Valley of Flowers National Park — from Govindghat and Ghangaria
The Valley of Flowers, a national park since 1982: open June to October, on foot from Ghangaria above Govindghat, with a three-day Forest Department permit.
Uttarakhand⛰ 1,875 m2 itineraries
Joshimath
Joshimath (Jyotirmath) at about 1,875 m: the Narsingh temple, Adi Shankara's northern math, Auli 26 minutes up, and the road-head for the Valley of Flowers.
Itineraries you can copy
All 2 →
One day in Joshimath — the Narsingh temple, Jyotirmath and Auli
Day plan · First visit · Temples & heritage
A one-day Joshimath plan: the Narsingh Temple and Adi Shankara's Jyotirmath in the morning, then Auli's meadow and slopes 26 minutes up the road. Free to copy.
Best Apr–Jun · Sep–Nov
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Two days — Joshimath, Vishnuprayag and up to Badrinath
1 night · 2 days · First visit · Multi-hub · starts in Joshimath
A two-day plan: Joshimath's Narsingh Temple, Jyotirmath and Vishnuprayag on day one, then up to the Badrinath Temple and Mana on day two. Free to copy.
Best May–Jun · Sep–Oct
See the plan →Going together
No one has started a group going to Joshimath yet. Start one and other travellers can ask to come along.
Joshimath, also called Jyotirmath, is a town at about 1,875 m in Chamoli district, above the Alaknanda on the road to Badrinath. It holds one of the four cardinal monasteries that tradition says Adi Shankara founded, and its main temple, the Narsingh Temple, is where an idol of Badri is worshipped through the winter by Wikipedia's account. Most visitors know it as the gateway: to Badrinath, 76 minutes up the valley, to the slopes of Auli, and to Govindghat, where the paths to the Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Sahib begin.
The town has had a hard few years, and you should know it before you go. After the flood of 7 February 2021 in the Rishiganga and Dhauliganga valleys, cracks appeared in homes. More than 700 of the town's roughly 4,400 to 4,600 buildings showed cracking, parts of the town were zoned as unsafe, and demolition began on 9 January 2023. A 2023 study by the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing found the area sinking by about 6.5 cm a year. Ask locally where it is safe to stay and walk.
From Delhi it is about 529 km by road. Free-flow routing says 9.5 hours, and the hill road usually adds a good deal more. Rishikesh is about 248 km and 442 minutes away on our routing; Wikipedia gives 251 km. See the one-day plan, the two days with Badrinath, things to do in Joshimath, when to visit and how to reach Joshimath.
Photos: Navi8apr (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Rohit Sharma (CC BY-SA 4.0) — via Wikimedia Commons, resized.
Places worth the drive
Auli — the meadow and ski slope above Joshimath
Auli, at about 2,800 m and 26 minutes above Joshimath: a high meadow that is India's best-known ski slope in winter, host of the 2011 South Asian Winter Games.
Narsingh Temple, Joshimath — and Adi Shankara's Jyotirmath
The Narsingh Temple, Joshimath's main temple to Vishnu as Narsimha, where an idol of Badri is kept in winter, beside Adi Shankara's northern math, Jyotirmath.
Gurudwara Hemkund Sahib — the lake gurdwara above Ghangaria
Gurudwara Hemkund Sahib at about 4,572 m, sacred to Guru Gobind Singh: on foot via Ghangaria from Govindghat, open about May to October, no overnight stay.
On the map
Open the Joshimath map →The places a Joshimath day reaches, with the road time from town. Each opens on the map with its plans and pages beside it.
Before you go
All articles →Things to do in Joshimath — temples, Auli and the walks from Govindghat
Six things to do in Joshimath: the Narsingh Temple, Jyotirmath, Vishnuprayag, Auli, and the walks from Govindghat to the Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Sahib.
How to reach Joshimath — road distances, rail and air
How to reach Joshimath from Delhi, Rishikesh, Haridwar and Dehradun by road, with our measured times, the nearest station and airport, and the road beyond.
Best time to visit Joshimath — Auli's snow, the valley's flowers
When to visit Joshimath: June to October for the Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Sahib, the winter months for Auli's snow, and why we give no monthly figures.
Nearby destinations
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Questions people ask
Is it safe to visit Joshimath?
Parts of the town were zoned as unsafe after cracks appeared in more than 700 buildings following the 2021 flood, demolition began in January 2023, and a 2023 study found the area sinking by about 6.5 cm a year. Many people still pass through on the way to Badrinath; ask locally where it is safe to stay.
How far is Auli from Joshimath?
About 13 km and 26 minutes by road on our routing; Wikipedia puts Auli about 6.6 km from the Shankaracharya Math in a straight line. Auli sits at about 2,800 m. Wikipedia says the ropeway runs only from November to March; we cannot confirm its current status, so ask locally.
Where do the Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Sahib walks start?
At Govindghat, about 18 km and 34 minutes from Joshimath on our routing. From there Wikipedia describes a shared taxi for about 4 km and then a walk of about 9 to 11 km to Ghangaria, the base for both. The valley is about 3 km beyond Ghangaria, and Hemkund about 6 km.
Photographs by Wikimedia Commons contributors (CC0, CC BY, CC BY-SA), resized; each picture is credited on its own page.