Spiti Valley Tour Package 8 Days

Trip Overview

Spiti Valley — The Middle Land — is one of India's most remote and extraordinary destinations. Sandwiched between the Greater Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau at an average altitude of 3,800 to 4,500 metres, Spiti receives less than 250 mm of annual rainfall and is classified as a cold desert — yet within its stark, wind-carved landscape of ochre, grey and silver mountains, ancient Buddhist civilisation has thrived for over 1,000 years. The route from Manali into Spiti crosses the Rohtang Pass (3,978 m) or the Atal Tunnel and then ascends to the Kunzum Pass (4,551 m) — the dramatic gateway into Spiti marked by a small Kunzum Mata temple and a 360-degree panorama of the high Himalayan world. The descent into the Spiti Valley floor is one of the most dramatic transitions in Indian mountain travel — from green meadows on the Manali side to a moonscape of crumbling rock and impossibly blue sky within 20 km. Key Monastery at 4,166 metres is the largest and most iconic gompa in Spiti — a 1,000-year-old fortress-like structure clinging to a cone-shaped hill above the Spiti River. Housing over 250 monks, it is a living centre of Tibetan Buddhist practice with ancient scriptures, thangkas and weapons from when the monastery doubled as a fortified refuge. The nearby Kibber Village at 4,270 metres was once claimed as the world's highest motorable village. Tabo Monastery, 46 km from Kaza, is called the 'Ajanta of the Himalayas' — its nine temples contain murals from 996 AD, the oldest surviving murals in western Himalayan Buddhist art, in extraordinary condition. The Dalai Lama chose Tabo for his 1983 and 1996 Kalachakra initiations. Chandratal — the Moon Lake — at 4,300 metres is a crescent-shaped glacial lake of such intense blue that it seems to glow. The 6 km drive from Batal to the lake through Kunzum landscape and then the 1 km walk to the lakeshore is one of the most rewarding journeys in Himachal Pradesh. Camping overnight at Chandratal under a sky unpolluted by any artificial light — with the Milky Way reflected in the still blue water — is an experience that belongs in every Indian traveller's lifetime list.

Day-by-Day Itinerary

Frequently Asked Questions