Location - Situated at an altitude of 5200 ft above sea level in the state of Jammu & Kashmir. The Vaishno Devi shrine is nestled in the Trikuta Mountain. It about 650 km from Delhi, the capital of India.

Nearest Airport: Nearest Jammu Airport 67 Km from Vaishno Devi. There is a helicopter service that departs from the airport at Sanjhi Chat in Jammu in the morning. The ride costs about Rs. 2,000 one way (baggage 2 kg, 15 minute)

Capacity: 6 persons per flight. (The service stands discontinued for the time being)

Nearest Railway Station: Jammu Railway Station 63 Km from Katra.
Near Bus Stand: There are regular buses leaving for the 52 km trip from the central bus stand in Jammu to where the road ends at Katra (2 hr).

Roadways : Jammu is the terminus of a large number of Inter State Bus Services.

Jammu to Katra :
Buses leave for Katra every 10 minutes from the main bus stand at Jammu between 5.30 am to 8.30 pm. During rush periods, additional buses are also pressed into service between Jammu and Katra.
Private Taxis are also available for hire between Jammu and Katra. These can be hired from Jammu Airport, Jammu Railway Station and the Tourist Reception Centre at Jammu.

Walking : From Katra it is a steep 13 km walk. You can rent a horse or be carried up from Katra. You can go up to the cave and back in the same day. It takes about 4 hours to climb up and 3 hours to come down. Pilgrims must get a Yatra-Slip from the tourist reception center near the bus stand in Katra to get pass Ban Ganga. It is a hard climb to Vaishno Devi. You can take auto rikshaw to Darbar from Garbha-Gufa.

Language - Hindi, considerable % of people speak English.

Climate - High altitude temperature - Cold

Best time to visit - Through out the year except during winter. The pilgrims prefers travelling between October and February.