Places to visit in Leh Ladakh, and the order to see them

A nine-storey palace of mud brick and timber, built in the 1600s for the kings of Ladakh. It stands on the rock above the old town and looks a little like the Potala in Lhasa. Inside are dark old rooms, a small prayer hall and a roof with a wide view over Leh.

A small monastery and an old fort on the peak above Leh Palace, strung with prayer flags. It was built in the 1400s and holds a large golden Maitreya Buddha. The view from the top takes in the whole Leh valley.

A white dome on a hill above Changspa, built by Japanese and Ladakhi Buddhists and opened by the Dalai Lama in 1991. It holds relics of the Buddha. From the terrace you see Leh Palace, the town and the snow on the Stok range.

A museum built by the Indian Army in memory of soldiers who died defending Ladakh. It covers the wars of 1947, 1962, 1971 and Kargil in 1999, life on the Siachen glacier, and Ladakh's people and wildlife. Captured weapons and a memorial wall stand outside.

A monastery of the Gelugpa order on a rock above the Indus, at the end of the airport runway. It was founded in the 1000s. The temple at the top holds a statue of the goddess Kali whose face is shown only once a year, at the Gustor festival in winter.

A small monastery among the fields about 2 km north of the bazaar. It belongs to Spituk and is the home of the head lama of the Gelugpa order in Ladakh. Its hall has a statue of Avalokiteshvara with a thousand arms and eleven heads.

A stone tower in the old town, built like a Ladakhi fort, telling the story of the old trade caravans between Ladakh, Tibet, Kashmir and Central Asia. Each floor covers one route, with coins, tools, textiles and maps.

A Sikh shrine on the Srinagar highway, about 25 km from Leh, looked after by the Indian Army. It honours Guru Nanak, who is said to have meditated here. A boulder inside carries what is believed to be the imprint of his back.

A short stretch of the Srinagar highway where a car left in neutral seems to roll uphill. It is an optical illusion: the shape of the land hides a gentle downhill slope. A yellow sign and a painted box on the road mark the spot.

The point near Nimmu where the Zanskar river meets the Indus. In summer the green-blue Indus and the muddy brown Zanskar run side by side for a while before they mix. In deep winter the Zanskar freezes into the Chadar ice trek.

The ruins of a royal mud-brick fort on a ridge above Basgo village, once a capital of Ladakh. Two temples inside the ruins have large statues of Maitreya, the future Buddha, and painted walls from the 1500s.

A hilltop monastery founded in the 1000s, 6 km off the highway. A golden statue of Maitreya, about 23 m tall, sits outside on the roof of the hall. A small museum keeps old thangkas, masks and armour.

A group of small temples by the Indus, about 65 km from Leh, built about 1,000 years ago. Unlike most monasteries it sits on flat ground, not a hill. The wall paintings inside are among the oldest and finest Buddhist art in the Himalaya, in reds, blues and gold.

The old summer palace of the kings of Ladakh, on a rock 15 km south of Leh. Its temple holds a copper and gold statue of the seated Buddha, two storeys high. Rows of white chortens run across the plain below.

A twelve-storey monastery that climbs a hill above the Indus, 19 km from Leh, with red and white buildings stacked up the slope. Its Maitreya temple holds a seated Buddha about 15 m tall. It is the most photographed monastery in Ladakh.

The largest and richest monastery in Ladakh, hidden in a side valley 45 km from Leh. It was founded in 1672. A big courtyard holds the masked dance of the Hemis festival each summer, and the museum keeps thangkas, statues and old costumes.

A small monastery on a rock shaped like a tiger's nose, standing alone in the Indus plain across the river from the main road. It is quieter than Thiksey and Hemis, with old paintings and a view up and down the valley.

A solar-powered school at Shey, known as the 'Rancho school' since the film 3 Idiots was shot here. Its buildings, designed for the cold desert, have won architecture awards.

The home of Ladakh's royal family since the 1830s, 15 km from Leh across the Indus. A few rooms are a museum, with the queen's turquoise headdress, crowns, thangkas and royal clothes.

The only monastery of the Sakya order in Ladakh, on a hill above the Indus south of Leh. Its museum holds thangkas from the 1400s, and its winter festival is known for two oracles in a trance.

One of the highest road passes in India, about 5,360 m up, on the way from Leh to Pangong. The top has prayer flags, a small temple, an army tea point and snow for much of the year.

A long, narrow salt-water lake at about 4,250 m, 134 km long, with about a third in India and the rest in Tibet. Its water changes from turquoise to deep blue as the light moves. The end scene of 3 Idiots was shot near Lukung.

The pass on the road from Leh to the Nubra valley, about 5,360 m up and 40 km from Leh. It was long called the highest motorable road in the world. The top has a signboard, a cafe, prayer flags and views of the Karakoram.