Luxury
Mahajong Premium Houseboat
- Lake-facing rooms
- Attached bathroom
- Heating
- Meals on board
Rates on requestWe quote after checking with the owner
- Home
- Houseboats
- Honeymoon Houseboats
For two, on the water
Honeymoon Houseboats in Kashmir
A room on the lake, a deck that belongs to you for the evening, and a shikara waiting when you want to leave. We arrange the boat, the decoration and the quiet — with the family who owns it.
The stay itself
What a Honeymoon on the Lake Is Actually Like
A houseboat is not a hotel room with a view of water — it is a wooden house floating on it, reached by boat. Once the shikara leaves, nobody walks past your door. That is the whole appeal for a couple: the privacy is structural, not a policy.
Mornings are mist and flat water, with vendors paddling up to the deck if you want them and moving on if you wave. Afternoons you can be ashore in the gardens or the old city. Evenings the lake empties, the light goes off the hills, and dinner comes out of the kitchen at the back of the boat.
It is quiet in a way that surprises people. Sound carries over water, so the mooring matters more than the furniture — which is why we ask where a boat sits before we recommend it.
Privacy on the waterDeck in the eveningMeals cooked on boardShikara at the door
What we arrange
What We Can Arrange for a Couple
None of this is a fixed package. Each item below is something we ask the houseboat owner to do for your stay, and we tell you what they have agreed to before you confirm. If an owner cannot do one of them for your dates, we say so rather than promise it.
The room
We ask for the best room on the boat for a honeymoon: ensuite, lake-facing, and away from the kitchen and the passage where staff move about.
Flower decoration
Arranged with the owner before you arrive. The flowers come from the lake gardens, so what is available changes with the season.
A private shikara at sunset
A boat and paddler for the two of you rather than a shared ride — out through the channels while the light goes.
Dinner on board
Cooked by the family who runs the boat, Kashmiri food if you ask for it, and laid on the verandah instead of the dining room when the weather allows.
Arrival and transfers
Airport pickup, the drive to the ghat and the crossing, so the first hour of the trip is not spent negotiating with anyone.
The rest of the valley
Sightseeing in Srinagar and day trips with a driver, if you want the lake to be the base rather than the whole trip.
Worth saying early
Tell us it is a honeymoon in your first message. It changes which boats we offer and what we ask the owner for, and it costs nothing to mention.
Houseboats
Houseboats We Can Arrange for Two
Rates on request on every boat. We confirm the room and the price with the owner before we quote, and 657 houseboats are registered on Dal Lake with the Kashmir Houseboat Owners Association, so if the one you want is not below we can still approach it.
Houseboats of this grade we have photographed ourselves. Every other luxury-grade boat on the lake can be arranged in the same way.
Luxury
New Golden Hind Houseboat
- Lake-facing rooms
- Attached bathroom
- Heating
- Meals on board
Rates on requestWe quote after checking with the owner
Every luxury houseboat on the lake
We represent the whole luxury grade, not a fixed list
There are 657 houseboats registered on Dal Lake with the Kashmir Houseboat Owners Association, and we deal with the owners directly. Tell us your dates, your group and what you want from a luxury boat, and we will put forward the ones that are genuinely free and suit you - with photographs, room details and one written price for your stay.
- Any luxury-grade boat on Dal Lake, arranged through its owner
- Availability confirmed with the owner before we quote
- One written price, nothing added on arrival
- Shikara transfer from the ghat arranged with the stay
Choosing
Choosing the Right Boat for Two People
Most disappointment on a honeymoon houseboat comes down to three things, and all three are decided before you arrive. These are the questions we ask the owner on your behalf.
Where the boat is moored
Away from the main ghats is quieter. Boats on the first line at a busy landing hear passing shikaras and boulevard traffic late into the evening; boats set back behind them, or towards the Rainawari end, do not.
An ensuite room
On older boats a room may share a bathroom down the passage. For a couple that is the difference between a private stay and a shared one, so we confirm it rather than assume it.
A deck you do not share
The verandah is where you will actually spend the evening. On a boat letting several rooms it is common ground. Ask how many rooms are let — we do.
Heating and the season
Nights on the water are cold outside summer. Most boats have heating; we check what kind before recommending a boat for winter or early spring dates.
We do not own the boats. We arrange your stay with the family who does, and we tell you what we know first-hand and what we do not.
- 657 houseboats are registered on Dal Lake with the Kashmir Houseboat Owners Association, and we can approach any of them for you.
- If we have not been on board a boat ourselves, we say so before you book it.
Planning
How to Plan the Trip Around the Lake
The houseboat is usually the first and last part of a Kashmir honeymoon, because Srinagar is where you land. How you fill the middle is the decision worth making early.
01
Start on the lake
Arrive, cross by shikara and do nothing for the first day. It is the easiest way to get over the flight and the altitude change.
02
Add the sunset shikara
Best done from the boat itself, on an evening when you have no other plan. We book the paddler for the two of you.
03
Go up the valley
Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Sonamarg or Doodhpathri with a driver, either as day trips from Srinagar or as nights away. We arrange the cab either way.
04
Come back to the water
Keeping the last night on the houseboat makes the airport transfer simple and ends the trip on the lake rather than on a road.
FAQ
Questions Couples Ask Us
Is a houseboat private enough for a honeymoon?
On the right boat, yes. Some houseboats let only one or two rooms and have a deck used by no one else, which is what we look for when the booking is a honeymoon. Tell us it is a honeymoon in your first message and we will only offer boats where you are not sharing the verandah with other guests.
Can you arrange flower decoration in the room?
Yes. We ask the owner to decorate the room before you arrive. It is arranged boat by boat with the family who runs it, so tell us your arrival time and we will confirm what they can do for your dates.
Can we have dinner served on the deck, just the two of us?
Usually. Meals are cooked on board by the family, and most owners are happy to lay a table on the verandah rather than in the dining room if the weather allows. We pass the request on when we book and confirm it back to you.
How many nights on the lake do couples usually take?
Most couples split the trip: some nights on the houseboat in Srinagar and the rest in the valley. Tell us how long you have in Kashmir and we will suggest how to divide it, including the shikara ride and any sightseeing or cabs you want added.
What does a honeymoon houseboat stay cost?
Rates on request. The price depends on the boat, the room, the season and the number of nights, and we confirm it with the owner before we quote you, so we do not publish a figure we cannot honour. Send your dates and we reply with options and one written price.
Enquire
Tell Us Your Dates for a Honeymoon Stay
Send the dates, how many nights you want on the lake and anything you would like us to ask the owner for. We ring the boat and come back with options and one written quote — usually the same day.
Email bookmyhouseboat0@gmail.com Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, India