What's on in Srinagar, India through the year

Busy — Winter break in India, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Chillai Kalan (21 Dec – 31 Jan)

Quiet — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in February.

Busy — Tulip garden opens, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Nature

  Almond blossom at Badamwari

  5–31 Mar · usuallyWildflowers & blooms

  The old almond orchard under Hari Parbat comes out first, a fortnight before anything else in the valley, and the city walks through it on Sunday afternoons with a flask.

• Opening

  Tulip garden opens

  18 Mar – 30 Apr · usuallyWildflowers & bloomsCrowded

  The terraced garden below the Zabarwan opens for about a month once the beds are ready, usually from the third week of March, and peaks in the first week of April. Opening day is announced days ahead. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Tulip garden opens, Summer vacation (Kerala / far south) in India

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Tulip garden opens (18 Mar – 30 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Summer hill-station rush, Summer vacation (north & east) in India

• Season

  Summer hill-station rush

  15 May – 15 JulSchool holidaysCrowdedBook early

  Kashmir's peak domestic season. Houseboats on the Dal charge their top rate, the boulevard is solid from four onwards, and the shikara men do not need to negotiate.

Peak crowds — Summer hill-station rush, Amarnath Yatra

• Holiday

  Amarnath Yatra

  25 Jun – 20 Aug · usuallyPilgrimage seasonCrowdedClosures

  Several hundred thousand pilgrims move through the valley over about six weeks. Convoys get road priority on the Pahalgam and Sonamarg routes, security is heavy, and rooms are hard to find in town. Source ↗

Still on: Summer hill-station rush (15 May – 15 Jul)

Peak crowds — Summer hill-station rush, Amarnath Yatra

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Summer hill-station rush (15 May – 15 Jul), Amarnath Yatra (25 Jun – 20 Aug (usually))

Busy — Amarnath Yatra, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Amarnath Yatra (25 Jun – 20 Aug (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in September.

Busy — Autumn break (Dussehra / Diwali) in India, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Nature

  Saffron harvest at Pampore

  20 Oct – 15 Nov · usually

  The fields fifteen kilometres out flower purple for two or three weeks and whole families pick them before the sun is up. Buy at a farm rather than on the boulevard if you are buying at all.

• Nature

  Chinars turning

  20 Oct – 20 Nov · usuallyAutumn colour

  The Mughal gardens and the chinar avenue at Naseem Bagh go red and copper for about a month, and the crowds have gone home by then. The quietest good weeks of the Srinagar year.

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Saffron harvest at Pampore (20 Oct – 15 Nov (usually)), Chinars turning (20 Oct – 20 Nov (usually))

Busy — Winter break in India, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Hazard

  Chillai Kalan

  21 Dec – 31 JanExtreme coldClosures

  The forty days the valley counts as the real winter: pipes freeze, parts of the Dal ice over, and heavy snow shuts the Jawahar tunnel and grounds flights for a day at a time. Houseboats run on kangris and hope. Source ↗