Kashmir Tour Package from Amritsar

Welcome to India. Your trip begins at Amritsar which means Pool of Nectar that gets its name from the holy tank AmritSarovar surrounding the Golden Temple. You will be received by our representative who will take you to your hotel for checking-in.

Amritsar is a tourist’s favorite and is visited by millions of people from all over the world every year who belong to different religions. Amritsar district was the abode of Saints and Sages during the Vedic ages. The city was built around 1577 by Guru Ram Das and the place was called Ram Das Pura. The population came under the spiritual inspiration of Guru Nanak in the beginning of the 16th century.

The city is famous for the Golden Temple – the most important place of worship for the Sikhs and people of other religions as well. The city has numerous Gurudwaras, temples, mosques, churches, forts, galleries, gardens, libraries, memorials and museums. It is famous for several fairs, festivals and folk dances.

You will be taken for a small snapshot of Golden Temple in the late evening to watch the religious ceremonies that take place every night. The holy book Granth Sahib is treated with utmost regard and worshipped and rested every night.
Come back to hotel and spend overnight in Amritsar.

Start your day with the morning trip to the Golden Temple and proceed for the other top attractions of the city. Also known as Sri Harmandir Sahib or Darbar Sahib, it is the holiest Gurdwara and the most important pilgrimage site of Sikhism.

The temple is surrounded by a man-made pool built by Guru Ram Das in 1577. The temple was built repeatedly by the Sikhs facing repeated persecution until 1809 when it was rebuilt in marble and copper by Maharaja Ranjit Singh who overlaid the sanctum with gold foil later in 1830. The name Golden Temple was coined for the same reason.

The Harmandir Sahib is a platform for worship for all – irrespective of gender, caste, faith and walks of life. It has a square plan with four entrances signifying “all religion and culture acceptance”, and has a circumambulation path around the pool. There are a number of buildings in the temple complex surrounding the sanctum and the pool, including Akal Takht which is the chief center of religious authority of Sikhism. A clock tower, the offices of Gurdwara Committee, a Museum and a “langar” are few of the other buildings. Langar is a free kitchen run by Sikh community that serves meals to all visitors without discriminating in gender, caste and religion.

You will visit Jallianwala Bagh, the place where General Dyer killed hundreds of innocent Indians. Up next is the Wagah Border to watch the flag lowering ceremony which is a daily military practice been followed since 1959 by security forces of India and Pakistan both. As the sun sets, the border gates are opened and the two flags are lowered, folded and the soldiers from both the sides shake hands and close the gates again.
Come back to hotel to spend overnight in Amritsar.

You will be taken to Jammu from Amritsar by road after breakfast. On reaching Jammu, get transferred to your hotel for checking-in.

Situated on the banks of River Tawi, Jammu is the largest city in the Jammu Division which got its name after its founder Raja Jambulochan, who ruled the area in the 9th century. Tourism is the largest industry in Jammu, especially as the pilgrimage hub for Vaishno Devi, and also as the connecting point to visit all the routes leading to Kashmir, Poonch, Doda and Laddakh.

Among all the other places of interest, the Holy Cave Shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi is the most popular pulling the maximum number of tourists. Situated at an altitude of 5,200 feet above the sea level, the pilgrimage has been a symbol of faith and fulfillment to millions of devotees worldwide.

To reach the Holy Cave Shrine, you have to cover 12km trekking distance from the base camp at Katra. At the end of the trekking journey, the devotees are elated with the sight of the Goddess inside the Cave Temple. There are no idols or statues for the goddess, but three natural rock formations (called Pindies) are worshipped as the deity.

You can trek to the top from Katra, or take a pony or a palanquin to reach the temple. Helicopter services are also available to cover the distance. You can also visit the temple on your own.
Spend overnight in Jammu.

You will be transferred to airport to board your flight to Srinagar. On arrival, get transferred to your hotel for check-in and other formalities. Srinagar is the largest city of Jammu and Kashmir. Named as the summer capital of the state, the city lies in the Kashmir valley on the banks of the Jhelum River. The beautiful city is famous for its natural environment, gardens, waterfronts and houseboats. Tourism is the largest economy for the city which happens to be the 92nd fastest growing urban areas of the world.

Srinagar is called the “Venice of the East” for its demography that is surrounded by lakes including Dal Lake famous for its luxurious house boats. The other lakes include Nigeen Lake, Manasbal Lake and Wular Lake which is one of the largest fresh water lakes in Asia.

There are some magnificent Mughal gardens in Srinagar, which form a part of those laid by the Mughal emperors all across the Indian subcontinent. These gardens are enrolled under “Mughal Gardens of Jammu and Kashmir” to be included in world heritage sites.
Overnight in Srinagar.

Spend the day in pure luxury and bliss as the nature embraces you elegantly in Srinagar. Start the day with a short Shikara Ride. Shikara is a small Gondola type light rowing boat that is the specialty of Dal Lake, which has a floating market. During your two hours cruise on the Shikara, you will be offered various services by different vendors – vegetables, flowers, traditional Kashmiri dress and shawls, and several other things.

The first half of the day tour of Srinagar after your Shikara ride is totally dedicated to visit places like Hari Parbat Fort, Jamia Masjid, a walk in the old bazaar, a visit to one of the seven old bridges on Jhelum and Shah Hamdan’s shrine.

Hari Parbat is a hill overlooking Srinagar and is famous for an incomplete fort named Durrani Fort that was initiated by Mughal emperor Akbar in 1590 as a prospective new capital of his called NagerNagor. However, the project was completed. The present fort was built much later in 1808 by Shuja Shah Durrani.

Jamia Masjid is a mosque that was commissioned by Sultan Sikandar in 1394 CE and completed in 1402 CE. One of the most important and famous mosques in Kashmir, Jamia Masjid displays the architectural style of the mosque inspired by the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture as well as Buddhist pagodas.

Srinagar is a shopper’s paradise and one should never miss out to buy original pashmina shawls and stoles with their exclusive and intricate weaving pattern and design. Another must-buy is the Kashmiri Tea. The other exclusives of Srinagar are the carpets, copper utensils, spices and walnut wood products.

The rest of the day will be spent exploring Mughal Gardens – ChashmaShahi (the royal fountains), NishatBagh (the garden of spring) and the Shalimar Bagh (the abode of love) are few of the most beautiful gardens located in Srinagar and its close vicinity.
Come back to your hotel room and spend overnight.

Spend half of the day exploring the beauty of Gulmarg – a hill station and Asia's seventh best skiing destination. Located in the PirPanjalRange in the western Himalayas, the road climbs uphill in the last 12 km to Gulmarg passing by the pine and fir forests. The area is a hub for winter sports like skiing, tobogganing, snowboarding and hell-skiing from the slopes of Mount Apharwat that you can reach by a Gondola lift.

Get spellbound by the mesmerizing view of the towering mountain ranges including peaks like the Nanga Parbat (26624 ft) and others. Needless to say, the panoramic view of Kashmir Valley is so captive that you can never ever forget the picture that stays in your mind.
Come back to your hotel room for overnight stay in Srinagar.

Board your flight to Leh as you will be transferred to airport on time. On arrival at Leh, get transferred to your hotel by our representative.

Leh was the capital of the Himalayan kingdom of Ladakh and is located at an altitude of 3524 meters (11,562 ft). Ladakh was earlier a part of the Kushana Empire and is inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent. Ladakh happened to be one of the important centers of the trade routes to trade salt, grain, cannabis, silk yard etc and signifies an encampment of nomads.

The Siachen Glacier located the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalayas where the Line of Control between India and Pakistan ends. It is called the “Third Pole” and is one of the longest in the world’s non-polar areas. Leh is one of the main centers of Buddism with a huge population of Buddishts and Shia Muslims.

Leh in the morning is purely divine. Start your tour in the morning with the exploration of SankarGompa, a Buddhist monastery – a relatively modern and attractive cluster of building set amongst trees. The monastery has innumerable statues of pure gold and a number of interesting paintings and is inhabited by around 20 monks.

Up next is the Leh Palace - a former royal palace overlooking the Ladakhi Himalayan town of Leh. The palace was built by King SenggeNamgyal in the 16thcentury structured in the model of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. It has nine storeys where the upper floors areinhabited by the royal family, and the lower floors held stables and store rooms.

On the way back, visit the cottage industries emporium. Then drive to the Spituk Monastery (5 miles) that contains a large collection of Tankhas and old masks. Before coming back to the hotel, the last stop for the day is the Phyiang Monastery after covering Thiksey Monastery.

Thiksey is located 19 km from Leh and displays the finest examples of Ladakhi architecture. The monastery is the largest and the most impressive of all in the area. There are multiple temples in the gompa with must-watch images, stupas and beautiful wall paintings. There is a two-storeyed statue of Buddha that is worth treating your eyes with where the main prayer hall stands around its shoulder.
Overnight in Leh.

Start your day tour with AlchiGompa that dates back to thousand years. It is a monastic complex of temples in Alchi village. The complex comprises four separate settlements and Alchi is the oldest and most famous of these four hamlets.

The main attraction of this place is one wall that features thousands of miniature-sized pictures of the Buddha. The main attractions are the three large sized images built of clay and bright paints.

The trip rolls on and you visit Hemis as the next spot. Located 40 km from Leh, Hemis is one of the richest, biggest and most famous gompas in Ladakh. It is widely popular for its annual festival in summer to honor their Guru Padma Sambhavason his birth anniversary. Built during 1630, it has numerous tankhyas, silver chortens studded with precious and semi-precious stones and various images of Buddha. The most famous among these is the Wheel of Life
Overnight in Leh.

Time to board your flight to Delhi, so you will be transferred to the airport. Upon reaching Delhi, you will be taken to your hotel by our representative. Once called as Indraprastha (Mahabharata) and the ancient capital of the Pandavas, Delhi dates back to centuries. Been inhabited from the 6th century BC, Delhi has been destroyed and rebuilt several times, and is named as the “city of cities”. While Old Delhi is a maze of small lanes lined and old buildings, New Delhi (the capital of India) is a modern city with large roads and high rises.

Delhi’s cultural background is varied as it has been influenced by different rulers at different period of time. And the monuments and constructions exhibit the variation in their art and built. The Mughal rulers influenced the food habits a lot and Delhi is the paradise for Mughlai cuisine which originated here. Delhi residents celebrate all festivals due to the proximity of different states. Spend overnight in Delhi hotel.

Start your morning with a trip to Old Delhi which was built in 1639 AD by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. Take a visit to Raj Ghat, the cremation site of Mahatma Gandhi and the museum built to commemorate him. Up next on the way is the Red Fort which used to be the residence of the Mughal emperors till 1856. The fort is declared as the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Drive past to the busiest street of Delhi – Chandni Chowk which is a shopper’s paradise, you can pick some souvenirs or go for some random shopping of mouth-watering food, clothes, jewels, household, etc.

Up next is QutubMinar as the next spot in the afternoon which is India’s largest minaret and is declared as UNESCO World Heritage Site. QutubMinar was built in 1192 by Turk ruler Qutub-Ud-Din Aibak. Up next is another UNESCO World Heritage Site – Humayun’s tomb which is followed by a visit to the India Gate, built in memory of the Unknown Soldier. Move next to the Parliament House, President’s House and other Government Secretarial Buildings, and then toLakshminarayan Temple, a temple dedicated to Lakshmi and Lord Narayana.

Later you will be dropped to Delhi airport for your return or outbound flight.