Char Chinar — "four chinar trees" — is a tiny island near the centre of Dal Lake, named for the four enormous chinar trees that grow at its corners. The island has a small garden, a watchtower-like structure, and the trees themselves: ancient platanoids with spreading canopies that are vivid green in summer and turn intense orange-red in autumn. It is one of the most photographed sights in Kashmir and appears on countless tourism posters.
The island is reached by shikara from the Boulevard Road ghats or from the main houseboat area. Most shikara tours pass by or stop here. In autumn — September through October — the chinar trees are at their most spectacular, and the contrast with the blue water of the lake behind them is striking. The island is small enough that there is little to do once you are there, but the crossing itself, gliding across the open water, is the point. The trees are believed to be several hundred years old; the Mughals planted chinar trees throughout Kashmir as a deliberate landscape element.