Travel style
Snow and winter
Gulmarg powder, Auli slopes and white Spiti
Skiing in Gulmarg and Auli, winter Spiti at minus twenty, frozen Ladakh and snowfall weekends in Shimla and Manali. We plan winter trips with heated rooms, road-status checks and spare days for snow.
Photo: Skywayman9 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · CommonsWinter shrinks the Himalaya to the places a road still reaches. Gulmarg gets some of the deepest snow in the range from January to March. Spiti stays open from Shimla through Kinnaur when most passes close.
Winter trips need flexibility. Roads close after heavy snow and flights to Leh are cancelled in bad weather, so we keep a spare day and check current status before you travel.
Trips
Snow and winter trips
Photo: Fulvio Spada from Torino, Italy · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons
Signature
Kashmir in winter: Gulmarg snow and Srinagar
Private 4x4 with driver and snow chains
Photo: IamBumba · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Comfort
North Sikkim: Lachen, Lachung, Gurudongmar
Private SUV with driver
Photo: IamBumba · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Saver
North Sikkim on a budget, 5 nights
Seats on shared permit-tour vehicles
Photo: Itrajib · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Saver
Tawang circuit by shared Sumo
Shared Sumos, with one shared taxi day in Tawang
25 places
Where to go
Photo: Skywayman9 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Gulmarg
A ski meadow at 2,650 m with a gondola to Apharwat
Photo: Wikiditot · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Sonamarg
The meadow of gold on the old road to Ladakh
Photo: Bernard Gagnon Canon EOS REBEL T4i · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Hemis
Ladakh's great Drukpa monastery and the snow leopard national park
Photo: This Photo was taken by Timothy A. Gonsalves. … · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Zanskar (Padum)
Ladakh's remotest valley, reached over Pensi La
Photo: Neerajsinghazm · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Manali
Head of the Kullu valley, under cedar forest and snow peaks
Photo: Navneet Sharma · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Shimla
The old summer capital, reached by a 1903 mountain railway
Photo: Pranav perspective · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Key Gompa and Kibber
Spiti's largest gompa and the village where snow leopards winter
Photo: This Photo was taken by Timothy A. Gonsalves. … · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Keylong
Lahaul's capital on the Bhaga, two hours from Manali
Photo: Vaibhav 369 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Auli & Joshimath
Ski slopes and meadows facing Nanda Devi, above Joshimath
Photo: Alok · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Chopta & Tungnath
Meadows, rhododendron forest and the highest Shiva temple
Photo: Sharmaprakharr · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Kedarnath
The highest Jyotirlinga, a 16 km walk above Gaurikund
Photo: ParthaPratimNath · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Mukteshwar
Orchards, cliffs and a Shiva temple on a 2,171 m ridge
Experiences
Days that fit the style
Photo: Arup1981 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Gondola to the Apharwat ridge
The Gulmarg Gondola climbs in two phases from the meadow to Kongdori and then to the Apharwat ridge close to 4,000 m. I…
Photo: Rudolph.A.furtado · CC0 · Commons
First ski lessons on the Gulmarg nursery slopes
Gulmarg is the best place in India to learn to ski. Gentle slopes near the meadow, rental shops by the gondola and cert…
Photo: Vinayaraj · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Meadow walk to the Maharani Temple and St Mary's
A gentle walk across the meadow links Gulmarg's two heritage buildings: the Maharani Temple, built by Maharaja Hari Sin…
Photo: Original: Ganesh Mohan T Derivative work: Unpe… · CC BY 4.0 · Commons
Walk or ride to the Thajiwas glacier valley
From the main Sonamarg meadow, a 3–4 km trail climbs gently into the Thajiwas side valley, ringed by peaks with glacier…
Photo: Owais Mushtaq Zargar · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Kashmir Great Lakes trek from Sonamarg
This seven-day trek starts at Shitkadi near Sonamarg, crosses Nichnai, Gadsar and Zajibal passes, and passes a chain of…
Photo: Mehrajmir13 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Rafting the Sindh below Sonamarg
In summer, local operators run short rafting stretches on the Sindh river just below Sonamarg. The water is glacier-fed…
Photo: Bernard Gagnon Canon EOS REBEL T4i · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Hemis Monastery courtyard and museum
Ladakh's richest monastery, hidden in a gorge above the Indus. See the courtyard where the festival is danced, the pain…
Photo: Sundeep bhardwaj · CC BY 3.0 · Commons
Snow leopard tracking in Hemis National Park
In late winter, snow leopards follow their prey lower into the valleys of Hemis National Park. Guided trips with local …
Where to sleep
Stays in these places
Photo: Chongkian · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Mid
Hotel Highlands Park
A heritage hotel from the early 1960s on a rise above the Gulmarg meadow, with a main lodge and separate cottage-s…
Photo: Skywayman9 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Luxury
The Khyber Himalayan Resort & Spa
Gulmarg's top resort, opened in December 2012, with rooms and private cottages looking over the meadow and pine fo…
Photo: Neerajsinghazm · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Budget
Zostel Manali
A backpacker hostel in Old Manali, in the orchard village above the Manalsu stream, with dorm beds and private roo…
Photo: Navneet Sharma · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Luxury
Wildflower Hall, An Oberoi Resort, Shimla
An Oberoi resort at Chharabra, about 13 km beyond Shimla at roughly 2,500 m, on the site of Lord Kitchener's forme…
Photo: Navneet Sharma · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Luxury
The Oberoi Cecil, Shimla
A restored late-19th-century hotel on Shimla's Mall at Chaura Maidan, with colonial interiors, valley-view rooms a…
Photo: Original: Biswarup Ganguly Derivative work: Un… · CC BY 3.0 · Commons
Luxury
Span Resort and Spa
A riverside resort on about 12 acres on the banks of the Beas near Katrain, south of Manali, with cottages, garden…