Following is the detailed trek itinerary for Valley of flowers trek. If you still have any questions left kindly Contact us
Valley of flowers trek Itinerary : Day 1
Haridwar to Govindghat.
Distance 273 Kilometers,
Time 10-12 Hours by road
Altitude gain (From 1150 ft to 5500 ft)
Trip to Valley of flowers starts from Haridwar. Start early by 5 AM from Haridwar to ensure reaching Govindghat by evening. First Halt will be for breakfast and after breakfast we may have a short halt at Devprayag – the confluence of river Alaknanda and River Bhagirathi which forms river Ganga (Watch the picture below, the brownish colored is river Alaknanda). Have your medicine for vomiting in advance if you are prone to vomiting as you need to travel by road for at least 10-12 hours. Try to be punctual in the morning and different halts as you need to reach Govindghat by evening and cross Joshimath by 5.30 p.m.
Next stopover will be for lunch. After lunch we may have a brief halt at Rudraprayag– the confluence of river Mandakini and river Alaknanda, if time permits. Mandakini river comes from Kedarnath and Alaknanda comes from Badrinath. In fact we will be moving along with river Alaknanda for most of the trip (Road journey). One road separates from here to Kedarnath along with river Mandakini.
This road journey will end at a very beautiful place called Govindghat which is situated on the bank of river Alaknanda. Overnight stay in a hotel at Govindghat. Sleep early to get up early in the morning. The next day will be first trekking day.
Valley of flowers trek Itinerary : Day 2
Govindghat to Ghangaria.
Distance 13 Kilometers,
Time 6-7 Hours by trekking. (Ponies and porters are available on this day)
Altitude gain (From 5500 ft to 10200 ft)
After breakfast start early, latest by 7.30 am to have luxury of moving slowly and enjoy nature during the trek. After three kilometers of the trek we will reach a beautiful village called Pulna and our continuous upward trek becomes bit less steep. After seeing this village you will feel like staying here forever.
Soon we will see a beautiful waterfall on the other side of Pushpawati River. This waterfall is 250 meters high. The site is majestic and very beautiful. Watch video of this waterfall on our video page.
We will reach village Bhuandar after trekking for about 7 kilometers. On the right side you will see a very beautiful site. (Please see the picture on right side). You may be feeling very hungry by now, but we recommend you to hold your hunger till you see some hotels on the bank of river Pushpawati (Just one kilometer from Bhuandar). You can have your lunch there. The food quality and the location both are very good.
After crossing river Pushpawati, 4 kilometers of trek is left. But this trek is bit steep.
Just before reaching finally to Ghangaria you will reach helipad ground.
You will see beautiful tents. Soon you will reach Ghangaria and after having some rest and tea if you have some stamina left you can go ahead 200 meters to watch a beautiful waterfall. You can enjoy bird watching and see Tailless Rat (they are visible especially in the evening).
After a days trekking you will sleep well in time to wake up early in the morning.
Valley of flowers trek Itinerary : Day 3
Ghangaria – Valley of flowers- Ghangaria.
Distance 12 Kilometers (6 kilometers one side)
Time 6-7 Hours by trekking. (Ponies are NOT available on this day, Although Porters are available)
Altitude gain (No altitude gain although Ghangaria is at 10200 ft and Valley of flowers’ height varies from 10200 to 11200 feet and we will be trekking in between this altitude)
Soon after starting our trek we will observe a very beautiful waterfall on our right side just in front of Valley of Flowers, check point gate. After taking entry tickets we will enter into the fairyland, 100 meters from there we will cross a beautiful river. (If you are coming before 15th July you will find it half frozen).
Soon we will enter into a dense and humid forest filled with beautiful flowers on the way. After crossing iron bridge over Pushpawati River the trek will become steep for about a kilometer. Soon we will walk over a huge and beautiful glacier (if you are visiting before 15th July).
Kindly watch picture on left side. This picture was taken in July 2007. After crossing over a wooden bridge we will officially enter in to The Valley of Flowers “The fairy land”. Keep going ahead till the time you reach the Pushpawati river bed. Your trip to valley of flowers is not complete unless you reach this point. See image below. Click to enlarge
You can have your lunch here right in the middle of the river bed along with flowers, nature, river, waterfalls and beautiful mountains, this life time experience will stay in your mind for the rest of your life. After spending about half an hour at this beautiful place we’ll start trekking back to Ghangaria.
The stay is brief as it rains almost daily in the evening in valley of flowers and the path may get slippery. Have enough and proper rest post early dinner as the next day would be even more challenging, trekking to Shri Hemkund Sahib.
Pushpawati river bed in Valley of flowers, We will have our lunch here right in the middle of the river. The pink shade in the river is a huge colony of Epilobium Latifolium, a beautiful flower.
Valley of flowers trek Itinerary : Day4
Ghangaria – Sri Hemkund Sahib – Ghangaria.
Distance 12 Kilometers (6 kilometers one side),
Time 8-9 Hours by trekking. (Ponies and porters are available on this day)
Altitude changes (Ghangaria 10200 feet to Sri Hemkund Sahib 13700 and come back)
After early breakfast the trek starts for Sri Hemkund Sahib. Though it would be the toughest and tiring trek among all other days of trekking but it’s all worth experiencing the view of Sri Hemkund Lake at a height of 13700 feet. If you are lucky enough you may get clear sky to watch the nearby peaks surrounding the lake. The weather changes very rapidly at Hemkund Sahib Lake. Some time with in a span on five minutes bright sun shine changes into dense cloudy weather. But our experience says that if you reach there early in the morning the chances are more to get a clear weather.
During the trek you may find colonies of Blue Poppies and Saussurea Simpsoniana or Braham Kamal. At Hemkund Sahib Gurudwara you will get cooked Pulses (Dal) and porridge (Daliya) as a Langar (free food offered at a Gurudwara).
The food will provide you enough energy for your return journey and all your tiredness will go once you have this langar. You may click some photos on the lake and nearby areas. Start back after an hours’ stay to reach back to village Ghangaria by evening.
We recommend you to hire a pony for at least trekking uphill as this is a very steep trek. (If you are not a professional trekker).
Valley of flowers trek Itinerary: Day 5
Ghangaria – Govindghat – Mana – Badrinath.
Distance: 13 Kilometers Trek from Ghangaria to Govindghat, 32 Kilometers from Govindghat to Mana and 4 kilometers from Mana to Badrinath.
Time: 5 Hours by trekking from Ghangaria to Govindghat. (Ponies and porters are available on this day) and one hour by road from Govindghat to Mana.
Altitude changes (Ghangaria 10200 feet – Govindghat 5500 feet-Mana 10500 feet-Badrinath 10200 feet).
Start early from Ghangaria having breakfast on the way to reach Govindghat by noon. After having lunch at Govindghat take your extra luggage parked on day 1 and by road reach village Mana, a very beautiful village just 4 kilometers from Badrinath. You can watch Saraswati river starting point at Mana, which is a very beautiful scene to watch.
After spending almost an hour at Mana start back to Badrinath.In the evening you can visit Badrinath temple and take bath at hot water ponds (Geothermal energy) near the temple. We will stay here in Badrinath for the night to start next our journey back to Haridwar by road, almost similar to Day 1.
Valley of flowers trek Itinerary : Day 6
Badrinath – Haridwar
Distance 300 Kilometers,
Time 8-10 Hours by road
Altitude loss (Badrinath 10200 feet to Haridwar 1100 feet)
Start early by 6.00 a.m. and have breakfast on the way at Peepal Koti. It will be a long and tiring journey and for sure most of you will be sleeping in the vehicle. Reach Haridwar by evening and tour gets over here. Hope you enjoyed the tour to Valley of Flowers.
The tour ends here, hope you will enjoy the tour to Valley of flowers with us.
We also organize trekking tours to Valley of Flowers. We have experience of 10 years of going to the Valley. Our founder director Devkant Sangwan has a deep passion and hobby of taking people to the valley and he accompanies the groups himself at least the trekking part of the tour. With us you can be assured of not missing anything in the Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Sahib. To book your seat and be a part of a group you can contact us and to know the fixed departures of 2013 click here.
Note: – This tour program is indicative only, this can be changed anytime without prior notice. Although we try to stick to this program although due to landslides and other nature related program we may have to make some adjustments.
 Detailed day wise itinerary for the trek to Valley of Flowers. The distance to be covered, altitude gains and mode of transportation to be used has been given in this page. This itinerary has been designed using our years of experience. You may also follow the same. |
 Valley of Flowers trip starts from Haridwar. You need to start very early in the morning on day 1 so you should reach Haridwar atleast a day before start of the trip. This day ideally you should reach by evening so that you can see Ganga Arti at Har ki Paudi. |
 This page explains you how to reach valley of flowers from New Delhi. What are the different ways of transport available on the way, what are the different ways available to skip trekking. On which day the ponies and porters available and when the helicopter will be available between Govindghat and Ghangaria. |
 The last rail head is Rishikesh but no express train goes to Rishikesh so the last rail head becomes Haridwar. One needs to start the road journey from Haridwar early in the morning so as to complete the total motor able part of the journey in a day. |
 Detailed analysis of what is the best time to visit valley of flowers with picutes and videos of the valley in different seasons. Valley of flowers is accessible only for four months in a year and changes its colors, weather and the flowers very rapidly in these four months so it is very important to know what is the best time to visit valley of flowers. |
Valley of flowers is our passion and we started this site as a hobby and we have started organizing tours to the valley 5 years back. The author of this website Mr Devkant Sangwan accompanies you to the valley personally so that you do not miss out anything. Read our upcoming tours to the valley and if interested to join us please contact us. |
 Photo gallery of valley categorized according to flowers with their colors (Detailed properties, flowering season and where you will find these flowers in the valley has also been given), landscape gallery, gallery of earlier groups taken by us to the valley. These group galleries are also important to decide about the best time to visit as you can see the landscapes in the background in different dates. A must visit page to see the real beauty of the valley. |
|