Hunza is the valley that made northern Pakistan famous, and it earns it. A hundred kilometres of terraced orchards and stone villages strung along the Karakoram Highway, walled in by 7,000 m peaks, with a thousand-year-old fort at the top of it and the Chinese border at the end of the road.
It is also easier to reach and easier to spend time in than anywhere else in the Karakoram, which is why almost every trip we run passes through it. Here is what is actually there.
Where Hunza is, and how it is laid out
Hunza sits in Gilgit-Baltistan, upstream of Gilgit on the Karakoram Highway. It divides into three parts, and knowing which is which saves a lot of confusion when you are booking:
- Lower Hunza — Ghulmet and the Rakaposhi viewpoint, on the way up from Gilgit
- Central Hunza — Aliabad, Ganish, Karimabad and Altit. This is where the forts are and where most visitors stay, at around 2,500 m
- Upper Hunza (Gojal) — Gulmit, Passu, Sost and the road to the Khunjerab Pass. Higher, emptier, and where the glaciers are
Across the river is Nagar, historically Hunza's rival, and the approach to the Hispar glacier and Rush Lake. Different valley, different language, and usually a separate trip.
How long do you need?
| Days in Hunza | What fits |
|---|---|
| 2 | Karimabad, Baltit Fort, one sunrise at Duikar. Rushed |
| 3–4 | Both forts, Attabad, Passu, Hussaini bridge, a proper sunrise. The sensible minimum |
| 5–6 | The above plus Khunjerab Pass, Borith Lake and a glacier walk |
| 7+ | Add Nagar, Shimshal or a side valley — and time to sit in an orchard |
Four nights in Central Hunza with a day trip into Gojal is the shape that works for most people. Our Hunza Valley Tour is built around that, and the Hunza and Skardu Tour pairs it with Baltistan over the Deosai plains.
What to see
Baltit Fort, Karimabad
Around seven hundred years old, sitting above Karimabad on a spur with the whole valley below it, and restored in the 1990s by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture after decades of neglect. The restoration is the interesting part: it used original techniques and local craftsmen, and the building is now a museum you walk through room by room — kitchens, store rooms, the throne room, and a roof terrace with the view the Mirs of Hunza had.
Altit Fort and the old village
Older than Baltit by three centuries or so, and smaller. What makes Altit worth the extra stop is the restored village beneath it — a lane of stone houses that has been brought back rather than turned into a film set, with a garden and a café at the end. Go here if Baltit felt like a museum and you want the domestic version.
Duikar and the Eagle's Nest
A steep road above Karimabad climbing to a viewpoint at about 2,900 m. Come for sunrise: the light hits Rakaposhi (7,788 m), Ultar Sar (7,388 m) and the spire of Ladyfinger in turn while the valley floor is still dark. It is the single best half hour in Hunza and it means leaving in the dark.
Attabad Lake
The turquoise lake in every photograph of Pakistan, and it is younger than most visitors realise: it was formed in 2010, when a landslide dammed the Hunza river, drowning a stretch of the Karakoram Highway and several villages. The realigned highway now runs above it through a series of Chinese-built tunnels. It is beautiful and it is also a memorial — worth knowing while you are on the jetty.
Passu, the Cones, and Hussaini bridge
An hour or so above Attabad, the Passu Cones — the row of shark-tooth spires also called the Passu Cathedral — are the most recognisable skyline in the Karakoram. Nearby are the Passu and Gulkin glaciers, both walkable to their snouts in a morning, and Borith Lake above them.
The Hussaini suspension bridge is the plank-and-cable footbridge that appears on lists of the world's most frightening crossings. It is genuinely alarming, entirely optional, and locals cross it with shopping.
Khunjerab Pass
At 4,693 m, the highest paved border crossing in the world, and the point where the Karakoram Highway meets China. It is a long day trip from Karimabad — four hours each way — through Sost and up onto a plateau of alpine grass where you may see ibex and, rarely, a Marco Polo sheep. The pass is usually open May to November; never assume it outside that.
Take it slowly. You are going from 2,500 m to nearly 4,700 m and back in a day, and people who have felt fine all week feel it up there.
Getting to Hunza
| Route | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fly Islamabad–Gilgit, then drive | 1 hr + 2.5 hrs | Fastest. Weather-dependent and cancels often |
| Drive the Karakoram Highway | 2 days | Via Naran or Chilas, overnight en route. Spectacular |
| From Skardu over Deosai | 2 days | The route that links Baltistan and Hunza |
| From Chitral via Shandur | 2–3 days | Seasonal, July–September, rough and superb |
The Gilgit flight is the great time-saver and the great gamble — it needs clear weather at both ends. We hold a spare day at each end of every Hunza itinerary for exactly this reason, and drive when it cancels. Our notes on how we check road conditions on the KKH explain what that morning decision involves.
When to go
Hunza works from April to October, and the valley is a genuinely different place in each part of that. Blossom is the first three weeks of April; the fully open season is May to September; the second half of October is autumn gold and our own team's favourite. Winter is quiet, cold and startling, but many hotels close and side valleys ice over.
We wrote a whole piece on picking your week in Hunza, and a wider one on the best time to visit Pakistan.
Food, language and the people
Hunza's cooking is its own thing rather than a version of Pakistani food from further south: apricot, walnut and mulberry from the orchards, buckwheat and barley breads, *chapshuro* (a filled meat pastry), *diram phitti*, and apricot-kernel oil in almost everything. The apricot harvest in July is worth timing a trip around if you care about food.
Three languages are spoken across a short stretch of road — Burushaski in Central Hunza, Wakhi up in Gojal, Shina in Nagar and Gilgit — and Burushaski is unrelated to any other language on Earth. The valley is predominantly Ismaili Muslim, and noticeably relaxed by the standards of the plains; literacy here, including among women, is among the highest in Pakistan. In practice this means Hunza is the easiest part of the country for a visitor to move around, and one where you will be invited in for tea more often than you can accept.
Practical notes
- Altitude — Karimabad is 2,500 m and Khunjerab nearly 4,700 m. Give yourself the first day easy
- Cash — ATMs exist in Aliabad and Gilgit and are unreliable. Bring rupees in small notes
- Signal — reasonable in Central Hunza, patchy in Gojal, none on the glaciers
- Power — load-shedding is normal; carry a power bank
- Dress — modest, and a scarf for mosques and villages. More relaxed than the plains, not a resort
- Alcohol — not available. Don't plan around it
- Driving yourself — possible but not advisable: it is a working mountain highway with rockfall, and no signal when it goes wrong
All of our northern itineraries take in Hunza, from four-night valley trips to the full Karakoram circuit.
See our Pakistan toursFrequently asked questions
How many days do you need in Hunza Valley?
Three to four nights is the sensible minimum — enough for both forts, a sunrise at Duikar, Attabad Lake and a day up into Gojal for Passu. Add two more if you want the Khunjerab Pass and a glacier walk.
How do you get to Hunza Valley from Islamabad?
Either fly to Gilgit (about an hour) and drive on for two and a half hours, or drive the Karakoram Highway over two days via Naran or Chilas. The flight is far quicker but cancels frequently in poor visibility, so any sensible itinerary keeps a spare day for the road.
What is Hunza Valley famous for?
Its terraced apricot orchards, the thousand-year-old Baltit and Altit forts, the turquoise Attabad Lake, the Passu Cones, and views of Rakaposhi and Ladyfinger — plus being the last inhabited valley on the road to the Khunjerab Pass and China.
How high is Hunza Valley?
Karimabad, where most people stay, is around 2,500 m. Upper Hunza (Gojal) is higher, and the Khunjerab Pass at the head of the valley is 4,693 m.
Is Attabad Lake natural?
No. It formed in 2010 when a landslide dammed the Hunza river, submerging part of the Karakoram Highway and several villages. The highway was rebuilt above it through a series of tunnels.
When is the Khunjerab Pass open?
Broadly May to November, though exact dates shift each year with snow and the border's own schedule. It is a four-hour drive each way from Karimabad and takes you to 4,693 m, so treat it as an altitude day.
Is Hunza Valley safe for tourists?
Hunza is among the most settled and visitor-accustomed places in Pakistan, with a long-established tourism economy. The genuine hazards are the mountain roads and the altitude rather than crime — see our fuller answer on whether Pakistan is safe for tourists.