• Discovery
• Opening dates of valley of flowers
• Best time to visit
• Entry Fee

Valley of Flowers National Park

Valley of Flowers National Park is Situated near Badrinath, in the state of Uttrakhand in India. It is at a height of 11000 feet to 14000 feet above sea level in western Himalayas. It is famous for its meadows of alpine flowers and outstanding natural beauty.

The park stretches over an area of 87.50 km².

The Valley of Flowers, one of the most beautiful high-altitude valleys in Himalayas that has been acknowledged as such by renowned mountaineers, nature lovers and botanists for over a century.

The Valley of Flowers changes its colour almost every day as it bloomed with hundreds of different flowers, taking on various shades of colours as time progressed. The valley was declared a national part in 1982 and now it is a World Heritage Site. It was believed by the locals that the valley of flowers was inhabited by fairies.

The valley is home to many celebrated flowers like the Brahmakamal, the Blue Poppy and the Cobra Lily. It is a much sought after haunt for flower-lovers, botanists and trekkers.

Discovery of Valley of Flowers.

Valley of flowers was discovered in the year 1931, when Frank S. Smythe a British mountaineer along with six other British mountaineers climbed Kamet. A mountain 25,447 feet, situated in Garhwal Himalayas. After climb they descended towards Bhuandar pass. The monsoon had already broken and the day they were crossing the Bhundar pass it was wet, cold and miserable.

Below 16000 feet rain was falling and above that height there was sleet or snow. When the group decended the wind and rain become warmer as they lost height. Dense mist surround the mountain side and they paused, uncertain to the route. Suddenly R.L.Holdsworth a botanist as well as a climbing member of the expedition exclaimed “Look!” Frank S. Smythe followed the direction of his outstretched hand. At first he could see nothing but rocks, then suddenly his wandering gaze was arrested by a little splash of blue, and beyond it were other splashes of blue, a blue so intense it seemed to light the hillside. (You can see such bluish shade of Valley of flowers even today especially in July month).

In the words of Holdsworth “All of a sudden I was surrounded by primulas. At once the day seemed to brighten perceptibly. Forgotten were all the pains, cold and lost porters. And what a Primula it was! Frank S. Smythe wrote that he has never seen more beautiful flower than this Primula in all his mountain wonderings. Later they camped near moraine and there were androsaces, saxifrages, sedums, yellow and red potentillas, geums, geraniums, asters gentians and many more. It was impossible to take single step without crushing a flower. The next day they descended to lush meadows. Here their camp was embowered amidst flowers: snow white drifts of anemones, golden lily, marigolds, globe flowers, delphiniums, violets, eritrichiums, blue corydalis, wild roses and many more. The Bhuandar valley was the most beautiful valley any of them have seen.

They camped there for two days and later it was called as the "VALLEY OF FLOWERS".

Later Frank S. Smythe also wrote a book called "THE VALLEY OF FLOWERS". You can buy the book at village Ghangaria on your trip to VALLEY OF FLOWERS.

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Location of valley of flowers

Valley of flowers national park is located near Badrinath in Chamoli district, Garhwal region of Uttrakhand state in India. It is about 300 Kilometers from Haridwar and 500 kilometers from New Delhi. We have made a dedicated page on How to reach valley of flowers. This page explains in detail the distances, mode of transportation and other guidelines along with lots of photographs.

Opening and Closing dates of valley of flowers.

The park officially opens every 1st June and closes on 4th October. Actually, valley and its surrounding area are snow clad for most of the year and it become accessible only by June and since snow fall starts by last week of September or first week of October the valley is closed during that time.

Best time to visit.

Best time to visit valley of flowers is totally dependent on your choice. As valley of flowers is always beautiful. However most of people come to valley to see flowers. For flowers, mid July to mid August is the best time. During this time the flowers paint the valley in different colors. During second half of July the main flowers which paints the valley in purple color are Geranium wallichianum, Campanula Latifolia, Polemonium Caeruleum and Phlomis Bracteosa. By the first week of August these flowers mature and the valley is painted with pink color by Impatiens Sulcata Although we have full article on the best time to visit valley of flowers to help you. You may have a look. Pictures of different seasons are also provided.

Opening and closing times of valley of flowers.

In the morning one can enter at 7.00 a.m. and the last entry is allowed by 2.00 p.m. You should come back by 5.00 p.m. We advise you to start your trek backward by 2.00 p.m. if you entered at 7.00 a.m.

Valley of Flowers entry fee

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Indian need to pay Rs. 150 and foreigners Rs. 600 (approx. $12) for a three day pass to the valley. Charges for an additional day are Rs. 50 for Indian and Rs. 250 (approx. $5) for a foreigners. Carrying a still camera is free irrespective of its quality as professional or non-professional.Taking a non-professional video camera is also free. However Indians need to pay Rs. 500 and Foreigners Rs. 1500 for taking in a professional video camera. Also there are charges for making a feature film or documentary film; Indians need to pay Rs. 100,000 and Rs. 10,000 per day and foreigners Rs. 200,000 and Rs. 30,000 per day respectively. You may check this out in the picture.

We organize trekking tours to valley of flowers. to visit valley of flowers kinldy fill in your contact details on "contact us" form. we will contact you soon

3 Comments

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No Login required, Just comment here. We will be glad to answer your questions. If you have been to valley of flowers, Your experience may benifit other nature lovers.

Sushma Dhumal
We r both senior citizens (60 & 65), but in good health. We would like to visit valley of flowers in aug- sept this year. We would like to spend about ten to twelve days in govindghat, ghagaria and badrinath, maybe two visits each, to valley of flowers and Hemkund Saheb. We want to get acclimatised to the height then trek. We r life members of BNHS and have been to the valley once. We would welcome any suggestions for scheduling this trip. Thank u

11th February 2013 08:16 AM

Kunal Sarin (From Mumbai, India)
The Valley of flowers is an amazing place, by September end the flowers disappear, and then snowfall covers the area completely and remains so till May. In June the snow starts melting and the seeds of flowers start germinating and slowly the valley comes to life with flowers. The flowers change every 15 days and the color of valley changes with it. The place is so pristine, pure, the air so fresh, sky so blue, at this moment you experience emotional bliss. One has to be present here to experience it and no words or pictures can explain the effect this place has on individual.

24th January 2013 07:56 AM

Purshottam Oke
Hello Devkant, First of all, Thanks to make this wonderful website full of valuable information, pictures and your vision towards safeguarding the nature with various cautious and alarming inputs. I, Purushottam Oke, am from Pune and a big nature lover. This is one of the places along with Ladakh that is still on top of my must visit places list. I am sure I do find space this year to fulfill my dream to visit the valley atleast once in my lifetime. Considering all the articles published about Valley of Flowers and feedback seen about the best visit time, I hope this comes amongst the best period to visit the valley of flowers.

20th January 2013 12:27 PM