First let me thank various writers for their views on Patni Top. It was indeed a great help while planning my trip. We started our trip to Vaishno devi from Delhi on 30th April’04 . However, for first timers I would suggest you should get the tickets confirmed and then make further plans(my rail ticket remained unconfirmed and I had to take bus to reach Jammu which was very tiring) I would suggest to take volvo buses by DTC which I saw at Katra, very nice buses which takes you to Katra directly from Delhi.
I would also suggest the following to the first timers to Patni Top: As the last bus goes to Patni Top by 11 am from Katra, you should make your arrangements accordingly. I thought that the buses must be available through out the day but it was not so and that’s why I missed one day at Vaishno Devi..Otherwise you need to hire taxi at Katra and then go to Patni Top.
I would recommend that the couples should form a group and hire taxi and keep it for rest of the journey. That way u save a lot of time and also enjoy more because buses charge fare for return journey on the same day. They take you to Patni Top, tell you to visit various points within 2-3 hours and then bring you back to Katra the same day. If you wish to stay at Patni Top during night, you wl need to give the same fare.
Otherwise you can also contact JKTDC for various plans at Katra. Stay at Patni Top for at least a night and enjoy nature at it’s best...It’s really nice... You can stay any of the hotel at Patni Top (I think vardan and Hotel Green top are the best)...If you are a big family you can stay at any of the huts of JKTDC. If you are two to three member, you can take a hotel room..
The place is nice to enjoy, small, quiet, beautiful. You can get yourself photographed in their traditional dresses at Patni Top. You should also visit Sanasar, a nice cool place which is about 19 km from Katra... the place is good but the road is not. I think govt. should take necessary measures to built up infrastructure at these places to make it more popular.
Pros : Good place, good scenes
Cons: Need more infrastructure