These locations might inspire you to enjoy an off-season walk through Uttrakhand’s Valley of Flowers, take in a blooming view of Yumthang from a hot spring, or plan a luxurious staycation in Darjeeling’s rolling hills. They offer hiking routes, indigenous cultural programs, and views that make you want to spring into a spring mood.
Valley of Flowers: Uttrakhand
The Valley of blooms National Park was declared by the Indian government in 1980, and because of its rare alpine blooms, it was inducted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2002. While the many stages of the bloom are visible throughout the year, the meadows reach their zenith in late March and early May when blue poppies, yellow saxaul, scarlet spider lilies, and other flowers bloom.
Model Floriculture Center: Kashmir
If you plan to visit Kashmir once a year, schedule it for the spring of 2024, which runs from the last week of March to the end of April. The largest tulip garden in Asia is the Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden, also called the Model Floriculture Center. Every year at the beginning of spring, it hosts the Tulip Festival. Located in Srinagar, the roughly 30-hectare facility was inaugurated in 2007 with the goal of improving tourism and floriculture in the Kashmir Valley.
Valley of Flowers sanctuary: Sikkim
It’s as ethereal as it gets, with a broad carpet of rhododendrons painting the Sikkim Valley of Flowers sanctuary red. Shingba Rhododendron Sanctuary, located 150 kilometers from the capital Gangtok, is where you can see more than 20 species of the state flower from February to mid-June.
Apricot Blossom festival: Ladakh
Particularly in terms of costs, Japan’s Cherry Blossom gazing can’t compete with Ladakh’s Apricot Blossom festival. During this event, which is organized by Ladakh Tourism and takes place between mid- and late-April, participants can learn about the rare GI-tagged Raktsey Karpo Apricot (locally known as Chuli), sample and purchase apricot-derived products like jams and syrup, and engage in deeply ingrained traditional activities in Dha-Hanu villages.
First Flush: Darjeeling
Cherry blossoms bathing: Bangalore
Originally brought to Bengaluru by the British as a way to remind them of their native springtime, tabebuia pink blossoms bloom there each spring. The initial seeds were credited to the renowned botanists John Cameron and Gustav Hermann Krumbiegel, who shaped the Lal Bagh. Horticulturist SG Neginhal then planted the seeds as avenue trees throughout the city in the 1980s. The popular locations to see the flowers are the historic Cubbon Park in Ashok Nagar, but residential blocks in Jayanagar, HSR Layout, Koramangala, AECS Layout, and Indiranagar are all worth checking out.
