📍 Nature📍 Heritage📍 Photography

Char Chinar Island, Dal Lake

Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India

4.4 (0)

Overview

A tiny Mughal island of four sentinel chinar trees mid-lake — Murad Baksh's 17th-century folly, reached only by shikara.

Why visit: The prettiest shikara destination on Dal, ringed by mountain reflections.

Things to do

›Four-chinar island
›Floating gardens en route
›Kabutar Khana
›Autumn crimson canopy

Shikara RidePhotographyPicnic

Location & MapDirections

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Travel Information

Best time

Apr–Oct; autumn colours

Entry fee

Shikara hire ₹700–1,200

Est. budget

₹700–1,500

Duration

2–3 hrs

Nearby attractions

Within

0.8 km

📍 Heritage

4.5

Chashme Shahi & Pari Mahal

Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir

The 'royal spring' garden of famed digestive waters, and above it Dara Shikoh's seven-terraced Pari Mahal — a Sufi school glowing over Dal at dusk.

Apr–Oct; sunset at Pari Mahal2–3 hrsExplore

1.2 km

🍲 Local Experience

4.8

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.

Apr–Oct (snow charm Dec–Feb)1–3 nightsExplore

1.6 km

📍 Nature

4.7

Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden

Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir

Asia's largest tulip garden — 1.7 million blooms in ribbons of colour under the Zabarwan hills for three dazzling spring weeks.

Late Mar–mid Apr only2–3 hrsExplore

2.5 km

🛕 Religious

4.6

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.

Apr–Oct; mornings2–3 hrsExplore

3.4 km

🏞️ Lake

4.7

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.

Apr–Oct1–2 daysExplore

4.2 km

📍 Heritage

4.6

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.

Apr–Jun & Oct–Nov2–3 hrsExplore

4.2 km

🏞️ Lake

4.6

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.

Apr–Oct1–2 daysExplore

4.2 km

🍲 Local Experience

4.5

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.

Year-roundHalf dayExplore

4.6 km

📍 Nature

4.7

Autumn Chinar Season, Kashmir

Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir

October's crimson-gold fortnight when giant chinars torch the Mughal gardens, Naseem Bagh's university groves and every village square.

Mid Oct–mid Nov3–5 daysExplore

4.7 km

🛕 Religious

4.6

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.

Year-round; relic display festivals1–2 hrsExplore

5 km

🏛️ Historical

4.3

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.

Apr–OctHalf dayExplore

5.4 km

📍 Heritage

4.5

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.

Apr–OctHalf dayExplore