Atal Tunnel
3,100 m
Nine kilometres under the Pir Panjal range.
All routes
Most booked
The classic high road
Manali → Leh
Climb through the Atal Tunnel, Baralacha La, the Gata Loops and Tanglang La before dropping into Leh — paced so the altitude does not catch you out.
- Distance
- 430 km
- Recommended
- 8 days
- Highest point
- 5,328 m
- Best time
- Jun–Sep
- Difficulty
- Challenging
The ride
The Manali–Leh highway is the ride most people picture when they think of the Himalaya. It leaves the cedar forests of the Kullu valley, slips under the Pir Panjal through the Atal Tunnel and spends the next two days above 4,000 metres.
Baralacha La, the Gata Loops, the More Plains and Tanglang La come one after another, with tented camps at Sarchu and Pang the only shelter in between. Ride it slowly: a night at Jispa and a rest day in Leh do more for altitude sickness than any tablet.
The road is open roughly June to mid-October. Take the bike one way and drop it in Leh — no need to ride back.
Destinations on the way
-
1
Manali
2,050 m
Start among the cedars of the Kullu valley.
-
2
Jispa
3,200 m · 1 night
A riverside halt to sleep lower before the high passes.
-
3
Sarchu
4,290 m · 1 night
Tented camps on the Himachal–Ladakh border.
-
4
Leh
3,500 m · 2 nights
Rest a day before riding anywhere higher.
Popular attractions
Baralacha La
4,890 m
The first big pass, where three valleys meet.
Gata Loops
Twenty-one hairpins climbing out of Sarchu.
More Plains
4,700 m
Fifty kilometres of high, open plateau.
Tanglang La
5,328 m
The highest point before the descent to Leh.