Srinagar: 11 Things to Do (and 3 Skips)

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Before you book any of this: Kashmir is a disputed, security-sensitive region, and the Kashmir Valley currently sits inside a “don’t travel” warning from the US and UK governments, following the 22 April 2025 attack at Baisaran meadow near Pahalgam that killed 26 people, mostly tourists, and the brief India-Pakistan military escalation that followed. Check your own government’s current advisory before you plan anything below. The Valley is also, genuinely, functioning: heavy security, record visitor numbers, and everything on this list running normally as of this writing. Go precaution-first, with a registered operator, not on a whim, and expect checkpoints and a visible security presence throughout.

Skip straight to a numbered plan and this is what actually fills the days: water, gardens, one hill, one old city, and one honest side trip. None of it requires a guide you didn’t vet, and most of it is cheaper done independently than through a hotel-arranged package.

11 things to do in Srinagar

  1. Shikara out to the dawn floating market on Dal Lake. Peaks around 5am, tapers by 7. The official rate is roughly ₹750-800 an hour; agree the fare with your houseboat or a hotel desk before you get in.
  2. Sleep on the water, not just visit it. A standard Dal Lake houseboat runs about ₹2,500-3,500 a night, full board; Nigeen Lake next door is the same experience with fewer boats and less noise.
  3. Nishat Bagh and Shalimar Bagh in the same morning. They’re a short drive apart, both Mughal-era (1633 and 1619), and Nishat’s top terrace gives you the better combined view of the lake and the Pir Panjal range.
  4. Chashme Shahi, the 30-45 minute garden. Smallest of the three, built around a natural spring, worth the short stop before or after Pari Mahal above it.
  5. Pari Mahal for the actual best view. Seven terraces on a former Buddhist monastery site, open and ticketed daily except Friday (roughly ₹20-24), and quieter than either of the bigger gardens below it.
  6. Hazratbal Shrine, on Dal Lake’s north shore. Holds a relic said to be a hair of the Prophet. The outer courtyard is open to visitors; dress modestly, and treat it as the active place of worship it is.
  7. Walk the old city, Shehr-e-Khaas. The Khanqah of Shah Hamdan (all wood, no nails, 1395) and the Jamia Masjid’s 378 deodar pillars are both free to visit outside prayer times.
  8. Shankaracharya Temple, if you’re up for the steps. About 240 of them, plus a security checkpoint that frequently bars phones and cameras with no lockers provided, so leave electronics with your driver. The reward is the best rooftop view of the city and lake there is.
  9. Hari Parbat hill. A genuinely multi-faith circuit, a fort gate, the Sharika Devi temple, the Makhdoom Sahib shrine, and Sikh gurdwaras on one hill, entry nominal (roughly ₹10-25, ignore any online listing quoting far more).
  10. The Tulip Garden, only if your dates hit it. Asia’s largest, roughly 1.75 million bulbs, but the bloom window is narrow, late March into April, and there’s little reason to detour here outside it.
  11. A Gulmarg gondola day. One of the highest cable cars in the world, split into two ticketed phases; see our day trips guide for current phase pricing and drive time.

3 things to skip

Cramming Gulmarg, Sonamarg and Pahalgam into one day. That’s ten-plus hours of driving for a surface-level stop at each. Pick one per day trip and actually see it.

Letting your houseboat owner also arrange your day-trip taxi without comparing a second quote. It’s convenient, and it’s also a built-in markup. A quick price check with your hotel or a separate driver usually saves real money.

Treating Shankaracharya Temple as a photo stop. The security checkpoint at the base routinely confiscates phones and cameras until you’re back down, and there’s no guarantee it won’t on the day you go. Go for the view in person, not for the photo.

For the full 2-7 day itineraries that string these together with actual timing, and for where to eat after a long day of gardens, we’ve got both covered elsewhere on the site.

A Dal Lake shikara and gardens tour booked ahead is worth it mainly in peak season, when independent boatmen are busiest and pushiest about price; check the current official advisory before booking anything, and go with a registered operator either way. The India e-visa is required before any of this, apply only through the official portal.

One thing worth remembering on every stop above: the “no photos” rule around checkpoints, bunkers and military personnel is enforced, not a formality, so keep your camera down until you’re clearly past security.