Travel style · Kashmir
Snow and winter in Kashmir
Gulmarg powder, Auli slopes and white Spiti
Skiing in Gulmarg and Auli, winter Spiti at minus twenty, frozen Ladakh and snowfall weekends in Shimla and Manali. We plan winter trips with heated rooms, road-status checks and spare days for snow.
Photo: Skywayman9 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · CommonsWinter shrinks the Himalaya to the places a road still reaches. Gulmarg gets some of the deepest snow in the range from January to March. Spiti stays open from Shimla through Kinnaur when most passes close.
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
Snow and winter trips in Kashmir
Photo: Fulvio Spada from Torino, Italy · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons
Signature
Kashmir in winter: Gulmarg snow and Srinagar
Private 4x4 with driver and snow chains
2 places
Where to go
Experiences
Days that fit the style
Photo: Arup1981 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Gondola to the Apharwat ridge
The Gulmarg Gondola climbs in two phases from the meadow to Kongdori and then to the Apharwat ridge close to 4,000 m. I…
Photo: Rudolph.A.furtado · CC0 · Commons
First ski lessons on the Gulmarg nursery slopes
Gulmarg is the best place in India to learn to ski. Gentle slopes near the meadow, rental shops by the gondola and cert…
Photo: Vinayaraj · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Meadow walk to the Maharani Temple and St Mary's
A gentle walk across the meadow links Gulmarg's two heritage buildings: the Maharani Temple, built by Maharaja Hari Sin…
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…
Photo: Mehrajmir13 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Rafting the Sindh below Sonamarg
In summer, local operators run short rafting stretches on the Sindh river just below Sonamarg. The water is glacier-fed…
Where to sleep
Stays in these places
Photo: Chongkian · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Mid
Hotel Highlands Park
A heritage hotel from the early 1960s on a rise above the Gulmarg meadow, with a main lodge and separate cottage-s…
Photo: Skywayman9 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Luxury
The Khyber Himalayan Resort & Spa
Gulmarg's top resort, opened in December 2012, with rooms and private cottages looking over the meadow and pine fo…
Snow and winter elsewhere