The two eastern shrines in one week — the 16 km climb to Kedarnath and the drive over Joshimath to Badrinath, with a night at each
Kedarnath and Badrinath sit on the two arms of the same fork in the road at Rudraprayag, which is why they are so often taken together. Leaving out Yamunotri and Gangotri saves the long western swing through Barkot and Uttarkashi and brings the yatra down to a week. What it does not do is make it easy: Kedarnath is still a 16 km walk each way from Gaurikund at close to 3,600 m, and that day is the one the whole trip is built around.
You travel in a private vehicle with a driver who knows the Garhwal roads, stay in the best rooms available at each halt, and eat breakfast and dinner at the hotel. We handle the compulsory yatra registration. For anyone who would rather not walk to Kedarnath, ponies, palkis and the helicopter shuttle from the Phata and Sersi pads can all be arranged, charged extra as applicable. Badrinath needs no trek at all — the temple is a few minutes from where you sleep.
The essentials
Trip information
Package code
EH07DD001
Pickup
Jolly Grant Airport, Dehradun
Drop
Jolly Grant Airport, Dehradun
Night count
06 Nights, 07 Days
Travellers
6 pax
Vehicle
Toyota Innova Crysta (AC)
At a glance
Itinerary highlights
Day 1Land at Dehradun and settle in at Haridwar
Day 2Up the Alaknanda and Mandakini to Guptkashi
Day 3The climb to Kedarnath
Day 4Down from Kedarnath, with a stop at Triyuginarayan
Day 5Over to Badrinath through Joshimath
Day 6Mana village, then the descent to Rudraprayag
Day 7Rudraprayag to Dehradun and the flight home
Your route, day by day
Day-by-day itinerary
Haridwar
The town at the foot of the hills where the Ganga reaches the plains, and the starting point for the yatra road.
Day 1
Land at Dehradun and settle in at Haridwar
You are met at Jolly Grant and driven down to Haridwar, about an hour away. The registration is dealt with today so that nothing holds you up tomorrow — keep the photo ID you registered with somewhere you can reach it. The evening is free for the aarti at Har Ki Pauri. Before bed, pack a small bag for the Kedarnath night; the rest of the luggage travels on in the car and waits for you at Guptkashi.
Starts from Jolly Grant Airport, Dehradun, ends at Ganga Kinare Haridwar, covering around 37 km in an estimated 1h 10m.
Sightseeing
Har Ki PauriGhat open all day, aarti at sunsetAllow 90 min
Haridwar's main ghat, where the Ganga is channelled past broad stone steps and thousands gather at dusk. Priests raise tiered oil lamps over the water to a rising wall of bells, and afterwards small leaf boats holding a flame are floated off downstream.
Arrive an hour early for a place on the steps
Set a lamp on the water
Use the chains if you enter the river
Guptkashi
A hillside town at about 1,320 m above the Mandakini, and the road base everyone uses for Kedarnath.
Day 2
Up the Alaknanda and Mandakini to Guptkashi
A long but straightforward day on the road. You go up through Rishikesh, cross the Ganga at Devprayag where it is formed, run on through Srinagar to Rudraprayag, and there take the left arm of the fork up the Mandakini. Guptkashi comes in the late afternoon. There is time for the Ardh Narishwar temple and a look at Chaukhamba across the valley before dinner. An early night — the alarm goes off in the dark.
Starts from Ganga Kinare Haridwar, ends at Mandakini Heights Guptkashi, covering around 215 km in an estimated 8h 00m.
Sightseeing
DevprayagOpen all dayAllow 45 min
The confluence where the Bhagirathi and the Alaknanda join and the river takes the name Ganga. The two arrive in different colours and run side by side for a stretch below the steps before they properly mix.
Walk down to the sangam
Watch the two currents merge
Climb to the Raghunath temple
Rudraprayag sangamOpen all dayAllow 30 min
Where the Mandakini comes down from Kedarnath to meet the Alaknanda. The road divides here, one branch to each shrine, which makes this small town the pivot of the whole Do Dham route.
See the confluence from the bridge
Visit the Rudranath temple
Break for a late lunch
Ardh Narishwar Temple, GuptkashiOpen 6 AM – 7 PMAllow 45 min
The town's own temple, holding an image of Shiva and Parvati joined in one body. Two spouts in the courtyard, carved as a cow's mouth and an elephant's head, feed the Manikarnik Kund. Guptkashi means the hidden Kashi, from the story of Shiva concealing himself here from the Pandavas.
See the joined image in the sanctum
Look at the two carved spouts
Take in the Chaukhamba view from the courtyard
Kedarnath
A stone shrine at about 3,583 m under the Kedarnath peak, and the highest of the twelve Jyotirlingas.
Day 3
The climb to Kedarnath
You leave in the dark for Sonprayag, which is as far as private cars go. From there a shared shuttle covers the 5 km to Gaurikund, and the walk starts. Sixteen kilometres and more than a thousand metres of climb, on a rebuilt path with rest points at Jungle Chatti, Bhimbali and Linchauli — seven to nine hours for most people. Take it slowly and drink often. Ponies, palkis and porters work the route, and the helicopter from Phata or Sersi is the alternative for anyone who cannot walk it; both at extra cost as applicable. Evening darshan and aarti at the temple, then a cold night.
Starts from Mandakini Heights Guptkashi, ends at Kedarnath Yatri Niwas, covering around 30 km road + 16 km trek in an estimated 9h 00m.
Sightseeing
Kedarnath TempleOpen 5 AM – 9 PM in season, with an afternoon breakAllow 120 min
Built of enormous interlocking grey blocks with no mortar, the temple has stood here for centuries and came through the 2013 floods intact when the settlement around it was destroyed. A boulder wedged upstream split the debris flow around the walls, and it is still there behind the building.
Take evening darshan
Stay for the aarti
Walk round to the boulder behind the temple
The Gaurikund trek routeGates open around 4 AMAllow 7-9 hours
The path follows the Mandakini upstream, paved and railed for its length since the rebuild, with tea stalls, toilets and medical posts spaced along it. The valley opens out in the last couple of kilometres and the temple appears against the peak.
Set off at first light
Stop at the medical posts if breathing is hard
Keep a steady pace rather than a fast one
Bhairavnath TempleDaylight hoursAllow 45 min
A small shrine to the guardian of Kedarnath, on the ridge roughly half a kilometre above the main temple. It is a short climb but a steep one at this height, and the view down the valley from the top is the best there is.
Take the ridge path up
Look down over the temple and the river
Go in the late light if you have energy left
Guptkashi
Back at road level on the Mandakini, with a hot shower waiting.
Day 4
Down from Kedarnath, with a stop at Triyuginarayan
Morning aarti before the day's crowd arrives, breakfast, then the walk down — around five hours, kinder on the lungs and harder on the knees. The shuttle runs you from Gaurikund to Sonprayag where the car is waiting. On the way back we turn off for Triyuginarayan, a short detour up a side road, before dropping to Guptkashi for the night. The rest of the afternoon is for doing nothing at all.
Starts from Kedarnath Yatri Niwas, ends at Mandakini Heights Guptkashi, covering around 16 km trek + 45 km road in an estimated 8h 30m.
Sightseeing
Kedarnath morning aartiFrom about 5 AMAllow 60 min
The first service of the day, taken before the walkers from Gaurikund reach the top. It is cold, thinly attended and much the best time to be inside the sanctum.
Attend the early aarti
Walk a last circuit of the temple
Photograph the peak as the sun catches it
Triyuginarayan TempleOpen 6 AM – 8 PMAllow 60 min
A village temple about 12 km off the road above Sonprayag, held to be where Shiva and Parvati were married with Vishnu as witness. A fire has been kept burning in the courtyard since, which is where the name comes from — the flame of three ages. Couples still come here to be married.
Add wood to the perpetual fire
See the four kunds around the courtyard
Look across at the Kedarnath range
Badrinath
The second shrine, at about 3,133 m on the Alaknanda between the Nar and Narayan ridges.
Day 5
Over to Badrinath through Joshimath
Back down to Rudraprayag and this time up the other arm, following the Alaknanda through Karnaprayag, Nandaprayag and Chamoli to Joshimath. Above Joshimath the valley tightens and the road runs on gate control in places, so there can be waits. Badrinath opens out at the top of it. There is no walking here — the temple is minutes from the hotel — so if you get in before the afternoon close, you take darshan the same evening.
Starts from Mandakini Heights Guptkashi, ends at Alaknanda Grand Badrinath, covering around 215 km in an estimated 8h 30m.
Sightseeing
Badrinath TempleOpen 4:30 AM – 1 PM and 4 PM – 9 PM in seasonAllow 120 min
A small, brightly painted temple set against the Nar and Narayan peaks. Its black stone image of Badrinarayan was, by tradition, found in the river and enshrined by Adi Shankaracharya. The head priest is still drawn from Kerala, a practice that goes back to the same source.
Take darshan of Badrinarayan
Bathe in the Tapt Kund below the steps
See the front lit after dark
JoshimathDaylight hoursAllow 45 min
The town on the shoulder above Vishnuprayag where Badrinath's deity spends the winter, and one of the four seats founded by Adi Shankaracharya. The Narsingh temple here holds an image whose right arm is said to be thinning year by year.
Visit the Narsingh temple
See the old Kalpavriksha tree
Stop for lunch before the last stretch
Tapt KundOpen 5 AM – 7 PMAllow 30 min
A hot sulphur spring on the riverbank directly under the temple steps, where pilgrims traditionally bathe before darshan. The water stays warm year-round with the Alaknanda running ice-cold a few feet away.
Bathe before taking darshan
Feel the contrast with the river
Cross the footbridge for the temple view
Mana
The last village on the road before the Tibet border, 3 km above Badrinath at around 3,200 m.
Day 6
Mana village, then the descent to Rudraprayag
First darshan of the morning, then a short run up to Mana before turning for home. Mana is a Bhotia village of stone and slate that closes down completely for winter; an hour is enough to see the caves and the rock bridge over the Saraswati. After that the road goes back down the Alaknanda to Rudraprayag, so that tomorrow is a short drive rather than a long one.
Starts from Alaknanda Grand Badrinath, ends at Sangam Retreat Rudraprayag, covering around 165 km in an estimated 6h 30m.
Sightseeing
Mana VillageOpen in season, daylight hoursAllow 90 min
A working summer village of narrow lanes and stone houses. Vyas Gufa, where the Mahabharata is traditionally said to have been dictated, and the smaller Ganesh Gufa are a few minutes' walk up through it, and villagers sell hand-spun wool from doorways along the way.
Walk up to the Vyas and Ganesh caves
Cross to Bhim Pul over the Saraswati
Buy wool from a village stall
Bhim PulOpen all dayAllow 30 min
A single huge slab of rock lying across the Saraswati where it roars out of a gorge, said to have been dropped there by Bhima so Draupadi could cross. Below it the Saraswati disappears into the Alaknanda and is not seen again.
Stand on the rock slab
Watch the river vanish under it
See the Saraswati temple beside it
KarnaprayagDaylight hoursAllow 30 min
The confluence of the Pindar with the Alaknanda, and by tradition the place where Karna performed his penance. An easy stop on the way down that breaks the descent.
See the Pindar join the Alaknanda
Visit the Karna temple
Stop for tea
Rudraprayag
The confluence town on the Alaknanda, and the last stop of the yatra.
Day 7
Rudraprayag to Dehradun and the flight home
Breakfast and an early start for the run down. The road follows the river through Srinagar and Devprayag, then the Ganga past Rishikesh, and turns off for the airport at Jolly Grant. Take an afternoon or evening flight rather than a morning one — hill traffic does not keep to a timetable. If you would rather leave by train we drop you at Haridwar Junction instead, at no change to the plan.
Starts from Sangam Retreat Rudraprayag, ends at Jolly Grant Airport, Dehradun, covering around 190 km in an estimated 6h 30m.
Airport pick-up and drop at Dehradun
× 2
Guptkashi to Sonprayag transfer for Kedarnath
× 2
Badrinath to Mana village transfer
The fine print, clearly
What’s included
Inclusions
Six nights of accommodation across Haridwar, Guptkashi, Kedarnath, Badrinath and Rudraprayag.
Daily breakfast and dinner, vegetarian, at each halt.
The full circuit by private vehicle with a driver experienced on Garhwal hill roads.
Assistance with the compulsory Uttarakhand yatra registration and biometric verification.
Driver allowance, fuel, toll, green tax, permits and parking charges.
A local coordinator on call for the length of the yatra.
24×7 destination support for the whole trip.
Exclusions
Air or train fare to Dehradun or Haridwar and back.
Ponies, palki, porters and the Kedarnath helicopter shuttle, arranged on request and charged extra as applicable.
The shared shuttle between Sonprayag and Gaurikund, which private vehicles may not make.
Special or VIP darshan arrangements at either shrine.
Lunch, tea, bottled water and anything ordered outside the fixed hotel menu.
Medical costs, evacuation, travel insurance and personal expenses.
GST, charged extra on the final bill as applicable.
Good to know
Policies
Payment policy
50% of the package cost is needed at the time of booking to confirm it.
The remaining 50% must be cleared at least 21 days before the yatra starts.
Peak yatra season (May and June, and the fortnight after the opening dates) needs full payment at booking.
The booking is confirmed only once the advance payment reaches us.
Payment by bank transfer or UPI.
Cancellation policy
0–15 days before check-in: 100% of the booking amount is charged.
16–30 days before check-in: 70% of the booking amount is charged.
31–45 days before check-in: 30% of the booking amount is charged.
A minimum cancellation charge of 10% applies in all cases.
No refund for unused nights, a shrine missed on health grounds or an early departure.
Peak yatra season (1 May – 30 June): no refund on cancellation.
Important information
Both shrines open for the season around late April or early May and close in October or November on dates announced each year. Nothing runs in winter — the Kedarnath deity moves to Ukhimath and Badrinath's to Joshimath.
Uttarakhand yatra registration is compulsory for every traveller, with biometric or photometric verification at the counters in Haridwar, Rishikesh or Sonprayag. Bring the original of the photo ID used in the application.
The Kedarnath trek is 16 km each way from Gaurikund, climbing more than 1,000 m to a shrine at about 3,583 m. Expect seven to nine hours going up. It is a hard day and should not be underestimated.
A basic medical check-up before you travel is sensible, and important for anyone over 55 or with a heart, lung or blood-pressure condition. Carry prescriptions and a note from your doctor.
Ponies, palkis, porters and the helicopter shuttle are all available for Kedarnath and can be booked through us at extra cost as applicable. Helicopter sorties are weather-dependent and are cancelled at short notice in poor visibility.
Landslides, rain and road closures can change the plan without warning. Halts may be moved or the order altered for safety, and we tell you as soon as we know.
Kedarnath accommodation is basic by necessity — there is nothing else at that altitude. Everywhere else on this trip is comfortable.
Easy Holiday
