The City on the Water

Srinagar is the kind of city that gets under your skin. The summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir sits on the banks of the Jhelum River at 1,585 metres, ringed by mountains, and at its heart is Dal Lake — one of the most recognizable bodies of water in India. Most visitors arrive with a camera and leave with a completely different perspective on what travel can feel like.

The city blends old wooden buildings, crumbling mosques, lively markets, and some of the most peaceful waterscapes you will find anywhere in the subcontinent. Summers are mild and pleasant from May to August. Winters bring snowfall and a quieter, atmospheric city from December to February.

Dal Lake and the Shikara Experience

Dal Lake is the pulse of Srinagar. Every morning the lake comes alive before most tourists are awake. Vegetable vendors paddle wooden boats from garden to garden, flower sellers float through narrow channels, and the first Shikara rides begin as the mist clears. A ride on one of these traditional wooden boats is the single best way to experience the city at its most authentic.

The floating gardens here are genuinely impressive. Built on beds of weeds and earth anchored by bamboo poles, they grow tomatoes, cucumbers, and other vegetables. Farmers tend to them from their boats in a system that has been working for centuries.

Nagin Lake sits just next door and is considerably quieter. If you want something calmer, the houseboats on Nagin are worth considering.

The Mughal Gardens

Shalimar Bagh was built in 1616 by Emperor Jehangir as a gift to his wife Nur Jahan. It is formal and symmetrical, with terraced levels, water channels, and old chinar trees lining every path. A sound and light show runs May to October evenings.

Nishat Bagh is the largest of the Mughal gardens, built in 1633 by Asaf Khan with 12 terraces and sits right on the edge of Dal Lake with the Zabarwan mountains rising behind it. The late afternoon light is excellent here.

Chashma Shahi is the smallest and often overlooked. A natural spring feeds its fountains, and the garden is compact enough to walk through in under an hour.

Shankaracharya Temple

This temple perches on a hill about 1,000 feet above the city. You drive part of the way and then climb around 200 stone steps to reach the top. Dedicated to Lord Shiva and dating back to at least 200 BC, the temple offers breathtaking panoramic views of Srinagar, Dal Lake, and the surrounding mountains from its courtyard.

Culture, Shopping and Food

The old city around Nowhatta has the most interesting shopping. Pashmina shawls, walnut wood carvings, papier-mache craftsmen, and carpet weavers with finished pieces stacked floor to ceiling. Kashmir is one of the few places you can still buy genuine Pashmina.

Kashmiri food does not get the attention it deserves. The traditional multi-course feast called Wazwan can run to 20 dishes built around slow-cooked lamb. Rogan Josh is the most famous export, but try Yakhni and Dum Aloo if you get the chance.

Where the Valley Meets the Mountains

Gulmarg sits 50 km west of Srinagar, and the drive over is half the experience. The road climbs through pine forests past small villages, and then the valley opens into a wide bowl of a meadow at 2,650 metres with mountains rising on all sides. The name means "Meadow of Flowers" in Persian, and it earns that name in summer when wildflowers cover the slopes. In winter, the same meadow is buried under metres of snow and India's best skiers are here along with thousands of first-timers.

The Gulmarg Gondola

One of the highest cable cars in the world. Phase 1 takes you to Kongdoori at around 3,050 metres. Phase 2 continues to Apharwat Peak at 4,200 metres. The view from the top, when the sky is clear, is enormous: ranges of mountains in every direction, glaciers visible in summer, deep snowfields in winter. Book tickets in advance during peak season as queues can be very long without advance booking.

Skiing in Gulmarg

Gulmarg has the highest skiable terrain in India and some of the longest runs in Asia. Gentle terrain near the base area suits complete beginners, and a busy industry of rental shops and ski instructors has grown up to serve first-timers. Ski gear rental runs 600 to 900 rupees per day. The season runs roughly December to March.

Khilanmarg and Alpather Lake

About 6 km from the main stand, Khilanmarg is a smaller meadow offering superb views of the Kashmir Valley below. On clear days you can see from Nanga Parbat to the twin peaks of Nun and Kun. Further along, 13 km from Gulmarg, Alpather Lake stays frozen until mid-June and sits at the foot of the Apharwat peaks. Best reached on horseback as the trail is steep in sections.

The Shepherd's Valley

Pahalgam is a town that works on multiple levels. It is the Valley of Shepherds, a place where the Lidder River runs cold and fast through a pine-covered valley, where Bollywood directors have been filming since the 1950s, and where each July the Amarnath Yatra pilgrimage begins its journey into the high mountains. The town sits at 2,130 metres in the Anantnag district, around 90 km from Srinagar.

Baisaran: Called Mini Switzerland for a Reason

About 5 km from Pahalgam town, accessible by pony or on foot in about 90 minutes, Baisaran is a grassy meadow ringed by dense pine trees with snow peaks rising above. Even in peak season you can find a quiet spot if you walk past the snack stalls. Ponies for the return trip run around 400 to 600 rupees per person.

Aru Valley and Betaab Valley

Aru is 11 km upstream from Pahalgam along the Lidder River and makes a good half-day trip. The village is small and traditional, and in summer you will often see Gujar families camped nearby with their livestock en route to higher pastures.

About 15 km from Pahalgam town, Betaab Valley got its name from the 1983 Bollywood film of the same name. Crystal-clear streams, dense pine forests, wide meadows, and a backdrop of snowy peaks. Most visitors spend an hour or two here and combine it with Aru and Chandanwari on the same day.

Chandanwari and the Amarnath Yatra

Chandanwari is 16 km from Pahalgam and marks the start of the Amarnath Yatra, the annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath Cave at 3,888 metres. The cave contains a naturally formed ice Shivling that waxes and wanes with the lunar cycle and draws hundreds of thousands of pilgrims every July to August.

Where Kashmir Meets the Himalayas

The drive to Sonamarg is one of the great drives in Jammu and Kashmir. You leave Srinagar on the national highway, follow the Sindh River through a progressively narrowing valley, and after about 80 km you arrive at a wide meadow at 2,740 metres with glaciers visible on the slopes above. Sonamarg occupies a strategic position as the last significant stop in the Kashmir Valley before the Zoji La pass, beyond which the landscape abruptly transforms from green and forested to the barren, dramatic terrain of Ladakh.

Thajiwas Glacier

The main excursion from Sonamarg is to the Thajiwas Glacier, about 4 km from the main stand. The path goes through forest initially, then opens into a valley with the glacier visible at the far end. You can go on foot or hire a pony near the main stand. Snow is present even in July and August at the glacier level, which is why families with children particularly enjoy this trip.

High-Altitude Lakes and the Great Lakes Trek

Further from town, Krishnasar and Vishansar Lakes sit at around 3,800 metres with dramatic alpine scenery. Sonamarg is also the starting point of the Kashmir Great Lakes Trek, a 7 to 9-day circuit passing six high-altitude lakes including Vishansar, Gadsar, Satsar, and Gangabal. This is one of the finest treks in India and does not require technical climbing skills.

Crossing to Ladakh

If continuing to Ladakh by road, Sonamarg is where you prepare. The Zoji La at 3,528 metres is the first serious high-altitude pass on the Srinagar-Leh highway. The transformation as you cross from Kashmir to Ladakh happens in the space of a few kilometres and is one of the more visually memorable moments in Indian road travel.

Kashmir's Quiet Secret

Most Kashmir visitors never make it to Doodhpathri. The tour buses go to Gulmarg, Pahalgam, and Sonamarg. Doodhpathri does not have a ski resort or a famous glacier. What it has is something increasingly rare in popular tourist regions: genuine quiet.

The name means "Valley of Milk" and it comes from the Shaliganga River that runs through it, milky white from glacial rock flour. The valley sits at 2,730 metres in the Budgam district, about 42 km from Srinagar.

The Meadow and What Surrounds It

The central draw is the meadow: a wide, flat, grassy expanse surrounded by dense deodar and pine forest, with the river running along one edge and mountains visible in every direction. In May and June, wildflowers cover the ground in purples, yellows, and whites. In summer the grass is a vivid green. This is the kind of place where you can sit for an hour and hear nothing except wind, water, and birds.

Before reaching the main meadow, the road passes through Tangnar, a small settlement in a narrow valley good for photography. Further along, Mujhpathri is a small hamlet along the Shaliganga with traditional Gujjar shepherd houses. Palmaidan, just beyond the main meadow, is a rougher landscape of large boulders scattered across a plateau with streams running between them.

Practical Notes

Doodhpathri is not set up for mass tourism. There are a few guesthouses and a JKTDC property, but no large hotels, no reliable ATMs, and limited food options beyond snack stalls near the meadow. Bring cash, carry water and snacks, and manage your expectations on accommodation. For most visitors this is part of the appeal.

Kashmir's Most Remote Valley

Gurez is not for everyone. The road crosses the Razdan Pass at around 11,500 feet and takes 4 to 5 hours from Srinagar. Parts of it are unpaved. A permit is required for non-local visitors. The facilities consist of a few basic guesthouses and one JKTDC property. For the right kind of traveller, all of this is exactly the point.

The Gurez Valley sits in the Bandipora district in northern Jammu and Kashmir, near the Line of Control. The people who live here, the Dards, speak Shina and follow a culture that has remained largely unchanged for centuries. Their wooden houses, built with carved lattice balconies, line the river banks. The main town is Dawar.

Habba Khatoon Peak and the Kishanganga River

The most iconic image from Gurez is the pyramid-shaped peak rising directly behind Dawar. It is named after Habba Khatoon, a 16th-century Kashmiri poetess who lived in the valley and whose work is still sung throughout Kashmir.

The Kishanganga River runs through the full length of Gurez before crossing into Pakistan. The banks are popular with anglers (brown trout are plentiful, permits required) and with anyone who simply wants to sit by moving water for a while.

Tulail Valley and Silk Route Heritage

Beyond Dawar, a rough road continues into Tulail Valley, a sub-valley that is even less visited. Traditional Dard villages sit along the valley sides, surrounded by meadows and forest. If you want to understand what Kashmir looked like before roads and mass tourism, Tulail is as close as you will get.

Historically, Gurez was part of the ancient Silk Route connecting Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. This heritage is reflected in the valley's culture and architecture and the distinct Dard identity of its people.

Practical Notes

A Protected Area Permit is required for non-residents and is available online or at check posts. The road is typically open from late May to early November. There are no ATMs in Gurez. An SUV or Innova is recommended over a sedan for the road conditions.