12-Day Char Dham Yatra

The gates open around Akshaya Tritiya in late April or early May and close at Bhai Dooj in early November. Exact dates are announced each year by the temple committees. July and August fall inside the monsoon — the roads are open but landslides are frequent and the drive is genuinely risky.

Yes. Uttarakhand runs a compulsory yatra registration with a daily cap at each shrine. We register you and carry the passes, but the cap means late bookings can be refused outright — book the yatra packages a month ahead, not a week.

It is 16 km from Gaurikund with about 1,500 m of ascent, and most people take eight to ten hours. Ponies and palkis are available at your own cost, and a helicopter from Phata or Sersi cuts it to minutes. If you have a heart condition, take the helicopter and tell us at booking.

The valley opens on 1 June and closes on 4 October, but the bloom peaks between mid-July and late August — which is also the monsoon, so expect rain and leeches on the trail. June is dry and green with few flowers; September is clear with the last of them.

January to mid-March, usually. Auli depends on natural snow with artificial backup, and a weak winter means thin cover. If skiing is the whole point of the trip, book late January or February and keep a day spare.