Before you see your room at Aab Villa, you'll see the lake — from a foot above the waterline, in a long wooden boat someone else is paddling. That's the shikara ride, and for most guests it's the moment the trip actually begins.
What a shikara actually is
A shikara is a slim, flat-bottomed wooden boat, traditionally paddled rather than motorized, that has carried people and goods across Srinagar's lakes for generations. On Dal Lake, shikaras are famous as floating shops and ferries. On the quieter Nigeen Lake, they're mostly used the way we use ours: to carry guests the final stretch home, away from the road.
Ours covers roughly a kilometre, from the drop-off point near Ashaie Bagh Bridge to the villa's own dock. It's a short ride by the clock and a much longer one by feeling — the city noise falls away almost immediately once you're on the water.
What to expect on the crossing
The boat is unhurried by design. Expect gentle rocking, the sound of the paddle, and — depending on the hour — reflections of the surrounding poplar trees and the wooden houses that line the lake. Evenings are especially good for this: as we mention on our About page, the villa itself lights up warmly at dusk, and arriving by water as that happens is worth timing your travel around if you can.
You won't need to do anything but sit back. Luggage travels with you, and the boatman handles the rest.
The gentle sounds of nature, combined with the soothing ambiance of the surroundings, deliver an experience that is both peaceful and rejuvenating.
A few practical notes
- Let us know your approximate arrival time in advance — it helps us have the shikara waiting rather than you waiting for it.
- From Srinagar's city center (Lal Chowk), the drive to Ashaie Bagh Bridge — our designated drop-off point — takes roughly 20–25 minutes.
- Layer up in cooler months. The water carries a breeze even when the air on land feels still.
- Cameras out: the light on Nigeen Lake in the last hour before sunset is, by a wide margin, the best light of the day.
Why we kept it this way
It would be easier, logistically, to build a driveway to the door. But the shikara transfer is part of what makes a stay at Aab Villa feel distinct — a small, deliberate pause between the world you arrived from and the one you're about to spend a few days in. Guests consistently tell us it's one of the details they remember most.
