Leh Sits at 3,500 Metres, Indian Visitors Have Needed No Inner Line Permit for Nubra, Pangong or Tso Moriri Since August 2021, and the Official Green Fee Is Rs 400 a Head

An Indian citizen does not need an Inner Line Permit to visit Nubra, Pangong Tso or Tso Moriri. The Leh district permit portal’s FAQ page says the inner line permit “is applicable only to foreign tourists”, and we read it on 8 October 2026. Voice of Ladakh reported on 7 August 2021 that the Union Territory administration notified the removal of the requirement for Indian nationals on 6 August 2021. We could not open the order itself, so that date rests on the news report.

What an Indian visitor still has to do

The same portal runs a domestic registration form. On 8 October 2026 it asked for name, mobile number, a photo ID (Aadhaar, voter card, driving licence or another), address and the date travel begins. After online payment, a notice on the page says, the payment slip is checked only at check posts, not at the District Magistrate’s office. It also says visitors must show their Leh arrival boarding pass with the permit. The page does not say what road arrivals show instead.

The one fee with a rupee figure on an official page is the environmental fee, also called the green fee. A notice from the Deputy Commissioner and chief executive officer of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), dated 14 October 2021, asks tourists to pay Rs 400 a person through the portal. That notice was still posted on the portal when we checked on 8 October 2026, and we found no newer one. It does not say whether the sum is per trip or per year.

A district press release of 10 August 2021 says the fee structure includes a Red Cross Fund contribution and a wildlife fee as well as the green fee. It gives no amounts for those two, and neither does any other official page we opened, so we print none. The portal says bookings made through a local travel agent get a 10 percent discount on the total fees. A separate notice of 21 September 2023 from the Additional Deputy Commissioner warns that fake environmental fee slips issued by private agencies or individuals have drawn complaints, and says offenders face action including cancellation of licences.

Foreign visitors and the Protected Area Permit

Foreign nationals are still under the permit regime. The portal’s information panel says citizens of Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and foreign nationals of Pakistani origin, need a Protected Area Permit from the Ministry of Home Affairs in New Delhi. Holders of diplomatic, UN, official and journalist passports need one from the Ministry of External Affairs. Pangong, Nubra, Khardung La and Tso Moriri are the examples it gives.

Voice of Ladakh’s 2021 report says the permit’s validity for foreigners was lengthened from seven days to 15. The portal’s circuits page lists 23 circuits for domestic visitors and two for foreign ones on 8 October 2026: Leh city alone, and Lamayuru, Khaltse, Skurbuchan and Hanu. That list may lag behind the 2021 change, so a foreign visitor should confirm with a registered travel agent which circuits are open.

Altitude: the 48 hour rule

Leh stands at 3,500 metres, according to the Ladakh Police tourist safety page, read on 8 October 2026. Incredible India puts Pangong Tso at 4,420 m and Tso Moriri at 4,600 m.

The Leh district administration’s notice, on a page updated 6 June 2026, says every tourist arriving in Leh has to spend at least 48 hours acclimatising before going to higher areas such as Khardung La and Pangong, and may visit places near Leh town in the meantime. The UT Directorate of Tourism’s advisory of 16 June 2022 says the same for Khardung La, Chang La, Pangong, Tso Moriri and Penzela, counting the 48 hours from landing at Leh. The Ladakh Police page advises a rest of 24 to 48 hours in Leh. The district administration’s notice is the one that states a requirement.

Ladakh Tourism’s advisory page gives a day by day plan: complete rest on day one, short easy walks in Leh town on day two, nearby sites on day three, and no more than 500 metres of extra altitude a day after that. The permit portal’s health advisory says road travel does not count as acclimatisation. Both lists name headache, nausea, poor sleep and loss of appetite as early signs. Both also say that severe signs call for a doctor, and Ladakh Tourism says to descend and seek help at SNM Hospital in Leh or the nearest Army or ITBP post. These are the administration’s published instructions, not our medical advice. Both pages list medicines with doses, and we repeat none of them: ask a doctor before you travel.

Getting to Leh

Incredible India names Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport (IXL) as the Leh airport and Jammu Tawi as the nearest railway station. The district’s how-to-reach page, updated 3 January 2025, says the flight from Delhi takes about an hour. The permit portal’s registration form lists KBR Leh Airport, Khaltse and Upshi as points of entry.

There are two roads. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) says the Manali to Leh highway, NH 3, is 427 km, and the Srinagar to Kargil to Leh highway, NH-1D, is 422 km (PIB, 25 March 2023). The district’s own page gives 473 km and 434 km, figures that do not match BRO’s. The Manali road now passes through the Atal Tunnel, and the Srinagar road runs through Drass and Kargil, where the 1999 war was fought.

For open months, the district page says Srinagar to Leh is open to vehicles from May to November or December, and Manali to Leh from May or June to September or October. BRO’s 2023 release says the Manali highway generally stays closed from late November until March, and BRO declared it open on 25 March that year. BRO’s opening date is not a green light for tourists. The Tribune reported on 27 March 2022 that BRO had restored single-lane traffic over Baralacha La, while the Lahaul and Spiti administration still had to approve ordinary traffic and asked tourists to avoid going beyond Darcha until it did.

The Zojila pass, on the Srinagar road, closed from 27 February to 16 March in 2025, and BRO reopened it on 1 April 2025, according to PIB. PIB says closures there have shrunk from about six months a few decades ago to a few weeks.

When to go

The official pages do not agree on one window. Incredible India’s Leh page calls February to October the ideal time and carries a monthly temperature table running from about minus 20 degrees Celsius in January to about 33 in July. Ladakh Tourism’s site lists spring as March and April, summer as May to September, autumn as September and October and winter as November to February. Its advisory says winter lows can reach minus 30 from October to March. The Ladakh Police page says the Manali and Srinagar roads carry the most risk of landslides and snow blockages in June and July, advises starting early to avoid floods from melting snow, and recommends SUVs or guided tours over sedans on rough routes.

The four places most first visits cover

Leh is the base. Incredible India says its nine-storeyed palace was built in the 1630s by Sengge Namgyal.

Nubra is a circuit out of Leh over Khardung La, along the old caravan route to Central Asia, says the same page. The portal’s circuits page lists Khardong, Khalsar, Hunder, Disket and Turtuk on it, and Siachen Base Camp appears as a circuit of its own. Our piece on Operation Meghdoot covers the Army’s hold on the glacier.

Pangong Tso is 130 km long, according to Incredible India. The portal lists Kharu, Chang La, Durbuk, Tangtse and Lukung as its circuit. Tso Moriri covers 140 square km and is reached by the Upshi and Korzok circuit on the portal. Incredible India says both lakes can be reached by road but have no scheduled buses. The 2022 Directorate of Tourism advisory says the Pangong area is a notified wildlife sanctuary with limited accommodation, and tells visitors not to plan a stay there without a booking.

Road status changes daily

No page we opened gives today’s road status. The Directorate of Tourism lists its Leh office on 01982-257788. The official Lahaul and Spiti road status page, which we read on 8 October 2026, showed Manali to Keylong as open and Keylong to Leh as open, with a last-updated date of 14 May 2024.