Kedarnath & Badrinath Opening Dates — What to Book From Delhi (2027)

Kedarnath and Badrinath have not announced their 2027 opening dates yet, and they will not until February and March 2027. What you can plan on now is the pattern: Akshaya Tritiya falls on 8 to 9 May 2027, so both kapat should open in the second week of May, about three weeks later than in 2026.

This guide walks through what gets announced when, and what a Delhi Yatri should book at each step.

📅 What is known about the 2027 dates, and what is not

Nothing official exists yet, and any website quoting a confirmed 2027 date is guessing. The Badri-Kedar Temple Committee fixes the dates by panchang on two fixed occasions each year.

• Badrinath: announced on Basant Panchami at the Tehri royal court in Narendranagar. In 2027 that is 11 February.

• Kedarnath: announced on Maha Shivratri at the Omkareshwar temple in Ukhimath. In 2027 that is 6 March.

• Gangotri and Yamunotri: open on Akshaya Tritiya itself. Our Gangotri opening guide covers those.

The anchor is Akshaya Tritiya, which falls on 8 or 9 May 2027 depending on the panchang used. That is three weeks later than 2026, when it fell on 19 April.

Treat the 2027 row as a planning estimate, not a booking date. Both temples close around Bhai Dooj in November, which in 2026 means about 11 November for Kedarnath and 13 November for Badrinath.

📝 The Char Dham registration, and when it opens

Registration on the Uttarakhand tourism portal is free and mandatory for every Yatri. In 2026 it opened on 6 March at 7 am for a 22 April kapat, roughly six and a half weeks ahead. If 2027 follows the same gap, expect the portal to open in the last week of March 2027.

You register once for all four dhams, choose your dates, and receive a Unique Registration Number, the URN. That number is checked at the Sonprayag and Badrinath barriers, and the helicopter portal will not take your payment without it.

Our Kedarnath registration guide walks through the form, and the Badrinath guide covers the second dham.

🚁 Helicopter booking: a week before opening, URN first

Kedarnath helicopter tickets sell only through the IRCTC HeliYatra portal. In 2026 booking opened on 15 April at 6 pm for flights from 22 April to 15 June, so seven days before kapat. A second window for the autumn opened on 22 September for October flights.

The 2026 round-trip fares, before a ₹300 convenience fee and 18 percent GST:

Opening-week slots go within hours. Have your URN, Aadhaar details and a card ready before the window opens, and sit on the portal from a few minutes before. Anyone selling tickets outside heliyatra.irctc.co.in is reselling or worse.

🛣️ Getting there from Delhi: the distances that set your dates

Delhi to Kedarnath is two days of road and one day of trek. Delhi to Badrinath is two days of road.

• Delhi → Haridwar: about 220 km, 4 to 5 hours.

• Haridwar → Sonprayag: about 250 km of hill road, 8 to 9 hours. Total Delhi to Sonprayag roughly 470 to 510 km.

• Gaurikund → Kedarnath: the 16 km trek, 6 to 8 hours up for a fit adult, longer with elders. Ponies and palkis run from Gaurikund.

• Delhi → Badrinath: about 525 to 540 km via Rishikesh and Joshimath, with a night at Rudraprayag or Joshimath.

For the full route and halts, our Char Dham yatra from Delhi guide lays out the circuit.

🗂️ The booking order for a Delhi Yatri

Each step depends on the one before it, so the sequence matters more than speed.

1. 11 February and 6 March 2027: note the official Badrinath and Kedarnath dates the day they are announced.

2. Late March 2027: register on the Uttarakhand portal the morning it opens and save the URN.

3. Same week: book rooms at Guptkashi or Sonprayag and at Joshimath. Opening-week rooms are gone within days.

4. About a week before kapat: book helicopter slots on HeliYatra with the URN.

5. Last: fix the Delhi departure, the taxi and any train to Haridwar, now that nothing upstream can move.

🧭 Which plan should you choose?

• Want to be there on opening day: register the morning the portal opens, book Sonprayag or Guptkashi rooms the same week, then fight for helicopter slots when they release. Expect the biggest crowd of the season.

• With elders: skip opening week. Go in the last week of May or in September, when queues at the temple are shorter and the trek path is dry. Book the helicopter rather than ponies.

• On a budget: bus or train to Haridwar, Uttarakhand roadways to Sonprayag, walk the trek. Register anyway, it is mandatory.

• Avoid: booking non-refundable flights or trains to Dehradun before the official dates are out in February and March. A one-day shift in the kapat date has wrecked many itineraries.

🛏️ Where to stay

Leave Delhi early and sleep in Haridwar or Rishikesh on night one. For Kedarnath, Guptkashi, Phata and Sonprayag have the rooms, and opening week sells out weeks ahead. For Badrinath, Joshimath is the practical halt and Badrinath town has dharamshalas near the temple.

Wait for February and March for the dates, but have the registration and rooms ready to go the day they are out. Har Har Mahadev.