Travel style · Kashmir
Road trips in Kashmir
The high roads, driven at the right speed
The Himalaya has some of the highest motorable roads in the world: Manali to Leh, the Spiti circuit, Sela Pass, the Old Silk Route. We plan them with acclimatisation days, a driver who knows the bends and honest drive times.
Photo: Aniketchoudhary87 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · CommonsA mountain road is slow. Two hundred kilometres can take eight hours when the road climbs over a pass, crosses snow-melt streams and waits for a landslide to be cleared. We plan drives in daylight, keep long days to one in three, and build a spare day into any route that crosses a pass above 4,000 m.
Kashmir is a 135 km long valley at about 1,600 m, ringed by the Pir Panjal and the Great Himalaya. Come April to June for tulips and meadows, September to November for chinar and saffron, January to March for snow in Gulmarg. Six to eight nights covers Srinagar, Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonamarg.
Trips
Road trips trips in Kashmir
Photo: Fulvio Spada from Torino, Italy · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons
Comfort
Classic Kashmir: Srinagar, Gulmarg, Pahalgam
Private car with driver
Photo: Fulvio Spada from Torino, Italy · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons
Saver
Gurez Valley on a budget by shared Sumo
JKSRTC or private bus to Bandipora, shared Sumos, one shared car day
Photo: Fulvio Spada from Torino, Italy · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons
Saver
Srinagar, Gulmarg and Pahalgam on a budget
Shared Sumos, the valley train and a shared union taxi in Pahalgam
3 places
Where to go
Photo: Aniketchoudhary87 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Gurez Valley
Log villages on the Kishanganga below Habba Khatoon peak
Photo: Umarsami · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Pampore
Saffron town on the karewas, 15 km from Srinagar
Photo: Wikiditot · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Sonamarg
The meadow of gold on the old road to Ladakh
Experiences
Days that fit the style
Photo: Zahid samoon · CC BY 3.0 · Commons
Walk Dawar's log-house villages
A slow walk through Dawar and the villages along the Kishanganga shows how Gurez lives: log houses built for long winte…
Photo: Abhirup Paul · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Day drive into the Tulail valley
East of Dawar, the Tulail valley climbs past small villages, fields and broad meadows on a rough road. It is the most r…
Photo: Zahid samoon · CC BY 3.0 · Commons
Evening below Habba Khatoon peak
The pyramid peak above Dawar carries the name of Habba Khatoon, the 16th-century poet-queen of Kashmir. An evening on t…
Photo: Ashfaq ahanger · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Saffron harvest at dawn on the karewas
For about three weeks each autumn, Pampore's karewas turn purple with saffron crocus. Families pick the flowers at dawn…
Photo: Venkygrams · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Avantipora's 9th-century temple ruins
About 15 km beyond Pampore, at Awantipora on the Jhelum, lie the ruins of two stone temples built by King Avantivarman …
Photo: FADIND SOUL · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
How to buy genuine Kashmir saffron in Pampore
Pampore is the best place to buy Kashmir saffron, but fakes and blends are common across India. Knowing the grades, the…
Photo: Original: Ganesh Mohan T Derivative work: Unpe… · CC BY 4.0 · Commons
Walk or ride to the Thajiwas glacier valley
From the main Sonamarg meadow, a 3–4 km trail climbs gently into the Thajiwas side valley, ringed by peaks with glacier…
Photo: Owais Mushtaq Zargar · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Kashmir Great Lakes trek from Sonamarg
This seven-day trek starts at Shitkadi near Sonamarg, crosses Nichnai, Gadsar and Zajibal passes, and passes a chain of…
Where to sleep