Shey Palace, the former summer capital of Ladakhi kings and once the primary royal seat before Leh's rise to prominence, sits on a hillside overlooking the Indus valley, its ruined fortifications surrounding a still-active temple housing one of the largest gilded copper Buddha statues in Ladakh. Though largely in ruins today, the palace complex retains enough structure to convey a sense of its former significance as the region's political and spiritual centre.
The main temple's enormous seated Buddha, gilded and richly decorated, remains a significant pilgrimage draw independent of the palace ruins surrounding it, and Shey's relatively short distance from Leh makes it an easy stop when travelling toward Thiksey and Hemis further down the valley.
Shey served as the original capital of the Namgyal dynasty before the seat of power shifted to Leh, and while the palace itself fell into disuse, the temple's significant Buddha statue has ensured the site's continued religious relevance for centuries since.
May to September.
About 15km from Leh, roughly 30 minutes by road.
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