Valley of Flowers

Valley of Flowers National Park, Uttrakhand, India

Valley of Flowers National Park is an outstandingly beautiful high-altitude Himalayan valley that has been acknowledged as such by renowned mountaineers and botanists in literature for over a century and in Hindu Mythology for much longer.
Valley was declared a national park in 1982, and now it is a World Heritage Site. While trekking towards Valley of Flowers, one can experience the beauty of shining peaks fully covered with snow. One can also see the beautiful view of surrounding greenery and various running streams with crystal clear water. The valley is home to many celebrated flowers like the BrahmaKamal, The Blue Poppy and the Cobra Lilly. It is a much sought after haunt for flower-lovers, botanists and of course trekkers.
Apart from the flowering plants, wild animals like Himalayan birds, butterflies, Tendula, tail less rat, Musk deer, phigents, Himalayan bear etc. are enchanting the beauty too. The Valley of Flowers is an irresistible treat for zoologists, environmentalists, pilgrims.

The Base Camp

Village ghangria is the base camp for trek to Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Sahib. Since camping and overnight stay Is not allowed in the Valley of Flowers, Ghanghria is the logical base camp for the trek. Travel beyond Ghanghria is on foot at Nature’s place since the entry of ponies is prohibited. The trek is subject to strict ecological discipline and the trekker is expected to be concerned about the ecosystem of the region. After staying overnight at Ghanghria the next day trek to valley of flowers is started early in the morning. After crossing a log or iron bridge (This bridge breaks every season due to glacier) over the Laxman Ganga, 300 mts. from Ghanghria. the route of the Valley of Flowers separates from that going to Hemkund Sahib.

Waterfall in front of Valley of Flowers entry gate.You should try to visit this waterfall on evening you reach Ghangaria
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 Ghangaria Village the base camp for valley of flowers trek

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  How to reach Valley of Flowers

Generally people from all over the world coming to Valley of Flowers need to first reach Haridwar. Haridwar is situated 200 kilometers from New Delhi in the state of Uttrakhand (India). On day one from Haridwar you need to travel by road for almost 10-12 hours and reach Govindghat. The mode of transport available is only by road.
Things to be taken care of: Do not take your own vehicle for the trip as you may get stuck on the way and you cannot leave your vehicle and move on.
The next day (day 2) you need to reach Ghangaria, the base camp to visit Valley of Flowers. You are having four options from Govindgaht to Ghangaria viz. Trek, Pony, Porter (They can carry you on their back in a basket if you weigh up to 50-60 kilograms and Helicopter). You can use any of them. If you are not a professional trekker, We recommend you to conserve your energy for the next day. As next day you will be going to Valley of flowers. For full detailed tour program for trip to Valley of Flowers kindly visit our trek page. Here detailed itinerary is given.
The next day (day 3) you will be going to Valley of Flowers. Here you need to trek on your own and no pony or helicopter service is available. Although, if you are not physically fit for trek you may hire porter/porters. Generally four porters can carry one person. Overnight stay is not allowed in Valley of Flowers, you need to be back by five in the evening and the Valley of Flowers opens at seven in the morning. Do not waste time in clicking photographs too much as should reach at least up to Pushpawati River bed. And that point is seven kilometers from the entry gate of Valley of flowers. Means you need to trek for 14 kilometers in total. We recommend you to have one extra day for Valley of Flowers as many times it rains and you require an extra day to have a good view of Valley of Flowers.

Ladies slipper Orchid in Valley of flowers, it is very rare and beautiful flower.A very very rare flower in Valley of Flowers. It is believed that one out of 10,000 people visiting the Valley of Flowers got to see this rare Flower. This picture was taken on 4th July, 2011 by us.”

Valley of flowers after floods in Uttrakhand

Best Time To Visit Valley of Flowers The best time to visit valley of flowers depends upon your liking as the valley is always beautiful. If you want to see maximum number of flowers July and August is a good time, if you want to see lot of glaciers you should visit in June, to see Brahamkamal flowers at Hemkud August and September is a good time.	Valley of flowers trek itinerary Detailed itinerary for valley of flowers trek explaining the day wise altitude gain, distance travelled, mode of transportation available and time required to travel between different destinations. Guidance on various options available to skip trekking between Govindghat and Ghangaria.
Things to carry for trek to valley of flowers When you are on a trekking tour you should know what are the things to carry for the trek. We have many years of experience and based on that experience we have made a list of things to carry for trek to valley of flowers.	How to Reach Valley of flowers It is important to know before starting the trip that how to reach valley of flowers? How many days are required for the trip to the valley? Distances between various points and time required to travel between them.

Frequently asked questions About the Valley

Can senior citizens visit valley of flowers? Senior citizens also want to come to this heaven on earth but they are confused about whether they can do it or not. We have been taking senior citizens to the valley of flowers. There are options of helicopter and ponies to skip trekking.	What type of shoes is appropriate for valley of flowers ? When you go for trek you should wear appropriate type of shoes so that your main concentration is on trekking and enjoying nature. We have seen that shoes of many people breaks while trekking and sometimes people develop blisters.
Minimum age to visit valley of flowers Whether kids can do the trek to Valley of Flowers or not? What is the minimum age requirement to visit the valley of flowers? Please read this full page to get the answer to this question. Couples with young children willing to visit valley of flowers can go through this page.	Number of Days required in seeing Valley of Flowers Minimum number of days recommended going for trek to Valley of Flowers. Why we need an extra day for the trip. Read full report with pictures of the valley.
How difficult is Valley of flowers trek. Trek difficulty of the Valley of Flowers trek. Vital statistics are given here. How much altitude is to be gained every day while trekking? How much distance is to be covered every day? What is Fitness level required for the trek?	Valley of flowers after floods. Valley of flowers has witnessed a massive flood in 2013. We were the first to report that the flowering area of the valley is totally intact. Now the valley of flowers has become again accessible and all the treks and bridges have been reconstructed.