Gulmarg Gondola Ticket Booking: Official Portal, Fares and Timings

How do you book Gulmarg Gondola tickets online?

Start from the operator. The JKCCC home page says Gulmarg Gondola tickets are available on its official e-ticket domain, etickets.jammukashmircablecar.com, and advises tourists to book online and not to fall prey to touts. The home page labels that link 'Main Portal', and it sits on the corporation's own site, so open that site and follow its booking link, rather than clicking an advert or a search result that merely looks official. The portal's front page shows only a login and sign-up link. We did not create an account or enter the booking flow, so what follows about slots and fares comes from the corporation's notices and from published reports, not from the booking screens.

The steps, as the sources describe them:

1. Open www.jammukashmircablecar.com and follow its Gulmarg Gondola booking link, or type etickets.jammukashmircablecar.com yourself.
2. Choose the date, the phase and a time slot. One booking guide (ickashmir.in, 21 July 2026) describes this order, and the corporation's own October 2026 notice refers to forenoon-slot tickets.
3. Enter each passenger's details, pay online and save the confirmation. Two booking guides say to carry photo ID; one (ickashmir.in) says the original government-issued ID, matching the passenger details. The corporation pages we read state no ID rule, so treat that as a reported requirement.
4. Keep the ticket as a PDF on your phone. An earlier corporation notice (display ended 5 May 2025) asked all visitors to carry an e-copy in PDF form.
5. Board early. For forenoon-slot holders the October 2026 notice says queues are generally absent between 8:30 and 10:30 am (see the timings section).

How far ahead can you book? An official notice shown from 10 to 20 October 2026 says online booking is open up to 120 days ahead. That display period had ended by 25 October, so it is the last official figure we read, not a confirmed current one. An earlier notice, whose display period ended on 5 May 2025, had extended the window to 60 days from 29 and said bookings are first come, first served. One booking guide still prints 60 days. Check the window on the portal when you book (we did not enter the booking flow, so we cannot describe its screens).

What about buying at the base? A notice effective 22 January 2025 set up an on-the-spot cabin ticket counter for the first Phase 1 slot only, for visitors reporting between 8 and 9 am, until further orders. Its display period ended on 5 May 2025 and we could not confirm whether the counter still runs; one booking guide says there is no offline counter at Gulmarg. Our own package pages describe gondola tickets as payable on site. For a peak date we would not leave the ticket to the day.

What do Gulmarg Gondola tickets cost?

We could not find an official fare table. The corporation's home page, its Gulmarg Gondola project page and the notices we could read print no Gulmarg Gondola fares, and the portal front page shows only a login. The table lists what outlets and booking guides printed in 2026, plus Wikipedia, whose infobox figure is dated April 2024. None is official, they differ, and fares may have changed since. Use it to budget, and read the fare on the portal before you pay.

Across these sources Phase 1 runs from ₹700 to ₹810 and Phase 2 from ₹900 to ₹1,010, so both phases add up to between ₹1,600 and ₹1,820 per person before any extras. The pages do not tell us whether the gaps are fare revisions, older figures copied forward or different ticket types, and we do not guess. One guide prints a combined ₹1,800 ticket for both phases; the others list the phases separately, so we cannot confirm a combined ticket.

Two further points. One booking guide (poisetravels.in) says children under 3 ride free, while another says only that age rules apply at the time of travel; we found no official age table, so check the age rules on the portal when you book. And the gondola ticket is only the gondola: a ski-lift pass is a separate purchase (see our Gulmarg skiing guide), and gondola tickets are not in our own package prices (see below).

What are the Gulmarg Gondola timings, and which days is it closed?

The current official timing notice, with a start date of 21 October 2026, says boarding commences at 8:30 am for Phase I and 9:15 am for Phase II. It advises holders of forenoon-slot tickets to board between 8:30 and 10:30 am, when it says waiting time is minimal and queues are generally absent. A second, undated notice in the corporation's data still says boarding begins at 8:00 am; we follow the dated notice, which has a start date of 21 October 2026. We found no official closing time. The Curly Tales report of the June 2026 reopening and Wikipedia both say 10 am to 5 pm, and one booking guide says boarding runs from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm with a last return at 5 pm. Those reports start later than the corporation's own boarding times, so use the official notice for the morning and check the last slot for your date when you book.

Closed days. A corporation notice says the Gulmarg Gondola remains closed on the 2nd and 4th Monday of every month for preventive maintenance and asks visitors to plan accordingly. The site's notice data gives it a start date of 13 July 2026, and one booking guide (poisetravels.in, October 2026) repeats the rule; the other guide we read, ickashmir.in, does not mention it. The table is our own calculation of those Mondays; we found no published closure calendar. October 2026 has Mondays on 5, 12, 19 and 26, so the next closure after our 25 October check is 26 October.

28 December 2026 is a 4th Monday and falls in New Year week, so if you travel then, do not plan the ride for that day. Check the notice on the portal for any change before you fix a date.

Stops that are not on a calendar. In 2026 there were two separate stops beyond the Monday rule. A technical fault on 25 May left more than 300 people in cabins, the corporation kept the service shut, and it reopened on 25 June according to the press (the corporation's own reopening notice carries a start date of 27 June 2026; Kashmir Life, 9 June 2026; Kashmir Observer and ETV Bharat, 25 June 2026). Later, an annual inspection: a notice displayed on 17 and 18 September 2026 says both phases would resume from the next day after the Annual Inspection 2026. We could not find when that inspection began or whether the corporation publishes its dates in advance. Weather also matters: Wikipedia says timing is highly dependent on the weather at both stages, and two booking guides list strong wind, heavy snowfall and poor visibility among the causes of suspension; one adds that low visibility may close Phase 2 while Phase 1 continues.

What are the two stages, and how high do they go?

The operator's project page calls it a two-stage ropeway. Its introduction says 'one of the highest cable cars in the world' and a feature bullet says 'Highest cable car in the world'; its About page says 'the highest ropeway in the world', and a reopening notice in its data file calls it 'the world's highest operating cable car'. We have not checked a ranking, so we state none. Phase 1 runs from the Gulmarg base to the Kongdori station. Phase 2 continues from Kongdori towards Apharwat. Heights and ride times are where the published sources part ways, so the table gives each figure with its source instead of choosing one.

Our reading of the heights. Gulmarg town sits at 2,650 m (Wikipedia). A station lower than the town it starts from cannot be the top of a climb, so we treat the 2,600 m figure with caution, but the corporation's home page, project page, About page and notices that we read give no station heights, and we cannot say which number is right. Its events page gives 4,390 m (14,403 ft) for a multipurpose hall at Apharwat (marked G4 and spelled 'Appharwat' there); it does not give a height for the Phase 2 station. For the top of Phase 2 the other sources spread by more than 400 m, from 3,747 m to about 4,175 m (ETV Bharat's over 13,700 ft for Apharwat Peak). Whichever you believe, Phase 2 reaches well above 2,450 m, the sleeping altitude at which the US CDC says unacclimatised travellers are at risk of altitude illness; the CDC says day trips that return to lower altitude each evening are much less stressful than sleeping high.

Length and capacity. Wikipedia's Gulmarg article and Kashmir Convener both describe a ropeway of about five kilometres in all, while poisetravels.in gives about 5 km for Phase 1 and 2.5 km for Phase 2, which does not fit that total. Wikipedia says each cabin carries six people. ETV Bharat described 63 cabins carrying about 7,000 visitors a day, a finite capacity that matters when a whole winter week wants the same morning slot.

At the stations. The corporation's home page shows slider images tagged 'Kehwa'ice' but no visible text about a café, so we have not confirmed one at either station. It also lists a Kongdori chair lift among its projects, under a coming-soon link. A trial notice for a Kongdori to Mary Shoulder chairlift ride (3 April to 15 May 2025, ages 15 to 55, ₹600 per person) is the only fare we found for it, and that trial period has passed.

Does Phase 1 have to be bought before Phase 2? Phase 2 starts at Kongdori, the top of Phase 1, and the sources describe the ride as one stage after the other. None of the sources we read states a ticketing rule such as buying Phase 1 first, so we do not state one. Check what the portal will sell you for your date when you book; we did not enter the booking flow.

Should you ride Phase 1 only, or both phases?

It depends on the day, the weather and how you handle altitude. The table is our suggestion, not an operator rule.

An unused Phase 2 ticket may not be refundable. The last official notice we read allows cancellation only 2 or more days ahead with 50 per cent charges, one guide (poisetravels.in) says non-refundable, and another (ickashmir.

On altitude, the CDC Yellow Book describes the risk for unacclimatised travellers as starting at a sleeping altitude of 2,450 m or more, and sometimes lower, and says training and physical fitness do not affect the risk. It also says day trips with an evening return to lower altitude are much less stressful on the body than sleeping high, and a gondola ride is not a night at altitude. Gulmarg town (2,650 m) is already above the CDC figure, so if you are sleeping there, tell us about any heart, lung or other medical conditions so we can plan around them. Your own doctor decides what is right for you.

How do snow, ice and wind change the day?

The town is cold in winter and the top will be colder, but we found no measured figure for the upper stations and will not print one. For the town, the India Meteorological Department's 1991 to 2020 normals, as tabulated on Wikipedia, give these monthly means:

Individual mornings can be colder than a monthly mean: Kashmir Reader, in a report published on 7 February 2025, gave a Gulmarg minimum of −10.0 °C, citing officials and Meteorological Department data.

The road is the first winter obstacle. Gulmarg's sub-divisional magistrate has issued repeated winter orders for the Tangmarg to Gulmarg road. The December 2024 order allowed only 4x4 vehicles and vehicles with anti-skid chains until the ice melted, and put chains at ₹600 a pair from registered vendors in designated parking areas (Greater Kashmir, 9 December 2024). Kashmir Life reported on 18 December 2025 that heavy vehicles and all vehicles without chains were barred once rain or snow began, and on 16 January 2026 Kashmir Life reported chains again compulsory in snowfall and icy conditions. These are past orders, not a statement about your dates. Our snowfall in Gulmarg guide says our drivers carry chains and puts the drive at 2 to 3 hours in snow against 1.5 hours normally.

We aim to check the forecast outlook, road advisories and gondola status when you book and again in the week you travel, and to tell you what we find. Nobody can promise any of them for dates further out.

What does TDI add to a gondola booking?

We do not sell gondola tickets on this page, and we do not promise priority access or a held slot: only the corporation issues a ticket, and in a busy week nobody can promise a slot. Our package pages list gondola tickets as not included and payable on site. What we do is the planning around the ticket, and when you send us your dates we help you choose the day and slot and talk you through the booking.

The buffer is an extra day, not a second set of tickets. The last official cancellation notice we could read allowed cancellation only at least two days before the visit date, with 50 per cent charges, and one booking guide labels tickets non-refundable, so buying duplicate tickets can be a costly hedge. If the first day is lost to weather, book the next day on the portal; availability in a peak week is not certain.

Our ski packages page says its packages include a Gulmarg Gondola lift pass along with equipment, an instructor, accommodation and meals. This page covers gondola tickets bought on their own, so ask us exactly what a ski package for your dates would include and how its gondola pass is arranged. For something else on the meadow we also arrange an ATV ride in Gulmarg, which is separate from the gondola.

A sample Gulmarg gondola day from Srinagar

This is our suggested order for a day trip in dry weather. It is a plan, not an operator schedule.

1. The evening before: open the portal, confirm your slot and that the date is not a 2nd or 4th Monday, and save the ticket as a PDF.
2. Around 6:30 to 7:00 am: leave Srinagar. The drive is about 1.5 hours in dry weather on our itineraries. Add time for the 12 km uphill segment of the road via Tangmarg that Wikipedia describes, and allow 2 to 3 hours in snow.
3. 8:30 to 10:30 am: board. The corporation says queues are generally absent in this window for forenoon-slot holders. Ride Phase 1 to Kongdori first.
4. At Kongdori: look at the sky and the wind and decide on Phase 2. If it is running and you feel well, continue; if not, enjoy Kongdori and come back down.
5. Midday: lunch in Gulmarg (lunches are not in our package prices), then a meadow walk or snow activities as the season allows.
6. Afternoon: drive back to Srinagar, or stay the night if your plan includes it.

What has been published about gondola safety?

We do not call any ride safe or unsafe. We report what has been published and dated. On 25 May 2026 a technical fault left more than 300 people in cabins until the Army, police and disaster-response teams evacuated them (Kashmir Observer, 25 June 2026). ETV Bharat said the fault was in the gearbox and that the French manufacturer, Pomagalski (POMA), gave a green signal after a technical audit; Greater Kashmir reported that the manufacturer certified the maintenance and service work from an interim report and an inspection. The service reopened on 25 June 2026 (the corporation's own reopening notice carries a start date of 27 June 2026).

A five-member committee was constituted on 10 June 2026 (Government Order 1065-JK(GAD)) and has filed an interim report. Kashmir Observer reported on 1 October 2026, citing officials familiar with the preliminary inquiry, that recommendations include an extra rescue bull wheel and vertical-rescue training for guides and other local service providers; the final report has not been made public. A much older accident: in June 2017 a pine tree uprooted by wind struck a cabin, its occupants fell, and seven people were reported killed. A local adventure operator's account (K-Line Adventures) dates it 25 June 2017, while Wikipedia gives 15 June and cites that same K-Line article, so the two do not match, and we found no second independent report to settle the date. The number and the cause agree.

If you are pregnant, or have a heart or lung condition or diabetes, ask a doctor familiar with altitude medicine before booking Phase 2. The CDC gives that advice for heart and lung conditions, and says people with diabetes can travel to altitude but should monitor blood glucose carefully because not all meters read accurately up high.

Where do the sources disagree?

A booking page is only as good as its facts. Beyond the fares and the booking window, already shown with their sources above, these are the other points where what we read did not match, and what this page does about it.

Next step: send us your dates

Tell us your travel dates, the number of travellers and whether you want one phase or both, and we will say which days to avoid, how long the drive will take and where to sleep. For the wider picture start with our Gulmarg destination guide, the month-by-month best time to visit Kashmir and our December and January guides for the snow season. For travel advisories read our Kashmir safety page. To send your dates use the contact page.