Do Dham Yatra from Haridwar — Kedarnath & Badrinath in 6–7 Days (2026)

Kedarnath and Badrinath together from Haridwar take six days at a sensible pace, or seven with a buffer for weather or tired legs after the trek. The loop runs Haridwar → Guptkashi → Kedarnath → Badrinath → Pipalkoti → Haridwar, roughly 850 km of hill road. Here are the day-by-day plan, costs, registration steps and the months that work.

🗺️ The route, day by day

Haridwar is the last big railhead and has the offline registration counters, so the loop starts here. Everything below assumes a private car; buses do not keep this sequence.

• Day 1 — Haridwar to Guptkashi: about 214 km, 7–8 hours via Rishikesh, Devprayag and Rudraprayag. Leave by 6 am; sleep at Guptkashi or Sitapur.

• Day 2 — Guptkashi to Kedarnath: 30 km to Sonprayag (about 1 hour), shared jeep 5 km to Gaurikund, then the 16 km trek, 6–8 hours. Night at Kedarnath.

• Day 3 — Kedarnath back to Guptkashi: morning darshan, walk down, drive back. Night at Guptkashi.

• Day 4 — Guptkashi to Badrinath: roughly 190 km, 6–7 hours via Rudraprayag, Karnaprayag and Joshimath. Evening Shayan aarti at Badrinath.

• Day 5 — Badrinath to Pipalkoti or Joshimath: early darshan, Mana village, then 2–3 hours down the valley.

• Day 6 — Back to Haridwar: about 270 km, 9–10 hours from Pipalkoti.

A seventh day is best spent as a spare night at Guptkashi after the trek. It absorbs a rain delay at Sonprayag or a morning you cannot walk.

📅 Opening and closing dates

Both temples opened in April 2026: Kedarnath on 22 April and Badrinath on 23 April. The season runs until just after Diwali, 8 November 2026.

Kedarnath always closes on Bhai Dooj, so the tentative date is 11 November 2026. Badrinath closes a little later, usually within the following week. The BKTC fixes both days on Vijayadashami, 20 October 2026, so treat the first week of November as the last safe window.

The 2027 opening dates do not exist yet; Kedarnath's is announced on Mahashivratri and Badrinath's on Basant Panchami, both in spring 2027. The opening-dates planner from Delhi explains how early to book. The best months are May and late September to October; July and August bring landslides on the Rudraprayag stretch.

🪪 Registration and permits

Registration is free and compulsory for every Yatri, infants included. Do it on registrationandtouristcare.uk.gov.in or the Tourist Care Uttarakhand app: enter Aadhaar, travel dates and group size, upload a photo and download the certificate.

• Daily caps in 2026 ran at 18,000 for Kedarnath and 20,000 for Badrinath, so dates can show full in May and June.

• Offline counters sit at Haridwar railway station, Rahi Hotel and Rishikul Grounds, and at Rishikesh ISBT.

• The registration number is checked at Sonprayag and again at Pandukeshwar before Badrinath.

• Commercial cars need a Green Card (₹400 for a light vehicle) plus a Trip Card from greencard.uk.gov.in; a hired taxi should arrive with both.

The Badrinath registration guide from Delhi walks through the form field by field.

💰 What it costs

Budget in three layers: the car, the nights, and the Kedarnath climb. The climb is where the range opens up.

A family of four in one Innova for six days spends about ₹30,000–40,000 on the car and ₹10,000–20,000 on rooms, before the climb. Darshan at both temples is free.

🚁 Walking, pony or helicopter

The 16 km from Gaurikund is the only hard part of the Do Dham. Choose per person, not per group.

• Walk: 6–8 hours up, 4–5 down. Start by 5 am from Gaurikund so you reach before the afternoon cloud.

• Pony: about ₹3,500 one way, booked only at the government counters at Gaurikund, Bhimbali or Linchauli. Never pay a tout on the road.

• Palki: ₹9,200 to ₹15,200 one way by weight, four bearers, same counters.

• Helicopter: IRCTC HeliYatra only, from Sirsi (₹6,390), Phata (₹10,164) or Guptkashi (₹12,762) round trip plus convenience fee and GST. Slots are limited per ID and your registration number is mandatory.

Helicopter cuts a full day, making this a five-day loop. Our four-day Kedarnath plan from Haridwar covers the Kedarnath-only version in detail.

🧭 Which plan should you choose?

• With elderly parents: take seven days, fly from Guptkashi or Phata, and sleep at Joshimath rather than Badrinath (3,100 m) if anyone has breathing trouble.

• Family with children: six days, ponies for the kids, a spare night at Guptkashi, and the 8:30 pm Shayan aarti at Badrinath as the treat.

• On a budget: GMVN dorms at Badrinath, walk the trek, and share a Tempo Traveller between two families.

• Tight on time: five days with the helicopter, but only in May or October when weather cancellations are rare.

• Avoid: driving Badrinath to Haridwar in one go after darshan. That is 320 km and 10–12 hours of hill bends; break at Pipalkoti.

🛏️ Where to stay along the loop

Haridwar is the night before and the night after. Stay near the railway station or Har Ki Pauri so a 6 am departure costs no sleep, and keep the return night booked in case the road is slow.

On the route, Guptkashi and Sitapur have the widest choice before Kedarnath, and Sonprayag fills first. At Badrinath the GMVN rooms sit a short walk from the temple; Pipalkoti and Joshimath give warmer, cheaper nights on the way down.

Plan the climb first and the registration second; the two dhams fall into place around them. Har Har Mahadev, Jai Badri Vishal.