In short
Gurez Valley in Bandipora district is 123 km from Srinagar over the Razdan Pass, according to the district website, and one traveller's log gives 5 to 7 hours each way. Snow closes the road in winter: in 2026 it reopened on 13 February after just over twenty days, Greater Kashmir reported. Soun Kashmir quotes Gurez trips on request.
At a glance
- Where
- Bandipora district, beside the Kishanganga river and near the Line of Control (Bandipora district page, Wikipedia)
- Distance
- 123 km from Srinagar and 86 km from Bandipora on the district page; one traveller's blog says about 140 km and 5 to 7 hours
- Height
- About 2,400 m on the district page, 2,580 m in Wikipedia's infobox; Razdan Pass 3,556 m on Wikipedia, about 3,300 m in Kashmir Horizon
- Only road
- The Razdan Pass road is the only road in; Wikipedia says the valley is cut off for about six months of the year
- 2026 road
- Shut about 23 January; reopened 13 February; suspended 7 March; avalanches 23 March; closed on 25 April; reopened 14 October after fresh snow at Razdan Top
- Permits
- Foreign visitors: special permission from the Bandipora Deputy Commissioner, said the local MLA (Greater Kashmir, 23 February 2025). Indian visitors: guides disagree; no official notice is cited
- Tourist restriction
- The local MLA said a ban on non-local tourists was lifted (Rising Kashmir, 16 July 2025); on 16 February 2026 the Lieutenant Governor said Gurez would reopen once snow cleared
- Stay
- The district list names the Tourist Reception Centre at Dawar; approved river campsites are allowed
- With Soun Kashmir
- No listed package; taxi, Tempo Traveller and stay pages quote the trip on request
Is Gurez Valley open to tourists in 2026?
Gurez was cleared for reopening in February 2026 and is not on the closed-destinations list dated 7 July 2026, but no official notice stating the rules for the 2026 season appears in the sources named below. The Lieutenant Governor said on 16 February 2026 that Gurez would reopen once snow was cleared, and Kashmir Life reported on 25 April 2026 that the administration had recently allowed tourists towards Razdan Pass after a year of restriction. The Wire's report of 15 July 2026 on that list does not name Gurez either.
| Date | What was reported | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 23 February 2025 | Greater Kashmir reported Gurez open to foreign tourists; the local MLA said they need special permission from the Deputy Commissioner's office in Bandipora | Greater Kashmir |
| 16 July 2025 | The local MLA said the administration had lifted the travel restriction on non-local tourists, put in place after the 22 April 2025 attack | Rising Kashmir |
| 16 February 2026 | Gurez, Athwatoo and Bangus named for reopening once the snow is cleared | Kashmir Reader, 16 February 2026 |
| 25 April 2026 | Tourists allowed to visit Razdan Pass after a year of restriction; the road beyond still closed by snow | Kashmir Life |
| 7 July 2026 | The nearly 30 closed places named for Kulgam, Srinagar, Budgam, Kupwara, Anantnag and Baramulla include Bungus Valley in Kupwara but not Gurez; the Anantnag notice's end-date field reads 31 December 2026, and no reopening date is given | Anantnag district website notice, updated 8 July 2026; The Wire, 15 July 2026 |
These are news reports, not a Bandipora district notice. Check the position with the Deputy Commissioner's office in Bandipora before booking, because access to a frontier valley can change at short notice.
How far is Gurez from Srinagar, and how long is the drive?
| Source | What it says | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Bandipora district website | 123 km from Srinagar and 86 km from Bandipora | Government |
| Wikipedia | 123 km from Srinagar, 86 km from the district headquarters | Encyclopedia |
| The Kashmir Horizon, 13 February 2026 | The 35 km stretch from Bandipora to Razdan Top is considered particularly challenging in winter | News |
| Vargis Khan travel blog | About 140 km via Sumbal, Bandipora and Razdan Pass, taking 5 to 7 hours | One traveller's account |
The official figure is 123 km, and the only drive time given is the traveller's 5 to 7 hours, so plan a full day for each direction. The same blog describes a badly broken stretch of about 10 km after the pass and several checkpoints where visitors register. Roads change from year to year, so treat that account as a guide only.
When is the road to Gurez open?
The Razdan Pass road is shut by snow for part of every winter, and the winter closures in the table below ran from just over twenty days (23 January to 13 February 2026) to 121 days (2021). The Kashmir Horizon wrote that the road is generally closed after the first major snowfall at Razdan Top and that Gurez is cut off for nearly half a year. Wikipedia's page on the pass says it stays closed to vehicles for over three to four months. Snow closed the road several more times in March and April 2026.
| Winter or date | What was reported | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Reopened after 121 days, according to an official quoted in the report | Rising Kashmir, 17 March 2023 |
| 2022 | Thrown open to controlled traffic on 12 March after more than three months, according to Kashmir Reader; an official quoted a year later by Rising Kashmir said about two months | Kashmir Reader, 13 March 2022; Rising Kashmir, 17 March 2023 |
| 2023 | Reopened on 16 March after 58 days, described as a record | Rising Kashmir, 17 March 2023 |
| 2025 | Traffic suspended for only 28 days, against nearly three months in earlier winters; one-way traffic returned on 29 March | Kashmir Despatch, 29 March 2025 |
| 2026: 23 January to 13 February | Shut around 23 January and reopened on 13 February to light motor vehicles, after just over twenty days | Greater Kashmir, 13 February 2026 |
| 2026: 12 and 13 February | Snow clearing finished on 12 February; traffic ran one way from Bandipora, starting at the Tragbal checkpoint at 9:00 am on 13 February, with anti-skid chains and no heavy vehicles | The Kashmir Horizon, 13 February 2026 |
| 2026: 7 March | Traffic suspended until further orders after fresh snow at Razdan Top | Kashmir Age and Kashmir Images, 7 March 2026 |
| 2026: 23 and 25 March | Two avalanches blocked the road on 23 March; it reopened on 25 March | Kashmir Observer, 23 March 2026; Kashmir Life, 26 March 2026 |
| 2026: 25 April | Road still closed, with six to seven feet of snow at the pass | Kashmir Life, 25 April 2026 |
| 2026: 14 October | Reopened after nearly five inches of snow at Razdan Top; the Gurez sub-divisional magistrate confirmed it was cleared | Kashmir Life, 14 October 2026 |
The date the road opened for the 2026 summer season is not in the reports named below. Authorities advise confirming the road status with the District Control Room Bandipora before travelling.
Which permits and ID do visitors to Gurez need?
No official notice on permits is cited on this page. For foreign visitors, the local MLA, Nazir Ahmad Khan Gurezi, told Greater Kashmir on 23 February 2025 that they must obtain special permission from the Deputy Commissioner's office in Bandipora; that is his statement, not a district rule. For Indian visitors the sources disagree, and none of them settles the question.
The Alpine Gurez, a tour operator, says no formal permit is needed to reach Dawar as of 2026 but an original photo ID is mandatory, and that border villages such as Tulail and Chakwali may need permission or registration with the Dawar police station.
Travel Coffee's guide of 26 July 2026 says recent sources contradict each other: one says visitors are only registered at checkpoints, and others name an Inner Line Permit. Vargis Khan's undated log describes registration by driving licence at one checkpost, a request for Aadhaar at the next and a permit from the Dawar police station for the road beyond Dawar.
The 2025 report adds that the administration banned pitching tents outside approved campsites, which must be registered and have garbage collection. Soun Kashmir's Gurez taxi and Tempo Traveller pages ask for the names and ID details of every traveller with the enquiry.
What is there to see in Gurez?
| Place or activity | What the sources say | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Habba Khatoon peak | A pyramid-shaped peak named after the Kashmiri poetess, tied to a story of her wandering there | Bandipora district page |
| Kishanganga river | Easy rafting in Gurez and tougher in Tulail; brown trout in the river and streams | Bandipora district page |
| Dawar | The central township of the valley | Wikipedia |
| Villages and culture | Dard people who speak Shina; traditional log-wood houses | Bandipora district page |
| Treks | Routes from Gurez and Tulail towards Gangabal, Sonamarg, Drass and Zanskar | Bandipora district page |
| Razdan Pass in snow | Hundreds of visitors came in late April 2026 to see snow | Kashmir Life |
Where can you stay in Gurez?
The Bandipora district website's accommodation list names the Tourist Reception Centre at Dawar, run by the Tourism Development Corporation, and its tourism page says the valley has riverside campsites. Greater Kashmir's 2025 report limits camping to registered, approved sites. Soun Kashmir's Gurez hotels page covers huts, guesthouses and homestays, and its offbeat Kashmir tours page lists Gurez among custom trips.
Which Soun Kashmir services cover Gurez?
| Service | What it covers | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Srinagar to Gurez taxi | A cab and driver for the Razdan Pass road | Price on request |
| Srinagar to Gurez Tempo Traveller | One vehicle for a larger group | Price on request |
| Hotels in Gurez Valley | Huts, bungalows, guesthouses and homestays | Price on request |
| Offbeat Kashmir tours | A custom Gurez trip with other quiet valleys | Price on request |
No listed package includes Gurez, and the tour planners quote custom routes free. The Srinagar guide covers the arrival city, and Doodhpathri is a nearer quiet outing.
Where do the facts on this page come from?
Last checked on 6 November 2026. Distance, height, culture and the stay list come from the Bandipora district website (undated) and Wikipedia's articles on Gurez and Razdan Pass. Road dates come from Kashmir Reader (13 March 2022), Rising Kashmir (17 March 2023), Kashmir Despatch (29 March 2025), Greater Kashmir and The Kashmir Horizon (13 February 2026), Kashmir Age and Kashmir Images (7 March 2026), Kashmir Observer (23 March 2026) and Kashmir Life (26 March, 25 April and 14 October 2026). Visitor rules come from Greater Kashmir (23 February 2025), Rising Kashmir (16 July 2025), Kashmir Reader (16 February 2026) and The Wire (15 July 2026), with the closed-destinations list from the 7 July 2026 Anantnag district notice. The drive time comes from the Vargis Khan travel log (undated); the views on permits for Indian visitors come from that log, The Alpine Gurez (2026, undated) and Travel Coffee (26 July 2026). Rules and roads change, so confirm them before you travel.
Questions and answers
How far is Gurez from Srinagar?
123 km, according to the Bandipora district website and Wikipedia, with 86 km of that from Bandipora. One traveller's blog says about 140 km and 5 to 7 hours.
Is the road to Gurez open?
It reopened on 14 October 2026 after fresh snow at Razdan Top, Kashmir Life reported, following several snow closures earlier that year. Road status changes at short notice, so confirm with the District Control Room Bandipora.
Do I need a permit for Gurez?
The local MLA told Greater Kashmir in February 2025 that foreign visitors need special permission from the Bandipora Deputy Commissioner's office. For Indian visitors the guides disagree and no official notice is cited, so carry original photo ID and ask the district office.
How high is Gurez?
About 2,400 m on the district page and 2,580 m in Wikipedia's infobox. Razdan Pass, the only road in, is 3,556 m on Wikipedia.
When does the Gurez road close for winter?
The Kashmir Horizon says it is generally closed after the first major snowfall at Razdan Top, and Gurez stays cut off for nearly half a year. The closures in the table ran from just over twenty days in early 2026 to 121 days in 2021.
Where can I stay in Gurez?
The Bandipora district website lists the Tourist Reception Centre at Dawar, and riverside campsites are mentioned. Greater Kashmir reported in 2025 that only approved campsites may be used.
Can I visit Gurez in a day trip?
The official 123 km distance each way and a traveller's 5 to 7 hour estimate make a same-day return very long. The taxi and hotel pages both advise at least one night.
Does Soun Kashmir have a Gurez package?
No. Gurez is quoted on request through the taxi, Tempo Traveller, hotel and offbeat tours pages, and the tour planners quote custom routes free.
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