the patient — town is open, the valleys mostly aren't.
May
The year opens: the Srinagar highway's published window begins, and the Manali road usually follows mid-to-late month (in 2026 it reopened to light vehicles on 14 May). Good value before the crowds, if your dates can flex with the roads.
June
(3 months ago)
Peak season: the town's population roughly trebles, and rooms, taxis and permits all run at full demand. Everything is open; nothing is quiet.
July
Peak continues. All roads and valleys open, all of India on holiday. Book ahead and give yourself the two acclimatisation days regardless of the crowds' pace.
August
Still full season, but August is Leh's hazard month: the 2010 cloudburst and the record 80.2 mm of August 2025 both hit this town in this month, and rain now damages roads and mud-built houses. Watch the weather warnings; keep road plans flexible. Apricot season is the consolation.
September
Many locals' favourite stretch: crowds thin, air clears, and the tourism department's Ladakh Festival usually runs this month (the 2025 edition was cancelled). The Manali road's published window starts closing toward the end of it.
October
The last shoulder: quiet town, open Srinagar road, real cold at night. The Manali highway usually closes this month or soon after — leave by the road you can count on.
November
The roads close out the year (in 2025 the Manali highway shut on 20 November) and the town turns inward. Winter vegetable prices start their climb as the airlift takes over. Visit only if you're ready for winter logistics.
December
Losar, the Ladakhi New Year, usually falls in December, and ice hockey starts mid-month — the resident season at its fullest. Flights are effectively the only way in or out. A remarkable month if you come for Leh itself rather than the valleys.