Srinagar area in September - advice on itinerary needed
Srinagar area in September - advice on itinerary needed
Hi,
We will be comming from Kargil, visit Sonamarg en route to Srinagar.
Would it be smarter to go from Sonamarg to Pahalgam (overnight) and than to Srinagar? Would we save time on the roads and have more for sightseeing, such as Dachigam Wildlife Reserve?
Houseboot Srinagar: Is it recommended to book in advance for 1st. week September, or is there enough availability of all levels?
Are the moored to the shore houseboots a better choice as independent from the shikara shuttle?
Dal Lake or Nagin Lake?
Thank you for any advice
We will be comming from Kargil, visit Sonamarg en route to Srinagar.
Would it be smarter to go from Sonamarg to Pahalgam (overnight) and than to Srinagar? Would we save time on the roads and have more for sightseeing, such as Dachigam Wildlife Reserve?
Houseboot Srinagar: Is it recommended to book in advance for 1st. week September, or is there enough availability of all levels?
Are the moored to the shore houseboots a better choice as independent from the shikara shuttle?
Dal Lake or Nagin Lake?
Thank you for any advice
Jammu-kashmir--vaishno devi-amritsar trip
Hello frenz!!! I had been to jaamu-kashmir & amritsar from 20th april 2012 to 1st may 2012. After getting fresh coming back to mumbai-i decided to share my experience with you all.this tour plan is for budget people with economic rooms and pure vegetarian restaurant suggestions as we all were gujaratis.
On 20th april 2012 we caught a train jammu tawi from bandra terminus to jammu. On 21st april we reached jammu by 3.30 p.m. We were 3 families in total but one family was about to join us in jammu from delhi next day morning. So on that half day we had to spend in jammu and meet our 1 more family next day morning. After getting down at jammu station we came to road and asked 1 military person for some budget hotels in jammu..so we tried to find the hotels near-by station and ultimately we got our hotel on the right side of the station(extention road) which was at a walking distance of just 10 mins from station in the opposite direction of vaishanavi dham. It was quite descent hotel with t.v. Inside.in the evening we went to raghunath temple in ricshaw and then had our dinner in hotel (opp. Raghunath temple) the food in hotel regal was superb. Especially the dal fry jeera rice.
From there we came back to hotel and booked a chevrolet tavera vehicle for our kashmir trip from we booked tavera for 6 days @2200 per day including every toll tax and driver allowance.the owner was very kind in his approach and we got impressed in his behaviour we booked the vehicle requesting him to give a good driver. He said that he will give his best driver-with us. Next day we started for srinagar which is 294 kms from jammu. We started at 9 a.m. Sharp but the road of jammu to kashmir highway is so narrow that it was fully jammed and due to that we reached jammu at 11.00p.m. Late night. There we had a booking of house-boat booked from mumbai in advance through kashmir house-boat owners association through their web-site. But to out surprise they all are real crooks and all the kashmiris locals are real crooks.they said that we had booked a “b” category room, but since we came late so our house-boat was alloted to some-one else and so now we have to pay for “a” category room and stay in “a” category copulsory. We asked him to show the “a” category house-boat. But to our surprise, the rooms seemed like “b” category only. We had a lot of arguments and then finally he stteled at rs 2100 per day.but said that he would allot this boat only for 2 days, where-as we had booked in advance from mumbai for 3 days. We had paid 50% of the amount too in their bank a/c, so we had no choice, but to stay in houseboat. He then even asked us 500rs extra for carrying our luggage to house-boat from the shore through his shikara. We said,but that is free?? He said that at 11 “o” clock night it is not free. We were really fed up with these people. While coming they welcome us in a sweet way. But while departing, they change their language completely and ask to pay for many things in extra.any-how we passed our 2 days in house-boat and on 3rd day we found one good hotel near dal lake at a very cheap tarriff. The rooms were very nice and the owner is very-very kind. I have contact numbers of many more cheap hotels in srinagar too. Next day we left for sonmarg.frankly speaking, going to sonmarg is totally waste of time, money & energy. I really did not like sonmarg at all. The rates of dresses given on hire for going in ice starts from onwards, but we bargained to rs. Per dress.but they don’t give hand-gloves on hire & without hand-glooves, you cannot play in ice for too long.so buying a gloves is adviced.the worst part of sonmarg is the horse owners. They start their rates from rs.1500 per horse and promise us to show 7-8 points. And when we bargain them to 600-700, they get ready and make us sit fast on their horse.me and my wife did not go with our group. However, our group setteled for rs.800 per horse including the ice coats hire too.as soon as our group left on horses.some more horse owners came and offered us the same deal for rs.500. But since we both were not interested to go,so we ignored. But when our group came back from the points, they all said that all the points were rubbish and they have been fooled by those points which are not worth seeing at all.
Next day we went to gandola ride(rope-way ride) to gulmarg. Gulmarg has much neat and thick ice rather than sonmarg. From the parking stand of vehicle, you have to walk just 1 km to reach the gandola stand. But there too, the horse riders will tell you that it is too far and will ask rs.700 to drop you to the gandola base. But it is hardly 15 mins walk from the parking stand. There is very huge queue for buying a ticket for gandola ride. But if you have a credit card, then you are lucky, as there is a separate queue for credit card holders and the rush is very less. Experiencing the gulmarg ice is really mesmerizing and un-forgetful event. Playing in the ice of gulmarg is much better than the worst experience of sonmarg. Even the language & attitude of gulmarg locals is much better than sonmarg or house-boat people in srinagar. I would suggest to go on the second point too, in gandola to a higher peak at a charge of rs.500 extra. From there you can see the real view of the heaven and the l.o.c. Too.going to the second higher point in gulmarg is really worth, else you would miss the real beauty of the heaven.on 3rd day morning we went early in shankaracharya temple in srinagar climbing 250 stair-cases. Then we went to mughal garden, chashme-shahi garden & then took a gujarati-thali lunch in hotel mumta (which is best known for its food) located on the back side of dal lake fore shore road, khona khan, dalgate. The food of mumta was so excellent that i could simply rate 10 out of 10 to him, otherwise anna purna dhaba located on the same road just leaving 5-6 shops is also the best option for food. Finally our time was up as we had to leave for pehalgham too. So quickly we saw, tulip garden and ommitted nishat garden and shikara ride too & went straight to pehalgham, which is 4 hours journey from srinagar. We reached pehalgam at 8.00 p.m. Where we had a booking in laripora near golf-course. The hotel was really very-very good although it was little far from the market, but the view from the rooms of the hotel is really marvellous. Tariff too was very cheap and the owner mr. Shamim is very-very kind.even swiss cottage of yousuf bhai or hotel grand akbar are centrally located and cheap and good option. Next day we went for pehalgam sight-seeing, aru-valley, betaab valley and chandan-wari.in pehalgam our personal vehicles are not allowed and you have to compulsorily book another vehicle from the pehalgam owner’s association.so our vehicles rent of 1 day was our loss & nobody had told us that before. We booked sumo car for seeing 3 points @ 1800 rs in total. Aru velley is really superb in its scenic view you can stay in aru velley here hotel fimi and hotel alpine is really worht to stay foe nature lovers.even beataab velley has a good scenic beauty and chandan-wari has plenty of snow too to play with. There are some points to go on horse-ride too, like mini-switzerland,kashmir vallley etc. But those all are really not at all much worth seeing. Next day we moved towards katra, for our vaishno-devi yatra. From pehalgham to katra it is 250kms 11 hours journey. Evening we reached katra at 8 p.m. Evening and started searching some good hotel. Ultimately we got hotel golden castle on kashmir road, katra (behind hotel shivalik) it was a very good hotel with very cheap rates & centrally located in market and near the main chowk of registration counter. Going walking on the top is very-very tough experience and even going on horse is also tire-some.however there is rick-shaw service to and fro from ardha-kuwari (half the way ahead) but you have to stand in a very long queue to get a booking. However there is a corruption in that too,if you can manage. You get lockers on the top, before the main temple to keep your baggaes, belt,pen,tablets,toffees,shoes ,socks,wallets etc, as nothing is allowed to carry inside the temple.going by helicopter is the best experience to go, if you book 3 months before & if you are lucky enough to get ticket from pawan-hans online. The rates are rs.699 one-way. Even the horse too charges the same rates. Secondly you get vip darshan if you go by helicopter service. Next day we went to jammu and caught a train for amritsar at 14.50 hours and reached amritsar 20.40 hours. There we searched hotels, exactly opposite to railway station, g.t. Road nr.liberty market- this was one of the best hotel of our tour and cheap too.you get stay in dharamshala of golden temple too. Next day we went to see golden temple, jalianwala bagh and finally wagah border.the parade of wagah border is ultimate and really worth seeing. At night we caught golden temple train and came back to mumbai & our hectic and memorable trip ended.but we covered more things in less time and in a very economical budget. If you need any suggestions i am always ready to help you all with their contact numbers. :d
On 20th april 2012 we caught a train jammu tawi from bandra terminus to jammu. On 21st april we reached jammu by 3.30 p.m. We were 3 families in total but one family was about to join us in jammu from delhi next day morning. So on that half day we had to spend in jammu and meet our 1 more family next day morning. After getting down at jammu station we came to road and asked 1 military person for some budget hotels in jammu..so we tried to find the hotels near-by station and ultimately we got our hotel on the right side of the station(extention road) which was at a walking distance of just 10 mins from station in the opposite direction of vaishanavi dham. It was quite descent hotel with t.v. Inside.in the evening we went to raghunath temple in ricshaw and then had our dinner in hotel (opp. Raghunath temple) the food in hotel regal was superb. Especially the dal fry jeera rice.
From there we came back to hotel and booked a chevrolet tavera vehicle for our kashmir trip from we booked tavera for 6 days @2200 per day including every toll tax and driver allowance.the owner was very kind in his approach and we got impressed in his behaviour we booked the vehicle requesting him to give a good driver. He said that he will give his best driver-with us. Next day we started for srinagar which is 294 kms from jammu. We started at 9 a.m. Sharp but the road of jammu to kashmir highway is so narrow that it was fully jammed and due to that we reached jammu at 11.00p.m. Late night. There we had a booking of house-boat booked from mumbai in advance through kashmir house-boat owners association through their web-site. But to out surprise they all are real crooks and all the kashmiris locals are real crooks.they said that we had booked a “b” category room, but since we came late so our house-boat was alloted to some-one else and so now we have to pay for “a” category room and stay in “a” category copulsory. We asked him to show the “a” category house-boat. But to our surprise, the rooms seemed like “b” category only. We had a lot of arguments and then finally he stteled at rs 2100 per day.but said that he would allot this boat only for 2 days, where-as we had booked in advance from mumbai for 3 days. We had paid 50% of the amount too in their bank a/c, so we had no choice, but to stay in houseboat. He then even asked us 500rs extra for carrying our luggage to house-boat from the shore through his shikara. We said,but that is free?? He said that at 11 “o” clock night it is not free. We were really fed up with these people. While coming they welcome us in a sweet way. But while departing, they change their language completely and ask to pay for many things in extra.any-how we passed our 2 days in house-boat and on 3rd day we found one good hotel near dal lake at a very cheap tarriff. The rooms were very nice and the owner is very-very kind. I have contact numbers of many more cheap hotels in srinagar too. Next day we left for sonmarg.frankly speaking, going to sonmarg is totally waste of time, money & energy. I really did not like sonmarg at all. The rates of dresses given on hire for going in ice starts from onwards, but we bargained to rs. Per dress.but they don’t give hand-gloves on hire & without hand-glooves, you cannot play in ice for too long.so buying a gloves is adviced.the worst part of sonmarg is the horse owners. They start their rates from rs.1500 per horse and promise us to show 7-8 points. And when we bargain them to 600-700, they get ready and make us sit fast on their horse.me and my wife did not go with our group. However, our group setteled for rs.800 per horse including the ice coats hire too.as soon as our group left on horses.some more horse owners came and offered us the same deal for rs.500. But since we both were not interested to go,so we ignored. But when our group came back from the points, they all said that all the points were rubbish and they have been fooled by those points which are not worth seeing at all.
Next day we went to gandola ride(rope-way ride) to gulmarg. Gulmarg has much neat and thick ice rather than sonmarg. From the parking stand of vehicle, you have to walk just 1 km to reach the gandola stand. But there too, the horse riders will tell you that it is too far and will ask rs.700 to drop you to the gandola base. But it is hardly 15 mins walk from the parking stand. There is very huge queue for buying a ticket for gandola ride. But if you have a credit card, then you are lucky, as there is a separate queue for credit card holders and the rush is very less. Experiencing the gulmarg ice is really mesmerizing and un-forgetful event. Playing in the ice of gulmarg is much better than the worst experience of sonmarg. Even the language & attitude of gulmarg locals is much better than sonmarg or house-boat people in srinagar. I would suggest to go on the second point too, in gandola to a higher peak at a charge of rs.500 extra. From there you can see the real view of the heaven and the l.o.c. Too.going to the second higher point in gulmarg is really worth, else you would miss the real beauty of the heaven.on 3rd day morning we went early in shankaracharya temple in srinagar climbing 250 stair-cases. Then we went to mughal garden, chashme-shahi garden & then took a gujarati-thali lunch in hotel mumta (which is best known for its food) located on the back side of dal lake fore shore road, khona khan, dalgate. The food of mumta was so excellent that i could simply rate 10 out of 10 to him, otherwise anna purna dhaba located on the same road just leaving 5-6 shops is also the best option for food. Finally our time was up as we had to leave for pehalgham too. So quickly we saw, tulip garden and ommitted nishat garden and shikara ride too & went straight to pehalgham, which is 4 hours journey from srinagar. We reached pehalgam at 8.00 p.m. Where we had a booking in laripora near golf-course. The hotel was really very-very good although it was little far from the market, but the view from the rooms of the hotel is really marvellous. Tariff too was very cheap and the owner mr. Shamim is very-very kind.even swiss cottage of yousuf bhai or hotel grand akbar are centrally located and cheap and good option. Next day we went for pehalgam sight-seeing, aru-valley, betaab valley and chandan-wari.in pehalgam our personal vehicles are not allowed and you have to compulsorily book another vehicle from the pehalgam owner’s association.so our vehicles rent of 1 day was our loss & nobody had told us that before. We booked sumo car for seeing 3 points @ 1800 rs in total. Aru velley is really superb in its scenic view you can stay in aru velley here hotel fimi and hotel alpine is really worht to stay foe nature lovers.even beataab velley has a good scenic beauty and chandan-wari has plenty of snow too to play with. There are some points to go on horse-ride too, like mini-switzerland,kashmir vallley etc. But those all are really not at all much worth seeing. Next day we moved towards katra, for our vaishno-devi yatra. From pehalgham to katra it is 250kms 11 hours journey. Evening we reached katra at 8 p.m. Evening and started searching some good hotel. Ultimately we got hotel golden castle on kashmir road, katra (behind hotel shivalik) it was a very good hotel with very cheap rates & centrally located in market and near the main chowk of registration counter. Going walking on the top is very-very tough experience and even going on horse is also tire-some.however there is rick-shaw service to and fro from ardha-kuwari (half the way ahead) but you have to stand in a very long queue to get a booking. However there is a corruption in that too,if you can manage. You get lockers on the top, before the main temple to keep your baggaes, belt,pen,tablets,toffees,shoes ,socks,wallets etc, as nothing is allowed to carry inside the temple.going by helicopter is the best experience to go, if you book 3 months before & if you are lucky enough to get ticket from pawan-hans online. The rates are rs.699 one-way. Even the horse too charges the same rates. Secondly you get vip darshan if you go by helicopter service. Next day we went to jammu and caught a train for amritsar at 14.50 hours and reached amritsar 20.40 hours. There we searched hotels, exactly opposite to railway station, g.t. Road nr.liberty market- this was one of the best hotel of our tour and cheap too.you get stay in dharamshala of golden temple too. Next day we went to see golden temple, jalianwala bagh and finally wagah border.the parade of wagah border is ultimate and really worth seeing. At night we caught golden temple train and came back to mumbai & our hectic and memorable trip ended.but we covered more things in less time and in a very economical budget. If you need any suggestions i am always ready to help you all with their contact numbers. :d
Hi CRAZYTRAVEL!
Nice travelogue! Crisp, to-the-point and containing very practical tips. This will be great help for people like us, who are planning Kashmir trips. However, I find that the name of the hotel you stayed both at Jammu and also at Srinagar (also more budget hotels at Srinagar) plus the Taxi Operator's name & contact phone no is missing from your report. These are very important. I am not sure whether you had deliberately avoided the names in the Report or Mod had deleted these info as you are very new to the forum. I can not send PM to you, nor can you send any PM to me at this stage. The only option would be to send these details through email. My email ID is: asishk_das@yahoo.co.in. Shall be grateful if you send these info at your earliest. Thanks.
PS: Please also let me know the charges that you had paid to these hotels and also how was the behavior of the driver, who accompanied you all through your trip.
Nice travelogue! Crisp, to-the-point and containing very practical tips. This will be great help for people like us, who are planning Kashmir trips. However, I find that the name of the hotel you stayed both at Jammu and also at Srinagar (also more budget hotels at Srinagar) plus the Taxi Operator's name & contact phone no is missing from your report. These are very important. I am not sure whether you had deliberately avoided the names in the Report or Mod had deleted these info as you are very new to the forum. I can not send PM to you, nor can you send any PM to me at this stage. The only option would be to send these details through email. My email ID is: asishk_das@yahoo.co.in. Shall be grateful if you send these info at your earliest. Thanks.
PS: Please also let me know the charges that you had paid to these hotels and also how was the behavior of the driver, who accompanied you all through your trip.
@ CRAZYTRAVEL
Dear Friend,
I read through your travel report which is very well written and very much informative. I have a plan to visit kashmir this year middle of October. I have some confusion regarding my tour. It will be great pleasure if you kindly help me out...
We 6 people (1 Male, 1 Female, 1 Child, 2 Sr. Male, 2 Sr. Female) are like to visit Kashmr.
My Itinerary is-----
Day1 -- Board KOAA-ASR Super
Day2 -- Reach ASR at 4:50 P.M. N. S. at ASR
Day3 -- Local Site Seeing in ASR and Board BTI JAT EXP at 1:10A.M
Day4 -- Reach Early Morning in Jammu and Direct to Pahelgam. N.S. at Pahelgam.
Day5 -- Hole Day at Pahelgam. N.S. at PahelGam.
Day6 -- Pahelgam to Srinagar. N.S. at Srinagar.
Day7 -- Hole Day at Srinagar. N.S. at Srinagar.
Day8 -- Hole Day at Srinagar. N.S. at Srinagar.
Day9 --Srinagar to Jammu and Board Uttar S Kranti Exp at 8:40 P.M. for New Delhi.
Day10 -- Board NDLS-HWH Rajdhani.
Day11 -- Reach Howrah.
1. Can you suggest me any good budget hotel (with Phone and Address if possible) in Srinagar which is not so far from Dal Lake or it may be in Nehru Place and also in Pahelgam. My budget is not so high. I am searching within Rs. 500-1000.
2. How much approx time take from Srinagar to Jammu by Taxi or TATA Sumo if traffic problem is not arise?
3. You please also mention any House Boat in Srinagar within Rs. 1000 - Rs. 1500.
4. What is the approx cost to travel from Jammu to Pahelgam, Pahelgam to Srinagar and Srinagar to Jamuu in share basis.
4. How is my Itinerary?? Do you think any addition-alteration?
Please help me to find out the answers...
Rupak
rupaksen2000@yahoo.com
(as I cannot send any Private Message to you please send it to my mail)
Dear Friend,
I read through your travel report which is very well written and very much informative. I have a plan to visit kashmir this year middle of October. I have some confusion regarding my tour. It will be great pleasure if you kindly help me out...
We 6 people (1 Male, 1 Female, 1 Child, 2 Sr. Male, 2 Sr. Female) are like to visit Kashmr.
My Itinerary is-----
Day1 -- Board KOAA-ASR Super
Day2 -- Reach ASR at 4:50 P.M. N. S. at ASR
Day3 -- Local Site Seeing in ASR and Board BTI JAT EXP at 1:10A.M
Day4 -- Reach Early Morning in Jammu and Direct to Pahelgam. N.S. at Pahelgam.
Day5 -- Hole Day at Pahelgam. N.S. at PahelGam.
Day6 -- Pahelgam to Srinagar. N.S. at Srinagar.
Day7 -- Hole Day at Srinagar. N.S. at Srinagar.
Day8 -- Hole Day at Srinagar. N.S. at Srinagar.
Day9 --Srinagar to Jammu and Board Uttar S Kranti Exp at 8:40 P.M. for New Delhi.
Day10 -- Board NDLS-HWH Rajdhani.
Day11 -- Reach Howrah.
1. Can you suggest me any good budget hotel (with Phone and Address if possible) in Srinagar which is not so far from Dal Lake or it may be in Nehru Place and also in Pahelgam. My budget is not so high. I am searching within Rs. 500-1000.
2. How much approx time take from Srinagar to Jammu by Taxi or TATA Sumo if traffic problem is not arise?
3. You please also mention any House Boat in Srinagar within Rs. 1000 - Rs. 1500.
4. What is the approx cost to travel from Jammu to Pahelgam, Pahelgam to Srinagar and Srinagar to Jamuu in share basis.
4. How is my Itinerary?? Do you think any addition-alteration?
Please help me to find out the answers...
Rupak
rupaksen2000@yahoo.com
(as I cannot send any Private Message to you please send it to my mail)
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