6 Day Trip to Srinagar

This is a couple trip, that we took from Mar - 2nd to 10th, 2016. The Itinerary is below:


Suggested Itinerary:

1. Srinagar - Day 1 & 2 : Dal Lake, Shankaracharya Temple, Chashme Shahi, Nishat Bagh, Shalimar Bagh, Pari Mahal, Tulip Garden
2. Gulmarg - Day 3, day trip Gondola Phase 1 & 2, snow activities
3. Sonmarg - Day 4, day trip
4. Pahalgam - Day 5&6, Overnight trip Aru Valley, Betaab Valley, Temples on the way, Apple Garden
5. Srinagar - Day 7 - Return flight from Srinagar

(Do include Sonmarg in the itinerary. Depending on the time of the year, you will be able to access this place. We could not go there due to excessive snowfall)


Cost of Trip:

All amounts mentioned below are in Indian Rupee(INR), for 2 pax

Flight Round Trip (from Hyderabad to Srinagar, via Delhi)- Rs 22000(2 pax)
Hotels - Rs 16000(2 pax, for 7 days)
Food & Sightseeing - Rs 17000

Total -Rs 55000


Hotels for Stay:

We stayed in Hotel Welcome, on Boulevard Road. It was opposite Dal Lake, and had a great lake view. It was nice and cozy with adequate heating. We booked it on Oyo, for Rs 1600 per day tariff. Link to the Property is here. We stayed for all the 7 days in this property and did day trips to Gulmarg and Pahalgam


Things to Eat:

Wazwan - Any non-vegetarian would instantly fall in love with this delicious meat platter! Try it out in Ahdoos restaurant, and Mughal Darbar restaurant. Ahdoos has a great ambiance & excellent service. Mughal Darbar has very courteous staff, but ambiance can improve here. But both served great, lip-smacking Wazwan!! Access reviews of Ahdoos here and Mughal Darbar here.


Kashmiri Kehwa - This is the saffron laden tea of Kashmir, which is famous for its health benefits. Try it in the Ahdoos/Mughal Darbar restaurants mentioned above. They are known to give warmth in the cold biting winters of Kashmir.


Kashmiri Yakhni Pulao/Kashmiri Chicken - There is a restaurant named Wazwan, on the Boulevard Road. We tried out the Yakhni Pulao here, but it could've been better. Check out the reviews here.


Trip in Detail:


We took a flight from Hyderabad to Delhi and then a connecting flight from Delhi to Srinagar. The view was quite picturesque right from the time we landed in Srinagar! Srinagar is a military airport, and photography is not allowed in the airport. We had a cheeky start when we got to know that Prepaid SIM cards don't work in the whole of Jammu & Kashmir state. Luckily, I was using a post-paid connection and our problem was half-solved!


We got a Pre-paid taxi(550INR) from the airport and checked into Hotel Welcome. It was on the Boulevard road overlooking the Dal lake. We had a lovely lake view from our room! Post settling down and freshening up, we went out onto the Dal Lake in the evening. It is not at all exaggerating to say that the Dal lake is paradise on earth! True to every claim, it was a very refreshing walk down the Boulevard road. We clicked some pictures on the way, saw the floating Post office of Srinagar(Yes it floats on the Dal Lake) and walked past to have some hot tea. We had Momos and Fuyong (A lip-smacking Tibetan delicacy - an Omelette with juicy pieces of chicken in it!) for dinner and called it a night.






                                                         Dal Lake - Srinagar


The next day we went on the Dal Lake ride. (We were charged 450Rs for 2 people, for the ride. However, I feel we paid a huge price. There is a lot of bargaining, and anywhere between 150-200 Rs per person is the fare there). As was customary, we clicked a lot of couple pictures on the lake and thoroughly enjoyed the ride. We were warned before-hand not to buy any of the over-priced merchandise for sale over the Dal lake. It was a beautiful ride sans the haggling and shopping!


The 3rd day, we ventured to Gulmarg. We hired a taxi to Gulmarg (1800Rs for round trip). Now this is a place with mixed experiences. We went on to have some really good memories. We went for skiing, sledging, and the Gondola ride, all for the first time, but I somehow feel we were fleeced quite a lot. Had to take a guide along, for lack of options, had to rent the sledging dress and shoes and other stuff. But then my husband convinced that its a trade-off for all the lovely experiences we had and the memories we created! Luckily for us, it snowed during our Gondola ride!! That was the icing on the cake - literally :)
(Guide +Sledging + Skiing = 4900, Jacket+Shoes on rent = 500, Gondola = 1400, All prices for 2pax)

                                                          Sledging at Gulmarg



The 4th day, we hired a bike - Avenger, for rent(1000Rs per day) and rode to Pahalgam. Now many people are not comfortable on bike rides - so choose wisely, but we had a real good time on our bike trip. It was 100kms each side, but the ride to Pahalgam, followed by the trip to Aru valley was just mesmerizing. The highlight here again was the ride to the top of Aru Valley. Mind-blowing ride - slightly risky, but completely worth it at the top! On our way back at Srinagar, we stopped by Ahdoos to have the most amazing Kashmiri food - Wazwan and Kashmiri Kehwa!! We are both Non-veg freaks and especially mutton in the intense cold was a great experience! We became a huge fan of the Kehwa too and ended up buying some Kehwa for home!


                                                Wazwan at Ahdoos Restaurant





                               Kehwa at Ahdoos Restaurant


The 5th day was for Srinagar local sightseeing. (We planned for Sonmarg too, but it was closed due to Snow). We hired a local cab for 350Rs, and visited Shankaracharya temple, Chashme Shahi, Shalimar Bagh and Nishat Bagh(All these are places to visit locally in Srinagar). We clicked lots of photos and enjoyed roaming around! Our Wazwan-tooth was still aching for more! We decided to explore Mughal darbar as well! Ended up liking it too. However, Ahdoos was a killer, both in terms of food, ambience and hospitality(Mughal darbar was also good in hospitality and food, but Ahdoos' ambience was far better)


                                        Kashmiri Kehwa at Mughal Durbar




                                                    Wazwan at Mughal Durbar


With Sonmarg out of the picture, 6th day was a rest day for us. Had a movie marathon in our hotel and ventured out only to try out different food specialities. We ended up having Punjabi veg food for lunch. For dinner we explored this restaurant called Wazwan. We ordered Kashmiri Pulao and chicken. Didn't like the food much though in Wazwan. The place was also deserted, and had only 1 more couple apart from us!

The next day was checkout time. We were heading back to Delhi from Srinagar. End of an awesome trip is what I can say. Remember telling my husband that I didn't feel like returning back and setting up a Wazwan stall would be an awesome idea! (PS: We took an auto to the airport, from Boulevard Rd, and it costed us 200Rs)