"All of sudden I realised that I was simply surrounded by primulas. At once the day seemed to brighten perceptibly. Forgotten were all pains and cold and lost porters. And what a primula it was..."

Those were the words of Botanist Holdsworth who was member of Francis Sydney Smythe's Mt. Kamet expedition team in 1931.

Hindu mythology Ramayana associate this Valley with place from where Lord Hanuman collected "Sanjeevani" herb to revive the Lakshman.

Valley of Flowers is an unique place on earth, a valley bustling with colorful, lively and beautiful flowers and has largest collection of wild flowers species at high altitude. Francis Smythe later in 1938 wrote a book "The Valley of Flowers" and described this valley as Fragrant valley.

The Valley has more than 500 species of flowering plants such as Primula, himalayan blue poppy, dainthus, lily cobra, calendulas, holly, geranium, pansies, petunias and anemones. This rich diversity of flowering plants has attracted the travellers from around the world.

Government of India has declared this area as National Park in 1982. UNESCO has listed this valley as World Heritage Site after it fulfilled these criteria -a) exceptional natural beauty, and b) population of rare, endangered and high altitude flora and fauna.

This park is spread in an area of 87.5sqKm and situated at an high altitude ranging between 3350m to 3960m. It is surrounded by Himalayan peaks such as Gauri Peak (6590m) and Nilgiri Peak (6479m). The most beautiful area is central valley of 10sqkm at 3500m altitude.

The nearest railway station is Rishikesh which is about 300kms from Valley of Flowers. The travel route from Rishikesh onwards is by road and passes through various small himalayan towns along Rishikesh-Badrinath road.

By road it is reachable upto Govind Ghat and from there onwards it is 14kms of trek through himalayan ranges. Porters and ponies are also available to help the travellers. Enroute various small tea stalls and food stalls (dhabas) are available to take rest and break from journey.

The next stop for halt is Ghangaria which is about 4kms away from the Valley of Flowers. Tourists can trek to Valley from Ghangaria in the morning and return back for night stay. Please note that night stay at this park is not allowed. From Ghangaria next day travel to Hemkund Sahib (5kms), a Sikh shrine where Sikh Guru, Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji meditated. Hemkund (Snow Lake) is a high altitude lake (4330m) which surrounded by seven snow covered mountains. Om India Travel offers excellent enroute rest facilities and tours for Valley of flowers during travel season of May to October for adventure loving tourists and for family excursion!

The journey from Rishikesh is an adventure itself. It offers scenic beauty of himalaya and river ganges. The road traverses through various small himalayan towns, which are also famous Hindu pilgrimage centres. These are Dev Prayag, Rudra Prayag, Karan Prayag and Nand Prayag. Various trekking excursions are also available in Himalaya during month of May up to 1st week of November!

Best Season - May to October

Temperature - Min 3 degrees C to max 22 degrees C. Requires woollen clothings and water proof jackets.

Tours - Visit Valley of Flowers to discover more. Tours for this season will end by 31st October 2008 and special tours can be arranged till 1st week of November. Tour booking for this season (starting from Mid May 2008) is open now. Travelling alone or in group, we have tours designed for your special needs. Local Guide and Porters are arranged upon request.

Contact us for Valley of Flowers Tours and excursions.