Kashmir trip during late October 2012 - Info needed

Dear all,

I’m planning a family trip (5 members in total including me – all adults) to Kashmir just after the Durga Puja this year and needed your help to have the best possible travel plan in place!
Tried writing the first version of the itinerary:

25-Oct-2012 : Train from Howrah to Delhi / Jammu (what would be most convenient for the connecting journey to Srinagar – Delhi / Jammu?)
26-Oct-2012 : Delhi / Jammu to Srinagar (Please suggest the most convenient way to reach Srinagar)
27-Oct-2012 : Srinagar local site seeing + stay (one day enough?)
28-Oct-2012 : Srinagar to Sonamarg – day trip
29-Oct-2012 : Srinagar to Gulmarg (worth staying at Gulmarg?)
30-Oct-2012 : Srinagar / Gulmarg (if staying) to Pahalgam
31-Oct-2012 : Pahalgam Site Seeing + stay
01-Nov-2012 : Pahalgam to Jammu and take a train to Howrah (please suggest the train, preferably leaving Jammu station at night)

Note that one day or two could be added if needed as I don’t have any time constraint as such – so please feel free to revise.

I would greatly appreciate if you could provide your valuable inputs on the points below:

• Typically how much does it cost for a day’s stay at Houseboat in Srinagar? Any references?
• Name and Contact numbers for budget hotels at Srinagar (if HB isn’t feasible), Gulmarg, Pahalgam. How much can I expect for a decent budget hotel in these places?
• I’ve heard of JKSRTC bus services for site seeing but don’t have much detail – please can you provide some info? If possible, contact number?
• Any additional details that I might not be considering above - Any nice places close to any of the above places that I might be missing? Any travel tips?

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Sudipta Mukherjee.

The options could be by air or by train. Generally elders avoid travelling by road Anyway you have to travel a lot by road in valley!
Most convenient would be traveling by air.
Yes!
People love staying at Gulmarg, though it could be avoided.
You would be required to come back to Srinagar to go to Pahalgam. If going directly from Gulmarg, you may try leaving Gulmarg very early.
There is a daily train: 13152 SEALDAH EXPRESS: JAMMU TAWI Dep 18:55 KOLKATA Arr 15:50 and thrice a week train (Mon, Thurs, and Sun): 12332 HIMGIRI EXPRESS: JAMMU TAWI Dep 22:45 HOWRAH JN Arr 11:15
You should visit bus stand located near TRC (Tourist Reception Center)at Srinagar. All the sightseeing buses start from there.

Many thanks Prakaant for your inputs - much appreciated!

Please can you shed some more light on the Howrah to Srinagar part...
Is it a good idea to opt train for Howrah to Delhi and then flight to Srinagar... if so, please can you make me aware of the best train options to keep the connection time for flight to a bare minimum (along with the timings for each if possible)?
Also suggest if you've a better idea?

You may plan that way...

There are options like (courtesy: Indian Railways' Official site): 13111 LAL QUILA EXP KOLKATA Dep 20:15 DELHI (Old Delhi) Arr 03:10 (Easier in transit to Airport). There are in total 8 trains including Rajdhani, & Duranto Express reaching Delhi at various times.

You may also have a night stay in Delhi and proceed to Srinagar by next morning flight. There are at least 12 flights from various airlines like Indigo, Jet, SpiceJet, GoAir, etc leaving Delhi at various times.

Check the below trains:
1.Purva Express deprats from howrah @8.20am
2.Ndls duronto from sealdah @6.40pm

Train details from howrah/sealdah to Delhi.
Never try with 13111 LAL QUILA EXP.It would take 31 hrs to reach old Delhi inspite of knowing Old Delhi is easier transit to Airport.

Thanks bappa01 !!
I tried searching for trains on makemytrip for the last week of October but didn't find any booking... either WL or RAC... even for AC2 and AC3 !!!

Booking starts 4 months earlier.For puja rush,you will not get any tickets..

Due to unavailability of train bookings, I was thinking of doing it during mid to late November – can I still expect the weather to be as good as it could have been during late October?
If not, will it be considerably worse – please let me know your thoughts on this…

Thanks.

Yes weather would be good....i think this the best time to visit Kashmir....
You may get the train ticket(purva,duronto) well in advance..

Hi bappa,
November is a good time to visit kashmir .You will get bargain prices on hotels and everything.
But please bring some warm clothes along as the temprature that time hovers around 12 -15 degrees celcius.
Regards
Waseem

Great. Thanks folks.
I won't mind the cold as we'll definitely be carrying worm clothes along - I'm happy as long as it's bright and sunny...
Cheers.

@syedwasem
I'll be going on mid of Oct.. i suggest Nov for Sudipta.....

I am also planning to go to kashmir in the month of dec..i hve booked the train only..Here how i am going..

SDAH RAJDHANIEX (12313) to reach new delhi
UTTAR S KRANTI (12445) to reach jammu from delhi. You can also take JAMMU RAJDHANI for this. Then i will need to take shared taxi from jammu station.

@joneyb
This also be a good combination..