Deepank Ranka · Nishat Bagh Srinagar 01.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
Srinagar
Dal Lake, houseboats and the Mughal gardens, in the valley Kashmir is named for.
Srinagar
A lake city with a working old town behind it — and the base almost every Kashmir itinerary is built around.
Explore Srinagar on the map
City locations, drawn from our published destination data. Attractions, hotels and restaurants are not mapped yet.
Beyond the temples
Two Mughal gardens, one old city, and a lake that takes an afternoon on its own.
The gardens
- Nishat Bagh — twelve terraces stepping down to Dal, laid out in 1633 by Asaf Khan, with a central water channel and chinars framing the Zabarwan behind. The larger and the better of the two.
- Shalimar Bagh — Jahangir’s garden of 1619, built for Nur Jahan, more formal and more shaded; the black-marble pavilion at the top was the emperor’s.
- Chashme Shahi is small and steep and takes twenty minutes; Pari Mahal, on the ridge above it, is a ruined seventeenth-century terraced school with the best view over the lake.
The old city
- Jamia Masjid — founded in 1394 and rebuilt after fire more than once, its prayer hall carried on hundreds of deodar columns rather than arches. Unlike anything else in Indian mosque architecture.
- Khanqah-e-Moula, on the Jhelum, is a wooden shrine of papier-mâché ceilings and carved eaves, and the older parts of the city around it are still lived in rather than restored.
- Hazratbal, on the north shore, is the valley’s most visited shrine and the one clearly visible from the lake.
Above the city
- Shankaracharya Hill — a temple on a rock 300 m above the city, reached by road and then a stair. Go for the view of the whole valley rather than the building.
- The Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden below it is the largest in Asia and open for roughly three weeks from late March. Outside that window there is nothing to see.
How long to give it
Gardens and the lake
Nishat and Shalimar in the morning while the light is still on the terraces, Pari Mahal for the view, and a shikara in the late afternoon when the lake goes flat.
The old city
Jamia Masjid, Khanqah-e-Moula and the lanes on foot, Hazratbal from the water, and Shankaracharya at the end of the day.
Out of the valley floor
Gulmarg is about 2 hrs, Pahalgam about 2.5, Sonamarg about 3. Most itineraries take one or two of them and come back to a houseboat for the last night.
Arriving & getting around
Fly in; use a car with a driver for everything outside the lake.
Getting there
- Srinagar (SXR) has frequent domestic flights from Delhi and Mumbai and sits about 12 km from the boulevard. It is the only sensible way in for a trip of a week or less.
- By road from Jammu is roughly 270 km on NH44 through the Jawahar tunnel — eight hours or more, and genuinely scenic, but it costs a day in each direction.
- There is no railway to Srinagar from the plains; the valley line runs only within Kashmir.
Once you are here
- A car with a driver is how the gardens, Gulmarg and Pahalgam are all done, and it is what every package on this site includes.
- On the lake it is shikaras only. Agree the fare and the duration before stepping in; an hour is enough for the gardens’ shoreline, and it is the standard length.
- The old city is best walked. Traffic there is narrow and slow, and the lanes are the point.
When to visit
The valley has four genuinely different seasons, and they are not interchangeable.
Blossom, then the tulip garden for about three weeks from late March. Cool mornings, comfortable afternoons, and the lightest crowds of the warm half of the year.
The season everyone travels. Warm days, full houseboats and the highest rates; book well ahead, particularly for Nigeen.
The chinars turn and the light is the best of the year. Nights get cold quickly. The quietest good month is often October.
Chillai Kalan, the forty coldest days, runs from 21 December to 31 January; Dal can freeze at the edges. Come for that, or do not come.
How to be a good guest
A craft economy that still sells to people who use what it makes.
What is made here
- Pashmina is spun from the undercoat of Changthangi goats bred in Ladakh and woven in Srinagar. A genuine kani shawl, patterned on the loom rather than embroidered afterwards, can take a weaver the better part of a year.
- Papier-mâché, walnut-wood carving and hand-knotted carpets are the other three trades, and all four are still worked in the old city rather than in a showroom quarter built for visitors.
- Buying is where travellers most often go wrong. Price alone proves nothing; ask to see the reverse of a shawl, and be wary of any driver who insists on his own shop.
What is eaten here
- Wazwan is the Kashmiri banquet — a sequence of mutton courses served on a shared platter, cooked by a hereditary guild of chefs. A full one runs to dozens of dishes and is a wedding, not a dinner.
- What you will actually meet is a short version: rogan josh, gushtaba, rista, with rice, and none of it fiery — Kashmiri cooking is aromatic rather than hot.
- Kahwa, green tea with saffron, cardamom and almond, is drunk all day and is the thing most people miss when they leave.
Insider tips
- Choose the houseboat, not the category. Quality varies more here than anywhere else in India, and the star rating on a boat means very little. A named boat someone has actually stayed on is worth more than a grade.
- Ask whether the boat is on Dal or Nigeen before you book. They are different experiences and the price often is not.
- Agree the shikara fare in advance, including how long the ride is.
- Say clearly at the start of the day if you do not want shopping stops. Otherwise they will appear in the itinerary.
- Nights are cold from October and the valley is at 1,585 m: bring a layer even in summer.
- Who should come: anyone visiting Kashmir at all — every route starts here. Who should skip it: nobody doing the valley, though a traveller who wants mountains rather than a city should give more nights to Pahalgam.
Nearby
Where Srinagar leads next.
Related to Srinagar
Journeys that include Srinagar — each one visits the city as part of its itinerary.
Common questions
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