Srinagar

Srinagar grew up on water. The Jhelum runs through the old city under a line of bridges, and the Dal Lake on its eastern edge is not one lake but a world: open water, floating gardens, lily beds, and communities who have lived on and from the lake for generations. The houseboats came under the Raj, when the Maharaja forbade outsiders to own land and the British simply built homes on the water instead.

The Mughals loved the valley and made gardens for it. Jahangir built Shalimar Bagh for Nur Jahan, Asif Khan built Nishat Bagh on the eastern shore, and both still step down the hillside in terraces of chinar, fountains and water channels. Beyond them, on the ridge, Pari Mahal looks back over the whole lake.

The Old City is Kashmir's other inheritance. The Jamia Masjid stands on 378 pillars of deodar, each a single trunk. Khanqah-e-Moula on the Jhelum is all carved wood and painted papier-mâché, and Hazratbal, white-domed on the lake's north shore, holds a relic of the Prophet and draws huge crowds on holy days. Kashmiri Pandit tradition has its centre at Kheer Bhawani in Tulmulla, a spring temple outside the city.

Kashmiri food is a ceremony. Wazwan, the wedding feast, runs through many courses cooked by the waza — rista, rogan josh, tabak maaz, and gushtaba to close. Every morning bakers called kandurs sell girda and lavasa bread, eaten with noon chai, the salt-pink tea. Kahwa, with saffron and almonds, is for guests.

Kashmir's security situation can change quickly — after the attack near Pahalgam in April 2025 several sites closed for months — so check current advisories and listen to your Saint. Be on the lake at dawn for the floating vegetable market. Shikara fares are fixed by the tourism department; ask for the rate card. The tulip garden opens for only a few weeks from late March, so time it. And walk the Old City with someone who knows it: the craft workshops are behind closed doors.

Many of the houseboat and shikara families have had lean years; book directly where you can. The Dal is shrinking and polluted, so ask how your houseboat handles waste, and leave nothing in the water. Dress modestly in the Old City and at shrines, and ask before photographing people, especially women. During Ramzan, eat discreetly in public.

Srinagar is the valley's centre, and its most famous meadow is ninety minutes away. Gulmarg is high pasture in summer and India's best ski slope in winter, reached by one of the world's highest gondolas.