Kashmir in Winter: What Nobody Tells You About Gulmarg in January
Gondola timings, how much snow to actually expect, and why booking a Srinagar houseboat in January is not the romantic idea it sounds like.
20 Aug 2026 · Fox Travellers Team
Everyone photographs Gulmarg in January. Far fewer people mention that the road up from Tanmarg closes without warning, sometimes for two days at a stretch.
Getting there
Fly into Srinagar, not Jammu. The drive is roughly two hours in clear weather and closer to four once snow clearing starts. We build a buffer day into every January departure for exactly this reason.
The gondola
Phase 1 runs most days. Phase 2 depends entirely on wind at the top station, and it is decided each morning — no operator can promise it in advance, whatever the brochure says.
Houseboats in January
Dal Lake partially freezes. The houseboats are beautiful and genuinely cold; the heating is a bukhari stove, not central heating. Couples usually prefer a hotel in January and a houseboat in May.
