Experiences
Things worth getting up early for
Everything here is arranged from the boat — our own boatman, our own guide, a driver we've used for years. Tell us the night before and it's organised by morning.
01 — On the water
Sunrise Shikara
Slip out at first light with our boatman for the floating vegetable market at Rad Bugh, where trade still happens paddle-to-paddle before the lake wakes.
We leave the ghat around 5:00am in summer, 6:30am in winter. The market at Rad Bugh has run for centuries and lasts about an hour — growers bring lotus stem, kohlrabi and greens by boat and haggle across the gunwales. On the way back the light is at its best for photographs of the boats and the mountains.
02 — At the table
Wazwan & Kahwa
A copper trami of rogan josh, tabak maaz and gushtaba, served the way Kashmiri families have for centuries — followed by saffron kahwa on the deck.
Wazwan is a multi-course meal served on a shared copper trami, traditionally eaten by hand by four people to a plate. Ours is a shortened home version rather than the full thirty-six courses: rogan josh, tabak maaz, seekh kanti, gushtaba and rice, finished with saffron kahwa poured from a samovar. Vegetarian wazwan is available with a day's notice.
03 — In the old city
Craft & Culture
Walk Downtown Srinagar with a local guide — papier-mâché workshops, the Jamia Masjid's deodar pillars, and a pashmina loom still worked by hand.
A half day on foot through Downtown Srinagar with a guide who grew up there. The Jamia Masjid's prayer hall stands on 378 deodar pillars, each a single trunk. From there to a papier-mâché workshop where the naqashi painting is still done with a cat-hair brush, and a pashmina weaver's loom — the real ones are handloomed and take weeks per shawl.
04 — Above the lake
The Mughal Gardens
Nishat, Shalimar and Chashme Shahi — terraced gardens laid out in the 1600s, best seen in the last two hours of daylight.
Three gardens built by the Mughals on the eastern shore, all within a few kilometres of each other. Nishat has twelve terraces stepping down to the lake and is the one to see if you only see one. Go late in the afternoon — the crowds thin, the light turns, and the chinars throw long shadows across the water channels.
05 — Beyond Srinagar
Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Sonmarg
Day trips into the mountains with a car and driver we know, arranged the night before.
Gulmarg for the gondola — the second-highest cable car in the world — and meadows in summer, skiing in winter. Pahalgam for the Lidder valley and the walk up to Baisaran. Sonmarg for the Thajiwas glacier. Each is a full day; we'll pack breakfast and arrange the car with a driver we've used for years rather than whoever the stand sends.
Step aboard
Walk the boat, room by room
The Deck
Cane chairs, a low table, and the whole lake in front of you. Breakfast and evening kahwa are served here.
Reserve
Check dates, we reply in minutes
No prepayment required to hold a date. Send us your dates and we'll come back with availability, a firm rate and airport pickup options.
- Free cancellation up to 7 days before arrival
- Breakfast, Wi-Fi and heating always included
- Airport pickup arranged on request