Quick Answer
A standard 3-day/2-night Vaishno Devi trip for two adults, staying in a deluxe hotel with no helicopter, typically works out to roughly ₹12,000–₹13,000 total. Around ₹6,000–₹6,500 per person. Add a helicopter both ways (₹4,640 per adult round trip, the Shrine Board's published 2026 rate) and that rises to around ₹22,000 total. The exact number depends on your hotel category, how you travel to Jammu, group size, and any nearby attractions you add on. This article breaks down every line item below using our current published rates, or you can build your exact trip in our wizard and see a live number in under two minutes.
Hotel, transport, and meal rates below are our current standard rates and are reviewed periodically — helicopter pricing is the Shrine Board's official published fare. Build your trip for a live, itemised price against today's rates.
Hotel Costs by Category
Hotel rates in Katra scale by category, charged per room per night. Rooms are typically shared two adults per room (children under a certain age often share without an extra bed).
| Category | Price per Night |
|---|---|
| Budget | ₹1,200 |
| Deluxe | ₹2,200 |
| Premium | ₹3,500 |
| Luxury | ₹5,500 |
For a standard 2-night stay, that's ₹2,400 (Budget) up to ₹11,000 (Luxury) for one room. Want to book a specific hotel instead of a generic tier? See our complete Katra hotels guide or the Top 10 hotels in Katra for named options at each price point.
Local Transport & Pickup
If you're flying or taking the train into Jammu, most packages include a pickup vehicle and local transport for the length of your trip, charged per day. Travelling by your own car removes this cost entirely.
| How You Arrive | Cost per Day |
|---|---|
| Flight | ₹1,800 |
| Train | ₹1,800 |
| Bus | ₹1,500 |
| Own Car | ₹0 |
Helicopter Costs
Helicopter tickets are priced per person at a fare fixed by the Shrine Board. They're also subject to Shrine Board slot availability, which can vary by season. The Shrine Board's helicopter connects Katra to the Sanjichhat helipad (a short flight, followed by a flat ~2.5 km walk to Bhawan). Most pilgrims book it both ways.
| Passenger | Price (round trip) |
|---|---|
| Adult | ₹4,640 (₹2,320 one way) |
| Child above 2 years | Same fare as an adult, under the Shrine Board's published rule |
| Child under 2 years | Free, on a parent's lap |
Booking opens 60 days in advance on the official Shrine Board site and tickets sell out within minutes. A limited number of same-day "current booking" tickets are also sold from 4:00 AM at Niharika Bhawan, Katra, subject to availability.
Meals
Meals are typically costed per person per day across your whole trip, whether you're eating at your hotel or nearby.
| Cost | |
|---|---|
| Per person, per day | ₹500 |
Planning your yatra? Build your package in 2 minutes and see this same breakdown calculated live for your exact dates and group size. Build My Yatra →
Nearby Attractions & Add-Ons (Optional)
If you're extending your trip with a nearby excursion, each one adds both a cost and, for the longer ones, extra days to your itinerary.
| Attraction | Add-on Cost | Extra Days |
|---|---|---|
| Jammu Sightseeing | ₹600 | 0 (en route) |
| Mansar Lake | ₹500 | 0 (en route) |
| Baba Dhansar | ₹400 | 0 (en route) |
| Shiv Khori | ₹800 | +1 day |
| Patnitop + Nathatop | ₹1,200 | +1 day |
| Pahalgam | ₹1,600 | +1 day |
| Gulmarg | ₹1,800 | +1 day |
| Sonmarg | ₹1,700 | +1 day |
| Amritsar | ₹1,500 | +1 day |
| Srinagar | ₹2,200 | +2 days |
Sample Budget 1: 2 Adults, 3 Days / 2 Nights, Deluxe Hotel, No Helicopter
This is the most common trip shape. Arrive, darshan, depart, flying in and out of Jammu.
| Line Item | Calculation | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel | 1 room × 2 nights × ₹2,200 | ₹4,400 |
| Transport | 3 days × ₹1,800 | ₹5,400 |
| Meals | 2 people × 3 days × ₹500 | ₹3,000 |
| Total | ₹12,800 | |
| Per person | ₹6,400 |
Sample Budget 2: 2 Adults, Same Trip, With Helicopter Both Ways
| Line Item | Calculation | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel | 1 room × 2 nights × ₹2,200 | ₹4,400 |
| Transport | 3 days × ₹1,800 | ₹5,400 |
| Helicopter | 2 people × ₹4,640 (round trip) | ₹9,280 |
| Meals | 2 people × 3 days × ₹500 | ₹3,000 |
| Total | ₹22,080 | |
| Per person | ₹11,040 |
What the standard rates leave out
The tables above cover the three costs most travellers think of: the hotel, local transport and meals. A real trip includes a handful of other items, and knowing them in advance prevents the usual surprise at the end.
Getting to Jammu or Katra. The biggest variable by far. A train ticket from Delhi costs a fraction of a flight from Bangalore, and fares rise sharply at Navratri, Diwali and school holidays. Our city pages show starting prices from each departure city, and the guide on how to reach Katra compares the options.
Getting up the mountain. Walking is free. The Shrine Board's published fares for the services that help you are:
- Helicopter: ₹2,320 one way, ₹4,640 return (Katra to Sanjichhat), per person.
- Battery car: ₹450 from Ardhkuwari to the Bhawan and ₹300 on the return, with children up to 5 free (two per paying ticket).
- Bhairon Temple ropeway: about ₹100 per person round trip.
- Pony, palki and pithoo: fixed rates set by the authorities and paid at official counters, so ask the current figure on the day. They cost far more than the battery car for the same stretch.
Registration and cloakrooms. Yatra registration is free, and so are the Shrine Board's cloakrooms.
Prasad, offerings and souvenirs. Most pilgrims spend something on prasad, a coconut or flowers, and gifts of dry fruit for family. Budget a modest amount per person, and more if you plan to bring gifts for many people.
Tips and small expenses. Taxi to Banganga, tea and snacks on the route, a tip for the pony handler if the service was good, and a few notes for donations. These come to a few hundred rupees per person.
Extra hotel nights. Our sample budgets assume two nights. Adding a rest night costs one more room night and one more day of transport and meals, but it is the best-value change you can make for comfort.
Reading a budget by traveller type
The right budget depends less on the rates and more on who is travelling and what they need.
A couple on a simple trip. Budget or Deluxe hotel, two nights, no helicopter, walking all the way. This is the lowest-cost version, and the sample budget above shows roughly where it lands.
A family of four with children. Two rooms or a family room, a Deluxe hotel, and a battery car or pony for part of the route. Children over 5 pay the full battery car fare, and children over 2 pay the full helicopter fare, so these items multiply quickly. Costing the family version separately is wise.
A trip with elderly parents. Comfort is the priority. A Premium hotel with a lift, a helicopter or battery car, and an extra rest night. This is where spending more clearly improves the trip.
A larger group. Groups of ten or more usually save per person, because vehicles and hotel blocks are shared. Tell the wizard your group size to see the effect.
A luxury or celebration trip. A Luxury hotel, helicopter both ways, a spa day and sightseeing. Here the hotel can exceed the transport budget.
How prices move through the year
The published government fares, such as the helicopter and battery car, do not change with demand. Hotels and travel to Katra do. In practice you will notice the following.
- Navratri, Diwali, New Year and May to June school holidays: the highest hotel rates and the most expensive trains and flights, and the lowest availability.
- July to early September (monsoon): lower rates and fewer crowds, but more risk of disruption. Choose flexible bookings.
- February to March and late September to November: moderate rates and good weather, which is why they suit budget-conscious travellers.
Our standard hotel, transport and meal rates in the tables above are reviewed periodically and do not change with season, so a live quote for peak dates may differ from a blog table. For an exact number, use the wizard.
Money-saving ideas that actually work
- Shift your dates by a few days. Moving off a weekend or festival can lower both travel and hotel costs.
- Book trains early, and use Jammu Tawi as a fallback if direct Katra trains are full.
- Stay near the station or bus stand, which saves taxi fares and time.
- Choose a hotel with breakfast included to reduce meal costs.
- Use the battery car for one direction only if you want to save on fares but ease the hardest stretch.
- Share vehicles with another family for airport and sightseeing transfers.
- Skip add-ons you will not use, and keep the money for a comfortable room the night after the climb.
Ways to Save on Your Trip
- Travel outside Navratri. Hotel availability is better and you're not competing with peak-season demand, even though our rates stay the same year-round.
- Choose Budget or Deluxe over Premium/Luxury if you're mainly using the room to sleep between darshan and travel.
- Skip the helicopter if you're comfortable with the trek — it's the single biggest line item after hotel and transport for most trips.
- Travel by your own car if you're within driving distance — it removes the daily transport charge entirely.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a Vaishno Devi trip cost for 2 people? A standard 3-day/2-night trip in a deluxe hotel with no helicopter runs roughly ₹12,000–₹13,000 total for two adults. Adding a helicopter both ways brings that to around ₹22,000. See the sample budgets above for the full line-item breakdown.
Is the helicopter price fixed, or does it vary? It's fixed by the Shrine Board and published centrally. ₹4,640 round trip per person as of 2026 (children above 2 pay the same, under-2s fly free). The Shrine Board lists the fare as applying until 15 October 2026, so check for a revision if you travel later. It doesn't vary by season or operator the way hotel rates can.
What's the single biggest cost after hotel and transport? The helicopter, if you add it. At ₹4,640 per adult round trip, it's usually the largest line item after your room and daily transport.
Do prices change during Navratri or peak season? Our hotel, transport, and meal rates stay the same year-round. Helicopter and battery car availability can get tighter in peak season, but the published fares don't change with demand.
Package Prices by Departure City
The breakdown above covers the trip itself. What you'll also want to factor in is getting to Katra. Starting prices vary by departure city mainly based on flight/train cost and distance:
- Vaishno Devi Package from Delhi — from ₹6,999
- Vaishno Devi Package from Mumbai — from ₹9,499
- Vaishno Devi Package from Bangalore — from ₹11,499
- Vaishno Devi Package from Hyderabad — from ₹10,999
- Vaishno Devi Package from Kolkata — from ₹10,999
Each city page has route options (flight/train/road) and a sample itinerary specific to that starting point.
Build Your Exact Price
These are planning estimates. Your actual price depends on your travel dates, group size, and choices. The fastest way to get a real number is our 6-step wizard: it builds a day-wise itinerary and an itemised price live as you go, with no obligation and no advance payment needed.