[srvm]

Folks, we (myself, wife and daughter) completed the holy char dham pilgrimage this year.
We took the Char dham yatra tour no.5 of GMVN (https://gmvnonline.com/Tour-Package-5).
Tour started from Dehradun on 28th May. Ended at Haridwar on 6th June.
We were totally 9 pilgrims (unrelated, small families from various parts of India) in a tempo traveller with capacity of 16 seats).
Had awesome yatra. Had darsan twice at all four dhams. All GMVN tourist rest houses are located at beautiful places. Rooms were basic and a bit small, but we did not mind since we used it only for sleep and rest.

Any queries specific to 2024 yatra, kindly ask. I'll be happy to respond.

Definitely, a memorable, once in a lifetime experience.

Many thanks to BHPians who posted their experience here in this thread. Greatly helped us. Particularly, BHPian ravib who patiently answered all my queries

[dsnaveen21]

Guys, planning to visit Chardham with family, is the below itinerary, good, can you please make any changes/suggestions...

Day 1: Mumbai to Haridwar (start Wednesday, 26 hours train, start at 2:30 PM)
Day 2: Reach Haridwar
Day 3: Haridwar
Day 4: Haridwar to Barkot 210kms/7-8hr
Day 5: Barkot - Yamunotri - Barkot 38kms drive & 6kms Trek (one side)
Day 6: Barkot - Gangotri
Day 7: Gangotri to to Guptkashi/Sitapur
Day 8: Guptkashi to Kedarnath (16 km trek)
Day 9: Kedarnath to Guptkashi
Day 10: Guptkashi to Badrinath 7-8 hours
Day 11: Badrinath to Joshimath 1-2 hours
Day 12: Joshimath to Rishikesh
Day 13: Rishikesh to Haridwar
Day 14: Haridwar to Mumbai (train/flight)

Thanks,

[dsnaveen21]

Originally Posted by srvm

We took the Char dham yatra tour no.5 of GMVN (https://gmvnonline.com/Tour-Package-5).
Tour started from Dehradun on 28th May. Ended at Haridwar on 6th June.

Hi,
How much is the cost, what all is included, can you please share...
Thanks,

[nareshtrao]

Originally Posted by srvm

Folks, we (myself, wife and daughter) completed the holy char dham pilgrimage this year.
We took the Char dham yatra tour no.5 of GMVN (https://gmvnonline.com/Tour-Package-5).

Any queries specific to 2024 yatra, kindly ask. I'll be happy to respond.

Couple of questions.

1. Does the package include the Darshan in Kedarnath and Badrinath? As in do they have any separate arrangement for darshan instead of common queue?

2. With regard to Kedarnath - Does this include the Heli charges? Or is this through the trekking route?

[srvm]

Originally Posted by dsnaveen21

Hi,
How much is the cost, what all is included, can you please share...
Thanks,

Originally Posted by nareshtrao

Couple of questions.

1. Does the package include the Darshan in Kedarnath and Badrinath? As in do they have any separate arrangement for darshan instead of common queue?

2. With regard to Kedarnath - Does this include the Heli charges? Or is this through the trekking route?

Cost per person was Rs.35,110 including GST (mentioned in the link in my earlier post).

The above includes the following only -
1. Accommodation every night, including the night before the tour commences. It is typically twin sharing rooms. Since we were 3 of us (myself, wife and 14-year old daughter), we stayed in one room and adjusted.
2. Travel by 12-seater Non AC tempo traveller


You have to bear the following expenses on your own:
1. Food / Meals
2. Special pooja/darsan expenses
3. Porter charges, if any, at Yamunotri, Kedarnath
4. Helicopter / Kachar / Pony charges, if any, at Yamunotri and Kedarnath.


Important point: You have to do the (online) Yatra registration yourself. GMVN will not do it on your behalf even if you have booked their package.

This was my itinerary, in brief:

Day-1: Flew from Bangalore to Dehradun (Jolly Grant airport). Stayed at Rishikesh for 2 days. Sight seeing, Ganga aarti etc.

Day-3: Reached Hotel Drona, Dehradun. Overnight accommodation here was included in the tour package.

Day-4: Yatra begins.

Day-13: We were dropped off at Haridwar around noon time. We stayed here for another day. Sight-seeing etc.

Day-14: Checked out of hotel at Haridwar. Flew back to Bangalore from Jolly Grant airport (Dehradun).

Hope this helps.

[Aviator_guy]

I'm planning a Kedarnath Badrinath darshan trip ex Dehradun during the month of May. We are family of four adults. Due to limited time, we are exploring Helicopter packages. I understand that official package is available on IRCTC but there are some issues. It is only for Kedarnath and there is no info when booking will open and it makes it difficult to plan. Also it is not ex-Dehradun.

That made us look for tours conducted by pvt operators and realised that there are numerous players and agents in the market. Dont know whom to trust.

Looking for suggestion of a reliable agent/aviation company for ex-Dehradun package (same day package or 2-3 days packages by helicopter).

[sinharishi]

Originally Posted by Aviator_guy

That made us look for tours conducted by pvt operators and realised that there are numerous players and agents in the market. Dont know whom to trust.

Looking for suggestion of a reliable agent/aviation company for ex-Dehradun package (same day package or 2-3 days packages by helicopter).

Please stick to direct govt tours or ones registered with govt. If not from Doon, you can take chopper from Phata. Avoid any kind of agent in between, we paid 2.5L for chopper for elders in the group, we were simply told booking cannot be confirmed and we will refund the amount. Almost 2 years now and not a single penny was returned.

[Aviator_guy]

Originally Posted by sinharishi

Please stick to direct govt tours or ones registered with govt. If not from Doon, you can take chopper from Phata. Avoid any kind of agent in between, we paid 2.5L for chopper for elders in the group, we were simply told booking cannot be confirmed and we will refund the amount. Almost 2 years now and not a single penny was returned.

That's the exact reason of my post

How to know who to trust and how to find out about their authenticity ? Everyone seems to claim they are the best.

Btw, do you mind sharing which agent you went with so I can be careful.

I understand that govt approved chopper tours are available via irctc site but as I said in my post earlier, it's not open yet and it is only for Kedarnath. I don't have risk appetite to wait for the window to open, only to find that tickets are already gone. Heard that these govt tours tickets are sold like Tatkal and almost impossible to get.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by Aviator_guy

That's the exact reason of my post

How to know who to trust and how to find out about their authenticity ? Everyone seems to claim they are the best.

Btw, do you mind sharing which agent you went with so I can be careful.

I understand that govt approved chopper tours are available via irctc site but as I said in my post earlier, it's not open yet and it is only for Kedarnath. I don't have risk appetite to wait for the window to open, only to find that tickets are already gone. Heard that these govt tours tickets are sold like Tatkal and almost impossible to get.

Originally Posted by sinharishi

Please stick to direct govt tours or ones registered with govt. If not from Doon, you can take chopper from Phata. Avoid any kind of agent in between, we paid 2.5L for chopper for elders in the group, we were simply told booking cannot be confirmed and we will refund the amount. Almost 2 years now and not a single penny was returned.

Not to discourage, getting Helicopter tickets during peak season May month is a big time scam.
Even if they open, you won't get it. By the time, they open itself, it will show RED, so your possibility of getting ticket is 0.1% unless you are extremely super lucky to get helicopter tickets for Kedarnath. The primary idea is to make money through agents which is exorbitant than regular fares and we can see that many are cheated unfortunately. Sorry for your state @sinharishi. The core purpose of entire char dham darshan experience is made bitter feel due to these cheating people.

That said, May is super crowded peak month, and is not going to be easy.

i would recommend you to read through my post #31 https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...ml#post5324880 (Visited Kedarnath : Any queries, please post here)

You also refer to bhpian @srvm post for last year details too.

It will help you to set expectations of the difficulties & challenges ahead.
My recommendation is, if possible delay your yatra to June or late August/September. That will give you far best experience IMO.

-Ravi

[Aviator_guy]

Very valid points fellows. I understand the cost and nuances of going with govt service available via IRCTC vs other packages with various operators. If I had an option, I'd stick to govt chopper service but sadly it is not fitting in my planning. What I'm looking for is to know from the forum if any reliable player which can be trusted. I am exploring chopper package ex Dehradun (Single day 2 dham yatra or 3 days 2 dham yatra).