Srinagar, set like a jeweled mirror in Kashmir’s mountains, is India’s most poetic address for a luxury retreat. Begin at Dal Lake, where carved cedar houseboats such as Sukoon or Mascot offer butler service, silk furnishings, and dawn views of shikaras gliding across glassy water. Ask your boatman to pause at the floating vegetable market, then at heritage craft shops for pashmina and walnut wood carvings. Spend golden afternoons in the Mughal gardens of Shalimar Bagh, Nishat Bagh, and terraced Chashme Shahi, where fountains whisper under ancient chinars and the Zabarwan Range frames every photograph. For a quieter interlude, visit Pari Mahal at sunset; its ruined arches and layered gardens overlook the entire valley in a tapestry of copper and violet. Check into The Lalit Grand Palace or Vivanta Dal View for panoramic suites, chandeliers, and Kashmiri wazwan dinners—gustaba, rogan josh, and fragrant kahwa served beside crackling bukharis. Reserve a day for Hazratbal Shrine and the old city’s labyrinth of khanqahs and wooden mosques, then drive to Nigeen Lake for a private shikara ride under a sky streaked with alpine stars. Between perfume-laden saffron fields in Pampore and the snow-dusted road to Gulmarg, a luxury journey through Srinagar becomes an intimate study in Himalayan grace and timeless hospitality.