Srinagar in January 2027: Weather, Snow, Dal Lake, What Is Open and Where to Stay

Srinagar in January is cold, quiet and often beautiful: days around 7°C, nights around -2°C and lower in cold spells, Dal Lake frozen at the edges on the coldest mornings, and snow in the city on some days but not on dates you can book. The gardens, the lake, the old city and the shrines stay open; the Tulip Garden does not. Gulmarg, an hour and a half away, is under snow all month. Keep a spare day for the airport.

This page is the Srinagar plan for January: the real temperatures, whether it snows and whether the lake freezes, what is open and what is shut, a three-day plan, where to stay so that the room is warm, and how the airport behaves in fog and snow. The whole valley in January, with Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonamarg, is in Kashmir in January; the city in every season is in our Srinagar guide.

Srinagar weather in January: temperature by day and night

On the India Meteorological Department's 1991-2020 normals, Srinagar in January averages 7.1°C by day and -1.9°C at night, with 64 mm of precipitation on about five wet days. The city sits at 1,585 m. Cold spells take the nights far below the average: on 9 and 10 January 2026 the city recorded -6.0°C and -5.7°C, and the all-time low is -12.8°C, set on a December night in 1934. Days are short: the sun rises at about 7:35 am and sets at 5:33 pm on 1 January, and by 6:01 pm on the 31st.

Chillai Kalan runs from 21 December to about 30 January, and January is the heart of it: nights below freezing almost every day, taps and water tanks frozen by morning, and a kangri, the small pot of embers, under every pheran. The city does not shut down for it. Offices, shops and the markets around Lal Chowk open as usual, a little later than in summer.

Does it snow in Srinagar in January?

In some years, yes, but not on a timetable. In the 2024-25 winter the city's first snow came on 27 December and there was no snow in Srinagar on 5 January 2025 while Kupwara had it. In 2025-26 the first snow in the city did not come until 23 January 2026, and it cancelled every flight that day. When it does snow, it is a day or two of white roofs, chinars and houseboats before the roads turn to slush. If snow is the reason for the trip, plan Gulmarg or Sonamarg and treat snow in the city as a gift.

Where and when snow falls across the whole winter, with the last three winters dated, is in snowfall in Kashmir; whether there is snow on the ground in Gulmarg this week is in our live Gulmarg snow report.

Does Dal Lake freeze in January?

Partly, on the coldest nights of most hard winters, and fully almost never. Parts of the lake froze on 10 January 2026, when the city fell to -5.7°C, and on 21 December 2024, at -8.5°C, the coldest December night in five decades. The last full freeze on record was in 1986. The shikaras keep running: in January 2026 rowers pushed through thin ice in the inner channels and still took visitors out, most of them with blankets aboard. Go late in the morning, when the mist lifts and the cold eases.

Ghat by ghat and the fixed rate card: what a shikara should cost. The lake in every season: Dal Lake.

Places to visit in Srinagar in January: open, bare or shut

Almost everything that makes Srinagar worth a trip is open in January; it is the flowers and the fountains that are missing. The table is our honest status for the month.

Each of those has its own page: the Mughal gardens, Shankaracharya Temple, Hazratbal, downtown Srinagar and Lal Chowk.

Things to do in Srinagar in January

• Harissa at dawn. The slow-cooked mutton and rice of the Kashmiri winter, sold from old-city shops all winter, from November to about March. For our family, winter means harissa: we used to ride to a small shop in Rajouri Kadal at 4 in the morning in freezing cold, and it was worth it every time.

Where to find it and what a plate costs: Kashmiri harissa.

• A shikara late in the morning. When the mist lifts off the water. The price is per boat, not per person; ask for a blanket.
• Kahwa and a kangri. Saffron tea in a Polo View or Boulevard cafe, and a kangri under a pheran if you want to try the Kashmiri way of staying warm.
• A snow day in Gulmarg. The Gondola to Kongdoori, sledges on the meadow, and the ski slopes at their best. Book the first morning slot on the official portal and leave Srinagar by 8 am.
• The old city on foot. Khanqah-e-Moula, Jamia Masjid and the bazaars are at their most atmospheric under a grey sky, and the copper and kangri shops are busy.
• The gardens without the crowds. Nishat's terraces with bare chinars and the mountains behind are a different garden from the one in the photos, and you will have them to yourself.

The Gondola, slot by slot: our Gondola guide. The drive up and the chains rule: Srinagar to Gulmarg.

Three days in Srinagar in January: a plan that works

• Day 1: the lake. Land by early afternoon, taxi to the Boulevard, check in and ask how the room is heated. A shikara at 3 pm when the light is low, kahwa on the Boulevard, an early night.
• Day 2: Gulmarg. Leave by 8 am, chains at Tangmarg if it has snowed, the Gondola's first slot, sledges and lunch at Kongdoori, back in Srinagar before dark. Or stay the night in Gulmarg and come down on day 3.
• Day 3: the city. Harissa downtown at first light, Hazratbal, the old city on foot, Nishat Bagh after lunch, and Shankaracharya for the view if the steps are dry. A morning flight home on day 4, with the spare day behind it.

With four or five days, add a night in Gulmarg and a day in Sonamarg through the tunnel. With older parents or small children, drop Shankaracharya and keep the Gulmarg day to Kongdoori.

Planning January for your family? Get instant plan: a free day-by-day plan for your dates, with hotels for each night and what each day costs.

The valley-wide versions are in our Kashmir itinerary and Kashmir trip cost.

Where to stay in Srinagar in January: heating first

In January the room matters more than the view. Ask three things before you pay: how the room is heated (central heating, an electric heater, or a bukhari stove), whether there is power backup, because heaters stop when the power does, and whether hot water runs all day. Of the 69 Srinagar stays we track, only three state their heating in writing: Harco Inn and Arco Hotels in Sanat Nagar say central heating, and Shahzir Villa in Shalimar says room heaters. Everyone else, ask.

Houseboats are cosy in winter when the heating is good and miserable when it is not; guests on travel forums split evenly. The Houseboat Owners Association card charges heating separately, and the boats are wooden and heated, so check the appliance in your room and keep the window cracked. The New Year week fills every hotel in Srinagar, Gulmarg and Pahalgam; from about 6 January, January is the cheapest month of the year to stay in the city.

Our ranked lists, priced for 15 December, with the winter questions to ask: hotels in Srinagar and houseboats in Srinagar.

Getting to Srinagar in January: fog, snow and the train

January is the month the airport closes. Dense fog cancelled all 50-plus flights on 5 January 2025, and heavy snow cancelled every flight on 23 and again on 27 January 2026. The pattern is a winter morning, usually one day, and the airport reopens as soon as the runway is clear. Book a morning flight home, keep a spare day before it, and sleep in Srinagar, not Gulmarg, the night before you fly.

• The train kept running. In the January 2026 snow the Vande Bharat from Jammu and Katra ran through to Srinagar while the airport and the highway were shut.
• The airport taxi. Prepaid taxis to the Boulevard wait outside; the Dal Lake hotels are about 17 km away.
• Roads after dark. They ice over. Be back at the hotel by sunset, which is before 6 pm all month.
• Republic Day, 26 January. Heavy security and checkpoints across the city; in 2026 the celebrations at Lal Chowk went ahead with tourists present. Expect slow traffic, not a shutdown, and keep your ID on you.

The airport's dated closures and what to do when your flight is cancelled: Srinagar airport status. The train, both directions: Katra to Srinagar by train.

What to wear in Srinagar in January

Dress for the night minimum, not the daytime high, and for slush as much as snow. The cold you feel is at dawn in the old city, on the water, and after sunset on the Boulevard.

Is Srinagar worth visiting in January?

Yes, if you want the winter city: harissa, a still lake, bare chinars, and snow within an hour. No, if you want flowers, fountains and long days of sightseeing; that is April or October. January is also the quietest and cheapest month in Srinagar outside the New Year week, which is a reason in itself.

Srinagar in winter: December, January or February?

The month before is in Kashmir in December; the whole year side by side is in the best time to visit Kashmir.