Kashmir 6 Day Itinerary: Day by Day with Drive Times

How do six days in Kashmir fit together?

Six days is long enough for the four classic stops of the valley: Srinagar, Sonmarg, Gulmarg and Pahalgam. The real choice is whether you sleep in Srinagar every night and drive out and back, or spend one night in Pahalgam. Both versions below share the first three days and split on day four. Soun Kashmir lists a six-day plan, the Srinagar Couple Tour, and also runs the same loop as a private 6 days taxi tour, so you can ask a planner to shape either one like the plans below.

Plan A keeps day five as a buffer. If cloud sits on Gulmarg or a road shuts, the lost day can swap with the free one where roads and weather allow. Plan B gives up that buffer for an evening and a morning beside the Lidder, in place of a second round trip. Our Srinagar guide covers the city days in more detail.

How long are the drives between the stops?

The table lists the drive times read on 8 November 2026 from J&K Tourism and the Ganderbal district page, and they are approximate. Leave slack when you set the pace of a day.

Soun Kashmir's taxi page names Gulmarg to Pahalgam and Pahalgam to Sonmarg as the longest drives of the six-day loop, because both pass through the Srinagar area. Read the Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonmarg guides for each place.

Should you sleep in the hills or stay in Srinagar?

Height is the other difference. Wikipedia gives Srinagar 1,585 m, Gulmarg 2,650 m and Pahalgam 2,200 m, while J&K Tourism gives Pahalgam as 2,130 m, so by those figures a night in Pahalgam sits roughly 545 to 615 m above Srinagar. The Yellow Book of the US CDC says the drop in blood oxygen is greatest during sleep, and that going up for the day and returning to lower ground in the evening is much less stressful for the body. A night in Gulmarg would sit about 1,065 m above the city, and about 450 to 520 m above a night in Pahalgam. Anyone with a heart or lung condition should ask a doctor before choosing a night in the hills.

How do flight times change the first and last day?

Day one and day six depend on your flights more than on the plan. The Srinagar district website gives roughly 25 to 35 minutes for the drive from the airport to Dal Lake and the centre, traffic permitting, and says airport security checks are thorough, so carry photo ID.

Flights into and out of Srinagar can run late in any season, so leave slack before an onward connection. Send your flight numbers with your request. See ways into the valley for the routes and our airport pickup page for pickups.

What changes by season?

Nobody can promise snow, a clear road or an open viewpoint for a given date, so treat these notes as things to check, and read them beside the best months to visit.

• Sonmarg: the Ganderbal district page, last updated in January 2023, says visitors can have access to snow in late April, at a time when Sonamarg is open to road traffic. Wikipedia says the Z-Morh tunnel, opened on 13 January 2025, now gives Sonamarg all-weather connectivity, and Soun Kashmir's Sonmarg guide says the road and the snow decide the season, so check what is open when you travel.
• Gulmarg: the J&K Cable Car Corporation's notice closes the gondola on the second and fourth Monday of every month for maintenance, so keep your Gulmarg day off those Mondays. Our gondola guide has the rest.
• Pahalgam: J&K Tourism describes Pahalgam as cool even in the height of summer, with a maximum temperature that does not exceed 25 °C, and says night temperatures there do not fall as low as Gulmarg's because the town sits lower.

On 8 November 2026 the Anantnag district list of closed tourist places, dated 7 July 2026, named Baisaran and Chandanwari and gave no reopening date; the notice also prints 31 December 2026 as an end date but does not explain it. Neither Betaab Valley nor Aru Valley appeared on it. The Tribune, in a report updated on 29 September 2025, counted Aru Valley among seven spots that reopened. Brighter Kashmir, which does not name Aru, wrote in April 2026 that Betaab Valley was the one major attraction still open beyond central Pahalgam. Rising Kashmir, in a story datelined 4 March 2026, said the Thajiwas glacier had reopened days earlier. Those reports do not settle what you will find on your dates, so ask a planner about days four and five before you settle them. The safety guide lists the dated advisories.

What does a six-day plan cost?

Soun Kashmir's prices are copied from its live listing as of 25 October 2026. The listing does not say whether a price is per person or per group, so the final amount depends on group size and dates, and the written quote confirms it. Flights are not part of a listed price, and the written quote shows any other extra on its own line.

Plan B, with a night in Pahalgam, is not a separate card. Soun Kashmir describes its listed packages as starting points it changes for your dates, and says you can swap hotels, add a houseboat night or change the number of days, so ask for plan B as a variation of the six-day tour and check that the written quote names each hotel. The 6 days taxi tour has no listed fare either: it is priced on request by cab type, season and whether stays are included.

Should you pick five, six or seven days?

• Five days fits a first visit on limited leave, when each hill town becomes a day trip. The listed plan is the Kashmir Family Trip.
• Six days works if you want one slower evening, or a spare day, and still see every place. The listed plan is the Srinagar Couple Tour.
• Seven days is for sleeping in more than one hill town, or adding Doodhpathri; ask a planner for it as a variation. The listed Srinagar Group Tour runs seven days, for six travellers.
• Older parents or young children: weigh plan A's single base and spare day against plan B's night in Pahalgam. See the family tour packages.
• Couples can use either plan; the honeymoon packages compare the listed trips.

What is the next step?

Write to us with your dates, group size, flight times and preferred plan through the contact page. A planner replies with a free custom quote, and our planners are available 24x7. Every listed trip sits side by side on Kashmir tour packages, and the planning guide walks through the first decisions. Keep the quote in writing.

Where do the facts on this page come from?

Drive times come from J&K Tourism and the Ganderbal district website, the airport transfer time from the Srinagar district website, heights from Wikipedia and J&K Tourism, and the Z-Morh tunnel date from Wikipedia. The Pahalgam weather note comes from J&K Tourism, the gondola closure days from the J&K Cable Car Corporation's notice, the advice on sleeping at height from the US CDC's Yellow Book, and the closure and reopening reports from the Anantnag district list, The Tribune, Brighter Kashmir and Rising Kashmir, all read on 8 November 2026. The packages and prices are Soun Kashmir's own listing as of 25 October 2026. Notices and reports change, so confirm what is open before you travel.