By road
~51 km from Srinagar
North India · Jammu & Kashmir
Gulmarg, Jammu & Kashmir
The meadow of flowers, and India's best snow · ~51 km from Srinagar
Getting there
By rail
Mazhom, ~33 km, has very limited service; Jammu Tawi is the practical option for most travellers
By air
Sheikh ul-Alam International Airport, Srinagar, ~51-60 km
Best time to visit
December to March for powder; May-September for green meadows
Don't miss
Gulmarg Gondola to Apharwat
St. Mary's Church
Strawberry Valley
Things to do
Skiing and boarding
Gondola rides
Pony meadow treks
Golf in summer
Where to eat
Sources: open-meteo, wikimedia, Photo: Vikas Panwar · CC BY-SA 4.0
What to pack
Full snow kit in winter (rentable), sunglasses, moisturizer
A quieter corner
Phase 2 of the gondola — 3,950m, among the world's highest lifts
About Gulmarg
- Mountains
Where it is
Gulmarg is a hill resort in the Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, set in a cup-shaped meadow in the Pir Panjal range west of Srinagar, at about 2,650 m.
History
The name Gulmarg means meadow of flowers and is traditionally said to have been given by the 16th-century Kashmiri sultan Yusuf Shah Chak. The British developed it as a summer retreat with a golf course and church in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and after independence it became the heart of winter sports in India, with a gondola opened in stages from 1998.
People
Kashmiri, Urdu and Hindi are spoken in Gulmarg, and many local families work as ski guides, pony handlers and hoteliers, while Gujjar and Bakarwal herders bring their flocks to the high meadows in summer.
Known for
- The Gulmarg Gondola to Apharwat
- Skiing and snowboarding
- A historic golf course
- St Mary's Church
- Summer meadows and pony rides
Did you know?
The upper stage of the Gulmarg Gondola climbs to a point on Apharwat peak close to 4,000 m, making it one of the highest cable cars in the world.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.