Aru Valley: the quiet side of Pahalgam

Most visitors to Pahalgam see Aru as a stop on a sightseeing loop: forty minutes up the road, twenty minutes for photographs, back for lunch. It deserves much more. The twelve kilometres from Pahalgam change the atmosphere out of all proportion to the distance — where Pahalgam has traffic and a market, Aru has a meadow, a scatter of lodges and the river.

Where it is

Aru is a small village at about 2,400 metres, twelve kilometres up the Lidder from Pahalgam and roughly 107 kilometres from Srinagar. The road climbs through pine and fir along the river and opens into a wide, gently sloping meadow ringed by forested ridges, with snow peaks at the head of the valley. Much of the land around it lies within the Overa–Aru Wildlife Sanctuary, and in summer the slopes are grazed by the flocks and herds of the Gujjar and Bakarwal families who bring them up from the plains each year.

What to do

Walk the meadow and the village

The simplest pleasure is the best one. Walk out across the meadow, down to the river, and through the village of log houses. Ponies are available, but the ground is gentle enough to explore on foot, and the light in the late afternoon is extraordinary.

Hike to Lidderwat

The classic day out: an eleven-kilometre walk up the valley to Lidderwat, a meadow at the meeting of two streams, through forest and open grassland. It takes most people three to four hours each way at an easy pace, or you can ride part of it. Take a picnic and come back by the same path. Ask us about the Aru to Lidderwat hike.

Go further: Kolahoi and Tarsar Marsar

Aru is the trailhead for two of the finest treks in Kashmir. The Kolahoi Glacier route continues beyond Lidderwat to the foot of the glacier below Kolahoi Peak, over three or four days. The Tarsar Marsar circuit takes five or six days and passes two of the most beautiful alpine lakes in the Himalaya. Both are summer-only and need a proper trek team, which we arrange.

Day trip or overnight?

A day trip from Pahalgam shows you Aru at its busiest, in the middle of the day. Stay a night or two and you see it at its best: mist on the meadow at dawn, herders moving their flocks, and the valley to yourself after the day-trippers have gone. For anyone who came to Kashmir for the mountains rather than the shops, Aru is simply a better base than Pahalgam.

Practical notes

• When to go: May to October. Most lodges close for the winter, and the road can be cut by snow. June to September is greenest; October brings gold to the valley and cold nights.
• Getting there: sightseeing to Aru, Betaab Valley and Chandanwari is done in Pahalgam's local taxis rather than the car you arrive in. It is a local rule, and we arrange and include it.
• Where to stay: simple lodges and cottages, mostly seasonal. Comfortable rather than luxurious — and that is part of the point.
• Connectivity: mobile signal is limited. Tell people at home you may be quiet for a day.
• Busy weeks: book ahead for July and August.

Fitting Aru into a journey

We think of Aru as two nights within a Pahalgam stay: one day for the meadow and village, one for the walk to Lidderwat. Our Lidder Valley Walking journey is built exactly that way. See more on our Aru Valley and Pahalgam pages, or tell us how much walking you would like to do.