Autumn Chinar Season, Kashmir
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Nearby attractions
Hazratbal Shrine
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
The white-marble lakeside dargah holding the Moi-e-Muqqadas — the Prophet's sacred hair relic — Kashmir's holiest Muslim shrine, mirrored in Dal's waters.
Nigeen Lake
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
Dal's quieter twin — a deep blue lagoon ringed by willows and poplars, where houseboats sit far apart and shikaras glide without the crowds.
Srinagar Houseboat & Shikara Experience
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
Sleeping on carved-cedar Victorian houseboats and waking to the floating vegetable market — the definitive Kashmir ritual on Dal and Nigeen.
Hari Parbat Fort & Makhdoom Sahib
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
An 18th-century Afghan fort crowning the hill of goddess Sharika, shared with the Makhdoom Sahib shrine and a gurudwara — Srinagar's hill of all faiths.
Jama Masjid & Old Srinagar (Nowhatta)
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
A 1394 mosque of 378 deodar columns and Central Asian courtyards, in the old city's maze of copperware lanes, bakeries and the Khanqah-e-Moula's papier-mâché interiors.
Nishat Bagh
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
The 'garden of joy' — twelve zodiac terraces of roses and fountains stepping straight down to Dal's shore, framed by Zabarwan crags.
Badamwari Almond Garden
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
Spring's first act in Kashmir — Hari Parbat's old almond orchard turns white-pink in March, a fortnight before the tulips even wake.
Shalimar Bagh
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
Jahangir's 1619 garden of love for Nur Jahan — four chinar-shaded terraces of fountains climbing from Dal Lake toward the Zabarwan mountains.
Dal Lake
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
Srinagar's mirror — shikaras glide past floating gardens, lotus beds and carved cedar houseboats moored since the Raj, with the Pir Panjal reflected in glassy water. Mornings bring a floating vegetable market; evenings, saffron kahwa on your houseboat deck.
Kashmir Crafts: Pashmina, Papier-Mâché & Carpets
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
Workshop lanes where GI-tagged pashmina is spun on wooden wheels, papier-mâché blooms in gold leaf and carpet looms knot silk gardens.
Char Chinar Island, Dal Lake
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
A tiny Mughal island of four sentinel chinar trees mid-lake — Murad Baksh's 17th-century folly, reached only by shikara.
Shankaracharya Temple
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
A 9th-century stone Shiva shrine on the 1,100-ft Takht-e-Suleiman hill — the oldest surviving temple in Kashmir, with the whole valley at its feet.