Aru Valley
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The area
Best nearby
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Attractions
5 within 6 miles
See what travelers are saying
  • anand
    Gurugram (Gurgaon), India89 contributions
    3.0 of 5 bubbles
    Average place,
    This is 45 mins drive from pahalgam with not so good road. Quite an average place if you have visited a few other options (Sonmarg, Doodhpatari etc). Good for tracking in case you prefer to hike and even can go further to green top or Kootpathri. Need a hard bargain with Pony people as they ask anything (across Kashmir) and hard to bargain. Definitely, they charge a lot more than what it is worth. River Point is quite nearby and good to visit in case you go there. you can walk on your own till that point very easily. Aru Valley also has a short paragliding experience.
    Visited June 2023
    Written July 2, 2023
  • Ria1104
    Kolkata (Calcutta), India616 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    One of the Best Hill Stations in India
    I have seen many hill stations in my life but Aru Valley was one of the most beautiful one. The green meadows, high mountains and the Lidder river with its full flow made the place magical. Aru was the start point of our Tarsar Marsar trek so we stayed there overnight. The place was much colder than Srinagar in the mid of July. If you are in Srinagar during this part of the year then do not miss Pahalgam or Aru Valley. The strong flow of the Lidder River amidst the lush green meadows will just mesmerize you. It will give you a glimpse of how the views will get during the lower altitudes of the famous treks in Kashmir. I would suggest you to avoid the tourist spots and just roam amidst the random meadows if you want to avoid crowd. There was a bridge where the river flow looked amazing and we were the only ones there in the evening. In case you are staying in Aru overnight, then I strongly recommend trekking for a km towards Lidderwat (you do not need to entirely go to Lidderwat) up to the lush green meadows. But beware, as this section has a steep ascend so will recommend it only if you are fit enough to climb. Few things to note: In case you are travelling by Srinagar cab the local syndicate will stop your car and demand money per person Rs 25 per day to enter Aru Valley from Pahalgam. Local cabs of Pahalgam were exempted from this. Also if you are visiting here during Amarnath season, then try to cross the checkpost and enter Pahalgam in the first half (same is true for return) as the checkpost will close in the second half preventing transfer of people to and fro between Pahalgam to Srinagar.
    Visited July 2023
    Written August 2, 2023
  • DRSANDHIR
    Chandigarh, India125 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Must visit
    stunning surroundings beautiful valley. so much of greenery and scenic beauty. Daisy flower beds. everything is so good but as usual over crowded in season and poor eating facilities. even there is no proper place to sit and relax specially for elderly. Better to take your own food.
    Visited July 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written August 11, 2023
  • VineetMe
    Gurugram (Gurgaon), India67 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Another fantastic place in Kashmir
    Along with betaab valley this is another great place to visit. It is 12 to 13 kms from main Pahalgam. The road is in bad shape but the good news is that it is being repaired (albeit slowly). Here too, you can take a horse ride up the valley or you can trek it yourself. We are not so physically active but we managed to trek up. Took us 30 odd minutes. The trek and the valley view is just awesome. There are more places to visit from the base valley, we did not visit all. Best time to visit is in mornings. Sitting besides the river and dipping feet in the snow melted cold water was just fantastic.
    Visited August 2023
    Written August 12, 2023
  • Vishal Bhargava
    Dubai, United Arab Emirates239 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Journey is more beautiful than destination
    Aru village is a tourist village which is located around 12 kms from Pahalgam. The journey from Pahalgam to Aru village has probably the best views of the Valley, beautiful meadows, mountain, lakes and river on one side. Sometimes the journey is more beautiful than the destination, which is applied for this road trip. The village is the bank of Aru River and has beautiful views all around. Must visit place when travelling to Kashmir.
    Visited June 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written September 29, 2023
  • Debashis T
    Dehradun, India1,711 contributions
    3.0 of 5 bubbles
    The least beautiful valley
    The least beautiful valley One thing in whole Kashmir I like is the fixed rate of taxi in Pahalgam.No bargaining and you have to choose your type of vehicle according to price, but most of the time they say that lower end vehicles are not available and you have to take SUVs, which costs you 3200/- for 3 spots(Betaab Valley, Chandanwari and Aru Valley).Betaab Valley and Chandanwari is in same route and worth seeing. But you may skip Aru Valley. It is on another route, long distance nothing to see there. Here to mention that in Pahalgam, you can’t take your cab from Srinager to visit places in Pahalgam.You have to take local taxis like in Sonamarg. Aru Valley is the last scenic village of the Lidder Valley.On the way to valley, you see the spots which are there in the list shown by cab driver for whole day visit of Pahalgam.So no need to take a whole day visit.The vechicles are parked at some distance.River Point is quite nearby and good to visit. You can walk on your own till that point very easily. Why I wrote you can skip it as most places are fenced off.The place where people are allowed is too crowded.
    Visited November 2022
    Traveled with family
    Written October 27, 2023
  • Jayesh Chandra ... P
    Nashik District, India246 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Breath taking
    Don’t miss this valley. And don’t go on the ponies. It is a16 km drive but worth it with 2 or 3 scenic photo shoot points. Go before the sun sets. The valley gets very dark. It is really beautiful. Words cannot describe this place.
    Visited January 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written January 11, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

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Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.0
4.0 of 5 bubbles948 reviews
Excellent
452
Very good
305
Average
143
Poor
29
Terrible
19

Pradipjiyog78
Mumbai, India17 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2022
Absolutely dissatisfied with overall experience with Makemytrip. Everything was haphazardly organized.Support staff would never call us and brief us about the place.Driver Mr Hussain was extremely rude.Does not know how to talk to passengers would insult a lady also and wouldn't even regret.They are always after commision which ultimately tourist has to bare more then double the cost.All Travellers should kindly take note of this and book accordingly through makemytrip or else they would face lot of inconvenience during the trip.Kndly note Chandanwadi and Tulip garden is shut but makemytrip had charged us for that.Overall not happy would rather book through a travel agent where the on ground team is with you throughout the trip which helps in better co-ordination and less hassle during the trip
Written April 26, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

dilip
Mumbai, India20 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2022
Highly ok tourist spot. You can completely skip this. The taxi union driver will take around 2k for making you visit Aru, bettab and chandanwari. All places are ok nothing great
Written April 25, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Shilpa Jaiswal
8 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2022 • Friends
Very beautiful and scenic. Avoid going on a weekend as it is very crowded. The way to the valley is also mesmerizing. The valley is now attracting lots of tourist and becomes crowded during season l. Would recommend to go during off season
Written August 25, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Madhur Madan
New Delhi, India214 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2021
Beautiful village of the Pahalgam region. Nice to ride the pony, however easily walkable, hustle for prices and you will see nice scenery. Do not believe the locals, they have hyped the place to earn from you. However good time to visit from April-October.
Written December 21, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

swap8587
Mumbai, India43 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2021
You need to take local taxi to visit this place. We did Betaab valley from top road and Aru, taxi driver took 1450 Rs. for this. Drive to Aru valley is amazing experience. You can see lidder river flowing through mountains.There is view point in road which offers lidder river view. Aru valley itself is amazing. If you have time, you can go for pony ride as well which can offers you few more views. We did not opt for it. Snacks items available in local restaurants.
Written March 11, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Rakesh_Mittal
Gurugram (Gurgaon), India191 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2022
We took local taxi from Pahalagam to visit this point ( took package of Aru+Betab+Chandanwari). This is a good point to spend some time with family. You will see a govt bunglow where the Karma movie (Dilip Kumar house) was shot. As per local there was resturant as well but closed due to renovation during our visit.
The taxi rates are fixed as per local union and your hotel guy can arrange to get you picked and droped fro your hotel on the same rate.
Written April 6, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Debashis T
Dehradun, India1,711 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2022 • Family
The least beautiful valley
One thing in whole Kashmir I like is the fixed rate of taxi in Pahalgam.No bargaining and you have to choose your type of vehicle according to price, but most of the time they say that lower end vehicles are not available and you have to take SUVs, which costs you 3200/- for 3 spots(Betaab Valley, Chandanwari and Aru Valley).Betaab Valley and Chandanwari is in same route and worth seeing. But you may skip Aru Valley. It is on another route, long distance nothing to see there. Here to mention that in Pahalgam, you can’t take your cab from Srinager to visit places in Pahalgam.You have to take local taxis like in Sonamarg.
Aru Valley is the last scenic village of the Lidder Valley.On the way to valley, you see the spots which are there in the list shown by cab driver for whole day visit of Pahalgam.So no need to take a whole day visit.The vechicles are parked at some distance.River Point is quite nearby and good to visit. You can walk on your own till that point very easily. Why I wrote you can skip it as most places are fenced off.The place where people are allowed is too crowded.
Written October 28, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sidhu
New Delhi, India4 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2022
Amazing place to see when in Pahalgam. Most tourists stay in Pahalgam and do a day return to Aru Valley. So, roads (very narrow) are jammed. Though, horse ride from Pahalgam to glacier is supposed to be good, but i didnt go as I had done it at Sonamarg 2 days before. (These guys fleece you..1200-1500 is the rate, but they quote 3000+). 1 to 2 hours is enough at Aru Valley (12 KM from Pahalgam), so, not recommended for stay. Hotels available in Aru Valley too. But, I stayed 02 KM short of Aru on a river side Guest House. i wish I could post the water fall pics .
Written April 13, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

RajaV
Bengaluru, India66 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2022
We were there in a local Innova cab (pain by itself due to high prices by union dictated cabs) and it is definitely worth going for. In all these scenic places, it is about mountains, trees, some rivulet and some ponies , and a meadow and a valley - once you see one, the others are not exciting by itself. But Aru is worth going to spend an hour.
Written September 3, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Deepak T
6 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2021 • Family
We visited the ABC valley on 2 nd day of Pahalgam. It was beautiful. The mountains, surroundings it was all breathtaking.
The view from the road (top) to betaab valley was much more beautiful than the inside of valley.
We walked and talked a lot.
We played with snow at chandanwari, also visited the first step of amarnath yatra.
We had a driver from the taxi stand. Mr Mohammed Shafi Wani number 7006687312 this person was a gem. Even though we were strangers he invited us to his house. He can arrange a wonderful trip even for amernath yatra if you go through him. He is ofcourse a localite and I asked his permission before putting the number.
He also clicked great pictures for our memories.
Having a good driver on your journey is most important for a peaceful journey. He is the one to go for.
Rest as everyone say Kashmir is heaven and so are these beautiful valleys. It is a must go to place at Pahelgam.
Written January 2, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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