Our Story
We grew up where you dream of travelling
TRAVEL STORY began in 2017 with a simple frustration: watching visitors experience a photocopy of Kashmir — rushed circuits, commission-driven stops, the same three viewpoints. We knew the valley deserved better storytellers.
Our family has been of this valley for generations — our founders grew up rowing shikaras on Dal Lake and herding summers in Pahalgam’s meadows. Today our team of drivers, hosts, guides and planners are all valley-born — which means when we say "trust us, take the longer road," there's a waterfall at the end of it.
We keep our groups small, our partners local, and our promises honest. Tourism, done right, sustains the paradise it celebrates.
Ask for us by name
Most agencies send you a voucher and a stranger. Our guests come back naming the person who drove them — which is the only review of a guide that means anything.
-
Tour operator & guide
Shahid
Valley-born, and the name that keeps turning up in our Google reviews — unprompted, from guests who had never met him before their trip began.
“Our guide ‘Shahid’ made sure that we visit all the right places and made most of your time there.”
Sapunti Baruah“The name of the guide is sahid and he is a very humble, honest, energetic and gentle man.”
Pintu Ali
The TRAVEL STORY way
Local First
Valley-born team, family-run houseboats, village homestays and craftspeople — your money stays in Kashmir, with the people who make it magical.
Honest Pricing
No hidden commissions, no forced shopping stops, no surprise charges. One transparent quote covering everything we promised.
Always Reachable
A dedicated trip manager on WhatsApp from your first enquiry to your flight home — and an evening check-in call every day you travel.
Slow Travel
We'd rather you know one valley deeply than photograph five through a car window. Fewer kilometres, more Kashmir.
Safety Obsessed
Daily condition monitoring, experienced mountain drivers, vetted stays and doctor-on-call support — quietly handled so you never think about it.
Leave It Lovelier
Plastic-free picnics, meadow clean-up drives and support for local schools — we host in a paradise we intend to keep.
Moments we've shared
Why book with a local operator
Almost every Kashmir itinerary sold online has been resold. It passes through an aggregator in one city, a consolidator in another, and reaches a driver in Srinagar on whatever margin is left. Every hand takes a cut, and the parts that get squeezed are always the same: the vehicle, the houseboat, the driver’s day.
We are the operator at the end of that chain, which means there is no chain. You pay valley rates, the people who host you are paid properly, and when something goes sideways at nine at night — a road closed by snow, a gondola shut for wind, a flight moved — there is a local number that answers and a local person who can actually fix it. That is the whole difference, and it is worth more than any brochure.