Best Time to
Visit Kashmir

Spring transforms Kashmir into what the Mughals called paradise — and nowhere is this more vivid than during tulip season. The Srinagar Tulip Garden (Asia's largest, with over 1.5 million tulips) bursts into bloom in late March to mid-April, painting the Zabarwan Hill slopes in waves of red, yellow, violet and white with Dal Lake shimmering below.

Beyond tulips, spring brings the cherry blossoms of the Mughal gardens, the first lotus buds on Dal Lake, and the thaw of winter snow revealing bright green meadows at mid altitudes. The weather is mild — warm enough for comfortable sightseeing but cool enough for long walks — and the light is extraordinary.

Summer is when the full breadth of Kashmir opens up. Every mountain pass becomes accessible — Sinthan Top, Sonamarg's Thajiwas Glacier, and after June, Gurez Valley with its Inner Line Permit. The meadows at high altitude are carpeted with wildflowers. The Lidder River in Pahalgam runs full and fast. Dal Lake is blue and bright under long summer days.

This is the most popular season, particularly July and August when Indian families take summer holidays. Srinagar, Gulmarg and Pahalgam can get crowded — book in advance. But venture to Sinthan Top or Gurez Valley and you'll find the summer solitude that Kashmir's mountains were made for.

Autumn is our personal favourite season in Kashmir — and many photographers agree. From late September, the famous chinar trees of the Mughal gardens, Dal Lake shore and Pahalgam valley begin their annual transformation, turning from green to gold to a deep, burning crimson. The quality of light in October Kashmir — low-angled, amber, intensely warm — is unlike any other time of year.

The monsoon has cleared, leaving skies of improbable depth and clarity. The peaks are freshly powdered with early snowfall. Crowds thin after October. Sinthan Top in September gives perhaps its finest photography conditions of the year — clear panoramas, golden meadows, and the first dusting of winter snow on distant ridges.

Winter Kashmir is for those who want a genuinely dramatic experience. Gulmarg becomes India's premier ski resort — the Gondola operates through winter carrying skiers and snowboarders to the Afarwat slopes with some of the finest powder snow in Asia. The slopes host national and international ski competitions each February.

Srinagar in winter is quiet, cosy, and beautiful in a raw way — the houseboat experience changes character entirely, becoming a warm wooden refuge from which to watch snow fall on the lake. In severe winters, Dal Lake freezes partially or fully, creating one of the most extraordinary spectacles in Kashmir.