Price, Timing, Guides: Everything You Need To Know About Enjoying Gondola Rides in Gulmarg

Gandola ride, Gulmarg is one of the main and must to be explored attraction. Gulmarg has some of the most beautiful winter wonderland views. Wake up to the mesmerizing view of snow-capped peaks right from your room and feel like living a dream.

We drove from Srinagar and it took us around 1.5 to 2 hours to reach Gulmarg. Read a complete review of the hotel I stayed in here.

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Why Change of Vehicle is Required in Gulmarg?

During heavy snow, cars not allowed up to the hotel. The driver will drop you halfway in Gulmarg, from there you will have to take local four-wheeler mostly Sumo. The reason is their tires are chained and are perfect for a drive on a snowy road. Believe me, it's not safe to drive in normal vehicles, the tires skid over the road, and it's dangerous.

It cost us 300 Rs for 2 people as it was on a sharing basis. If booked privately, they charge up to 900 Rs. My hotel was around 10 minutes drive from this pickup point. But walking with luggage was an exhausting task, as the road was too slippery.

How far is Gandola booking office?

Gandola's booking office is around 15 minutes walk from the hotel. You can also go by sledding, many vendors will be seen around offering the services. A lot of guides will be approaching you for Gandola booking and activities.

Do I need to hire Guide for Gandola visit?

It's a personal choice. Though I didn't hire any guide, one of us was waiting in the Gandola ride queue and the other went for collecting tickets. It took around 15 mins for buying a ticket and we waited around an hour for Gandola's ride.

Guide charges are around 700 Rs, this doesn't include your Gandola price and snow activities cost.

The Guides break the queue and people who hired them, have an added advantage of bypassing the long queues. But this troubles other people as many other people like us have been waiting for more than an hour or so for their turn. This created lot of chaos during our time because people were just now following the rules.

Gandola Ride rates and timings

1. Gandola starts at 9:30 AM in the morning.

2. Phase-1 closes by 4 PM and

3. Phase- 2 closes by 3 PM during winters.

4. Phase 1 Gandola costs= 740 Rs per person

5. Phase 2 Gandola costs= Rs 940 per person. The ticket for Phase 2 has to be taken from Phase 1 itself.

6. Other activities available are skiing, snowmobiling, sledging, and snow bicycles.

Every ticket has an allotted time to return by, which is usually 1 hour.

Watch the complete video of stunning views from Gandola Ride on my youtube channel.

I have seen some of the stunning snowcaps during my visit to Gulmarg. One can go for snow biking or sledging, its the perfect place for all snow activities. You will see many professional skiers during your visit to Gulmarg. Wait for more blogs on my trip to Kashmir and stay updated!!

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