Kedarnath & Badrinath in One Day: Heli Yatra from Dehradun

Highlights & Route

For many families the hardest part of the Char Dham is not the darshan but the time: a week or more of hill roads and a long trek to Kedarnath. This one-day helicopter programme answers that. You report at Sahastradhara helidrome in Dehradun before sunrise, take darshan at Kedarnath and Badrinath, and are back in Dehradun around lunchtime, all without a single night away from your hotel.

The day runs in a fixed sequence. The first flight goes east to Sersi, near Sonprayag, where a shuttle helicopter lifts you up to Kedarnath in a few minutes. The temple is a short paved walk from the helipad. After darshan you return to Sersi and fly across the ridges to Badrinath, where a vehicle takes you to the temple and, if time permits, to the hot spring at Tapt Kund. The final sector brings you back to Dehradun. Our staff travel with the group and handle the queues, the ground transfers and the timings at every point.

Because the whole day depends on clear skies, this is a programme for people who can be flexible: departure can be pushed back by an hour or two for cloud, and in rare cases one dham may be dropped or the day moved. It suits elderly yatris who cannot trek, visitors with only a weekend, and anyone who has already done the road yatra and wants a second darshan without the strain.

Route

Dehradun (Sahastradhara) → Sersi → Kedarnath → Sersi → Badrinath → Dehradun (Sahastradhara)

Good to know before you book

• A charter helicopter seats up to six passengers with a strict total weight cap, usually around 75 kg per person. Exact body weights must be given at booking; extra weight is charged per kilo and a wrong figure can mean losing the seat.
• No luggage at all: one small sling bag per person for water, medicines and a shawl.
• Char Dham registration on the Uttarakhand portal is compulsory for every yatri and is checked at the shrines. We help you complete it.
• You will go from about 650 m in Dehradun to 3,580 m at Kedarnath within an hour. Walk slowly, sit when you need to, and tell our staff if you feel unwell.
• Arrive in Dehradun the evening before. Reporting time is around 5 am and a hotel near Sahastradhara makes the morning easy; we can suggest one.
• Phones and cameras are not allowed inside either temple.

Darshan, puja and timing notes

On this programme you have roughly two hours at Kedarnath and about two hours at Badrinath, so darshan is planned to the minute. Kedarnath opens for darshan in the early morning and our first charter is timed to land as the morning queue is moving; Badrinath is reached by late morning, before its midday closure. Priority darshan is arranged through the official system at both temples, and our staff stay with you in each line.

• Kedarnath: the linga is a rock in the shape of the bull’s hump. In the morning devotees in the line may be able to offer jal and ghee; in the evening the linga is adorned for shringar darshan, which this programme does not reach.
• Badrinath: darshan of Badri Vishal in padmasana, with Nar-Narayan, Kuber and Garuda in the sanctum. If time permits, a dip at Tapt Kund before entering.
• Puja: special pujas (such as Rudrabhishek at Kedarnath or Maha Abhishek at Badrinath) run on fixed early slots and usually cannot fit a same-day schedule. Families who want them should take the 3N/4D helicopter yatra or our online Kedarnath Rudrabhishek.
• Registration: Char Dham registration on the Uttarakhand portal is compulsory for every yatri; we complete it with you and check it before the flight.

Season and dates: both temples close for winter in the Diwali–November period; Kedarnath customarily closes on Bhai Dooj and Badrinath a little later in November, on dates fixed by the temple committee. The 2027 opening dates are not yet announced. By custom, Badrinath’s date is declared on Basant Panchami (11 February 2027) and Kedarnath’s on Mahashivratri (6 March 2027), with both temples usually opening in late April or early May. The 2026 season opened at Badrinath on 23 April.

Is this yatra right for you?

Choose the same-day programme if you cannot trek, have very little time, and are fit enough for a sudden climb from about 650 m to about 3,580 m within an hour. Most healthy adults manage well with slow walking and plenty of water. Senior citizens should get a doctor’s opinion first, especially with heart, lung or blood-pressure conditions; pregnant women and infants are better on the road.

It is not the right choice if you want to stay for the evening aarti, perform a booked puja, or simply sit at the dham for a while. Weather can push the day back or drop one dham, so keep a spare day and flexible onward travel. Read our Kedarnath helicopter guide to avoid fake booking sites. To check dates for the next season, use the enquiry form on this page or call/WhatsApp us (numbers on our Contact page).

How this differs from our other Kedarnath and Badrinath yatras

Hindi readers can see our केदारनाथ यात्रा page.