Places to VisitNear Srinagar

A Shiva temple on the Takht-i-Suleiman hill above the city, reached by a winding road and a final flight of steps. The best single view of Srinagar, the Dal and the ring of mountains behind it. Go in the morning for the light over the lake.

Four terraced gardens on the Dal hillside — Nishat with its twelve terraces, Shalimar built for Nur Jahan, the smaller Chashme Shahi around its spring, and Pari Mahal higher up on its own ridge. All within a few kilometres and designed for afternoon light.

The last refuge of the Kashmir stag, the hangul, in steep forest and meadow above the city. Permits are required and are arranged in advance. The lower park is accessible by road and the upper reaches are walked.

A broad meadow at about 2,700 metres with a shallow milky stream running through it, which is where the name comes from. The same country as Gulmarg with a small fraction of the people. Nothing is built here, which is the appeal.

A meadow ringed with pine at about 2,400 metres, with the Doodh Ganga river below it and the Nilnag lake an hour further on by pony or on foot. The quietest of the easy meadows and a genuine alternative to Gulmarg.

The gondola up towards Apharwat in two stages, the highest golf course in the world in summer, and the most serious ski terrain in India from January to March. Go early: the queue is long by mid-morning and the weather often closes in by afternoon.

One of the largest freshwater lakes in Asia, shallow and fringed with willow, with substantial birdlife and almost no tourist infrastructure. Watlab on the western shore is the usual approach and there is a hillside shrine above it.

The Lidder valley with Betaab and Aru each about an hour above the town, and Chandanwari where the Amarnath track begins. Possible as a long day, but Aru and Betaab are much better early, which a day visitor from Srinagar cannot manage.