Hyderabad to Kashmir Road Trip: A Journey Through the Heart of India

Road Trip: 20 Days in the Heart of India

India is a vast and diverse country, and there is no better way to experience it than on a road trip. I am accompanied by my wife, son age 7 years, daughters age 1 and 2 years. Those who believe it is difficult to hit roads with kids, this should clear out, if I can with infants, everyone can. This itinerary takes you to some of the most popular tourist destinations in India, as well as some lesser-known gems.

Day 1: Hyderabad

We started our trip in Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana. This bustling city is home to a number of historical and cultural attractions, including the Charminar, the Golconda Fort, and the Qutub Shahi Tombs and many more. If you are not from Hyderabad, planning to visit, do give a shout out, me or others here can help you to get most out of your visit.

Day 1 is shopping for our trip, we stocked up water, some citrus fruits, snacks and some ready to cook. We are travelling with infants, so some baby food, stuff needed for babies, an electric kettle and a car 12 V heating mug. 

I wanted to have a tire inflator, but none of the reviews helped me. I made sure to fill up Nitrogen, as I am aware in this summer, driving through expressways, normal air will expand uncontrollably. My journey, tire pressure was always between 33 psi to 38 psi. Never had to refill.

Day 2: Jabalpur

Drive from Hyderabad to Jabalpur, a city in Madhya Pradesh known for its waterfalls and caves. While driving through, you will cherish the amazing experience of Pench National Park, you can plan a day stay here and try the safaris, I had a long drive ahead so had to give it a miss, nonetheless, will be back for it.

Visit the Marble Rocks, a natural formation of white marble. I was staying at Hotel Royal Orbit in Jabalpur, Marble Rocks were around 30-50 min drive, this was not planned, so we just gave a visit while starting the next day journey.

Day 3: Agra

Drive from Jabalpur to Agra, home to the Taj Mahal. Spend the day exploring this UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of the most beautiful buildings in the world, and when I say most beautiful, trust me it is one of a kind experience, until I was at Taj, I thought it is just another archaeological site being hyped for beauty, but when I was standing right under it, it was an experience I would not forget.

Spend another day in Agra if you have time, visiting the Agra Fort and the Fatehpur Sikri, a deserted city that was once the capital of the Mughal Empire. I had to move on, keeping this a pending task in my checklist.

Tips: 

1. Watchout for people driving on wrong side speed lane, you will encounter many idiots.
2. Abandoned cattle, these are dangerous, you will find many blocking an entire section to one odd that with suicidal tendency, which wait and do a surprise jump right before you from the bushes at last moment. During my drive, I had a very close call, thanks to good tires and ABS, I was able to steer to safety, but have witnessed three accidents, one a brand new Innova Hycross that was totaled.

Day 5: Jaipur

Drive from Agra to Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan. Rajasthan has amazingly well maintained high ways, and drive through same is soothing, this is a place that you can feel within you. Amazing views, soothing drive and soulful music will make your day just through the journey. 

Spend time here as it has lot to offer, visit the Hawa Mahal, also known as the Pink City, and the Amber Fort. Spend another day in Jaipur, visiting the City Palace and the Jantar Mantar, an astronomical observatory. You have many other cities here to visit, each with its own charm, I will write down the experience in other blog when I had a road trip to Rajasthan and Gujarat, for now Kashmir is my destination.

Do not miss to relish Daal Baati Churma a dish that includes baati a traditional Indian bread, pure ghee, daal (lentils) and a spicy garlic chutney. Also all the snacks Rajasthan is famous for, it is not something you will find same in other states.

Day 7: Pathankot

Drive from Jaipur to Pathankot, a town in Punjab. This was our base stop before we enter Jammu and Kashmir. You can either take a halt here, or at Jammu based on how long you can drive. We had no other plans here as it was a night stop.

Day 8: Pahalgam

Drive from Pathankot to Pahalgam, a hill station in Kashmir. Calling a hill station is uncalled for, as whole of Kashmir will be a hill for us. This is where the adventure starts, I got to learn hard way after an unsuccessful attempt last time when I made a mistake to drive to Kashmir during fruit season, and this time since though was informed by guard at Pathankot to start early, I delayed my journey towards Pahalgam.

Tip: 

1. Start early, around 4 am, else you will regret the drive.
2. Have a post paid mobile connection, prepaids do not work, you can get a temporary sim as soon as you cross the state border.

We started around 8 am from Pathankot, on map, it says reach by 6 pm. We were told to avoid following map, that takes you through Samba, rather go through the Jammu city due to poor road conditions.

Roads are good, and as soon as you enter Kashmir from Jammu, you are on holiday, amazing views and breathtaking beauty. This is short lived when you reach close to Ramban, lots of construction activity in-progress, so roads are bad and route dusty. Traffic jams are deadly, like said, if you start late, you are destined to get stuck in traffic halt, all vehicles haphazardly crossing each other, blocking both lanes and in no time traffic movement comes to standstill. This will eat up anywhere from 4 to 24 hrs based on time and condition. This continued till Banihal, post which it was wide roads again and easy traffic. We reached Pahalgam at 2 am instead of 6 pm.

So long story short, start early to avoid traffic and let the excitement never die.

Day 9: Pahalgam

All the trouble to reach Kashmir is worth it, once you see Pahalgam. For the first time visitor, this is nothing short of paradise, God must have been very favorable to this land. Stream, snow, hills, greenery, weather, best of all in one single view. I took a guest house in Laripora near Lidder river, after tiring drive at night, stepping out in yard in the morning, to a view as below, there is nothing much to ask in life.

Spend your day, with relaxing stroll through the river side, visit local market to cherish some local cuisine, meet locals who are ever so welcoming. There is a park right on road just next to city market, spend sometime here to soak in the amazing weather, fresh air and breathtaking views.

There are quite a few valleys around Pahalgam, some to name, Aru, Betaab and Chandanwadi. You can pick and chose or visit all three, if you are taking a cab, they have fixed rate of around 3000/- for 4 hours I believe, and 400/- for each additional hour. Self drive, is best, do not be discouraged by traffic towards these, it stands same, start early to avoid traffic and let the beauty of valleys heal you. Pony rides, sledges,.. try if you like, this is a source of income for locals, mostly I hear people saying they were cheated, I say locals make their living on it, and we are tourists who are here for an experience, let them make their living and let us cherish our experience, win-win for both.

For me, just the local town visit and Lidder river side strolling took couple of day away. Valleys are for the next visit, do not hurry, take your own time to soak in every drop of beauty from this place.

Day 11: Srinagar

Drive from Pehalgam to Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir. It is 2-3 hr drive, follow the map, it will take you through a small lanes, you can follow the highway, but this small single road that turns and twists through some local villages has its own splendor. Some say it is dangerous to venture in small villages, trust me I never felt any discomfort during my entire stay in Kashmir, neither in cities, neither in villages. Greet locals with smile and respect, you will get two folds back.

Reach Srinagar, check-in, and spend the day exploring the city's many lakes and gardens.

Tips: 

1. City is active only till 6:30 pm, post same it starts to close down, by 8 pm, you will find everything closed except some restaurants and eateries.
2. Remember your way when you drive around, some reason, gps was acting all weird when driving around in Srinagar, I was lost at night when drove out for dinner, you will find none to guide you back.

Day 12: Sonmarg

Drive from Srinagar to Sonmarg, a popular tourist destination in Kashmir. Though we felt the journey was better than the destination, nevertheless, Kashmir is beautiful in every corner. You will be driving along the Sind river, while moving around, do not miss out to glance over the sidelines, you will find small villages, rustic houses, water streams everything that make you feel your life in the bustling cities is worth what compared to these lucky people. Spend the day hiking in the surrounding mountains and visiting the Sonmarg Lake.

There are plenty of options to stay at Sonmarg, I would have preferred to stay in the guest houses in small villages on the way to Sonmarg, we decided to return back to Srinagar for our onward journey.

We spent another day in Srinagar, to explore markets and local sightseeing. We did not take the Dal Lake shikara ride, this is for the next visit. Gulmarg, we were advised not to visit, due to G20 readiness that was going on and we missed to book Gandola tickets, which has to be booked way in advance, as the past two days while I was checking, it was all full. We had some offbeat locations also planned like Yousmarg and Doodhpathri, but it is hard to cover everything in such short time.

I now know, I need to get a month long vacation planned and stay in Kashmir, exploring each day. Only that can do justice to this place, as it is said "Gar firdaus bar-rue zamin ast, hami asto, hamin asto, hamin ast", this is so true.

Day 14: Amritsar

Drive from Srinagar to Amritsar, a holy city in Punjab. We have now learned, timing matters, we started our return journey early morning around 6 am, this helped as we skipped through never ending line of trucks waiting to cross. We drove down hill as fast as we can and as soon as possible, we were able to see a slow traffic jam forming on way up for others. 

Drive from Srinagar to Amritsar is anyway from 10 to 12 hrs based on your driving skill. Evening we checked-in and it was time to drift in our dreams to recall what we left behind. 

Day 15: Golden Temple and Jallianwala Bagh

Next day we started a bit late, it was a bit depressing to come back to city hustle leaving behind the immense beauty of nature, life moves on, we started our day by visiting local markets, followed by Golden temple, the serene environment around Gurdwara is so peaceful. 

The Golden Temple holds great religious significance for Sikhs as it is considered the spiritual and cultural center of Sikhism, I say any place that emits peace is a place of significance, visit Gurdwara with peace in your heart. The temple's architecture is a blend of Islamic and Hindu styles. The central golden structure, adorned with gold leaf, gives it the name "Golden Temple." It is surrounded by a large pool called the Amrit Sarovar, which is considered holy by Sikhs and is believed to have healing properties.

After spending a good half day at Gudwara, we moved towards Jallianwala Bagh, which is at walkable distance. History of this place is painful, I will let you read about it online.

Tips: 

Do not miss out to try Amritsari Kulcha, without this, visit to Amritsar is not complete.

Day 16: Attari-Wagah border

Next day, we had plan of experiencing the beating retreat ceremony at Attari - Wagah border. 

The Wagah Border is a famous international border crossing between India and Pakistan. It is located near the village of Wagah in the Punjab region and is approximately 29 kilometers (18 miles) from the city of Amritsar in India and 27 kilometers (17 miles) from Lahore in Pakistan.

The border is known for its daily ceremonial closing ceremony, which is conducted by the security forces of both countries. The ceremony takes place in the evening before sunset and attracts a large number of visitors from both India and Pakistan, as well as tourists from around the world.

This is an experience you do not want to miss, unless you do not have a VIP pass. If you know someone local who is a VIP or someone in BSF, you can request them to get VIP pass for you, I also heard you can get registered at commissioner's office at Khasa village some 19 km before Wagha border and the timings are 9 AM to 1 PM. they will issue a pass. We did neither, was not aware, it will be a mistake.

We reached at the border, moved to government car parking, do not heed to local car parking, it will be way far from entrance. As soon as we started walking towards the entrance, we started to feel the mistake of not carrying a VIP pass, it was crowded with long queues, at one point we gave up and decided to return back as it was difficult to follow with three kids with us. We were helped by a local vendor who saw us walking back and helped us get through the VIP entrance.

It does not end there, for seating, we entered through the general gates, and found a place to sit, in no time we were swarmed by people, both blocking our view and suffocating us. We again walked out as people started falling on each other and we had our kids to keep safe. Stepped out and found a BSF personnel outside, requested him to get us to VIP entrance, after few minutes of persuading him and explaining we came from long way, he managed to get us in after some struggle. Trust me, VIP pass is must if you want to make sure you have good time with good view.

Tip: Always make sure you have the VIP pass for the ceremony. Better, some known local authority who can get you the front row seats.

Day 17: Lucknow

Drive from Amritsar to Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh. This was unplanned drive, it was primarily for shopping especially Chikankari, after all the sightseeing.

Drive is primarily through the expressways through out. Distance is long, due to expressway especially Eastern Peripheral Express Way, Yamuna Express Way and Agra-Lucknow Express Way, it is just an easy drive through. Especially if your car has cruise, just set it up and in no time you will be driving in Lucknow. 

Tips: 

1. Watchout of uneven road or ditches on expressways, these hit very hard to the car and to your back.
2. Cruising can make you drowsy, keep hydrated and have good company to keep you awake.
3. Make sure you fill up fuel tank of your car, sometimes the stretch is long with no fuel pump around.
4. Have some snacks/fruits/food with you, you might not prefer to stop, especially Agra - Lucknow expressway, there is rarely any rest stops.

Day 18: Lucknow

We spend whole day in Lucknow, shopping and sightseeing. Especially chikan work, Chikankari is a traditional form of embroidery that originated in Lucknow. It is known for its intricate and delicate threadwork on fabric, typically done on muslin or fine cotton cloth. It is characterized by the use of white thread on pastel-colored fabrics, although colored threads are also used nowadays. The embroidery is done with a needle, and the designs often feature floral motifs, paisleys, vines, and geometric patterns. It is highly valued for its fine craftsmanship and is often associated with elegance and luxury. There are many outlets spread across three markets primarily selling Chikan work, we visited Lucknow Chikan Emporium, it is up to individuals taste and skill to identify right work for right price. I will leave that up to you.

For local sight seeing, pay a visit to the Rumi Darwaza, a gateway to the city, Imambara and the Lalbagh Fort. As far as food is concerned, Lucknowi Biryani is quite famous, so do give it a try. Lucknow is particularly famous for its Galouti Kebabs, which are incredibly tender and flavorful. These kebabs are made using a secret recipe passed down through generations and are traditionally served with roomali roti (thin bread) and chutney. The Galouti Kebabs are so soft that they supposedly melt in your mouth, do not miss it.

Tips: 

1. Shop for Chikan work and relish on Lucknowi Biryani and Galouti Kebab.
2. Preferably avoid driving your own car, take the local tuk-tuks. Roads and streets are very narrow and crowded.

Day 19: Jabalpur

Drive from Lucknow, we started early morning, destination Jabalpur as a halt. These are the last couple of days of our adventurous and beautiful journey, and we already were drowning in all the memories of past few days, as family, bonding, laughing, loving and cherishing each other company and that of the nature.

This route, we went through some famous names, like Raebareli and Prayagraj (formerly known as Allahabad) confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna, and mythical Sarasvati rivers, known as the Triveni Sangam.

Tips: 

1. Do not give heed to people who try to trick you saying there is some problem with your tires/wheel. We encountered few of these.
2. Make sure you have a dashcam, there are idiots who walk right at the middle of the highway as if your speeding car is invisible.

Day 20: Hyderabad

Back to Hyderabad where my trip began. Embarking on a beautiful and adventurous road trip is an excellent way to explore new places, enjoy breathtaking landscapes, and create unforgettable memories. Road Trip with family or friends, is just another level. We are now back home, already planning our next road journey 😇.

This is just one possible itinerary for a road trip in India. There are many other places you could visit, and you could easily tailor the itinerary. We believe in spontaneous planning, our route is never planned, we are just aware of our final destination, rest the road takes us through it's own mesmerizing drives. See you again in my next blog, until then happy road tripping.