Hunza Valley Tour 2026-27

At a glance

• 7 days, Islamabad to IslamabadFive nights based in Hunza, so you unpack once and travel light from there.
• Easy — walking, not trekkingShort village walks and optional hikes. No previous mountain experience needed.
• Small groups, 4 to 12Small enough for village guesthouses and a change of plan when the light is good.
• Hunza and Gojal, Gilgit-BaltistanKarimabad, Altit, Attabad, Passu and the Khunjerab Pass on the Chinese border.
• Hotels with valley viewsComfortable rooms every night, most looking straight at Rakaposhi.
• Blossom or autumnApril for apricot blossom, late September to November for the colour.

Day by day

1. 1Day 1Arrival in Islamabad

   

   Your guide meets you at Islamabad International Airport and transfers you to the hotel. Islamabad is a green, orderly, unusually calm capital laid out beneath the wooded Margalla Hills, and the rest of the day is yours to sleep off the flight or wander. In the evening we run through the week ahead, check what you have packed, and answer the questions you have been saving.

2. 2Day 2Fly to Gilgit and on to Hunza

   

   An early transfer for the morning flight north — forty minutes over the Himalaya that passes Nanga Parbat close enough to count crevasses, and worth every effort to get a window seat. From Gilgit we drive up the Karakoram Highway into Hunza, stopping beneath Rakaposhi where the mountain's 7,788-metre face rises almost directly from the roadside. We reach Karimabad by afternoon and climb to Baltit Fort, the 700-year-old seat of the Mirs of Hunza, for the view back down the valley. Sunset from the terrace at Duikar, then dinner.

3. 3Day 3Altit, the royal garden and Hoper Glacier

   

   A day on foot and close to home. Altit Fort is the older of the two at around 1,100 years and the oldest surviving monument in Gilgit-Baltistan; the Mirs lived here for three centuries before moving up to Baltit. We walk its lanes and the restored royal garden, then drive across the valley to Hoper, where a short walk brings you to the edge of a glacier that is grey, groaning and startlingly close. Back to Karimabad for a second sunset at Duikar, which is never the same twice.

4. 4Day 4The Khunjerab Pass and the Chinese border

   

   The long day north, and the one people remember. The road climbs through Gulmit and Passu — where the Passu Cones stand in a row of impossible serrated spires — and on to the Khunjerab Pass at 4,693 metres, the highest paved border crossing in the world. The plateau up there is wide, thin-aired and often patrolled by ibex, with snow leopard tracks if you are extraordinarily lucky. We stop in Passu or Borith on the way down for tea, and are back in the valley by evening.

5. 5Day 5Attabad Lake, the Hussaini bridge and Ghulkin

   

   A lighter, more beautiful day. Attabad Lake is the startling turquoise water created in 2010 when a landslide dammed the Hunza River and drowned four villages — you can take a boat out, or a jet ski if you want the noise. The Hussaini suspension bridge is a slatted rope crossing over the river that has become famous for good reason and is entirely optional; watching from the bank is a perfectly respectable choice. We finish with tea in a family home in Ghulkin or Passu, which is consistently what travellers remember longest.

6. 6Day 6Fly to Islamabad, and an afternoon in the capital

   

   The morning flight back over the mountains, weather permitting, or the long and equally fine drive if not. The afternoon in Islamabad is yours with a guide: the vast white Faisal Mosque beneath the Margalla Hills, the granite petals of the Pakistan Monument, the Lok Virsa museum for the crafts and music of the northern valleys, or an hour of air-conditioned shopping. We eat together in the evening, usually up at Monal with the whole city laid out below.

7. 7Day 7Departure from Islamabad

   

   Breakfast, and a transfer to the airport in good time for your flight. If your schedule allows a later departure we are glad to arrange a day room or extra nights — Lahore is a two-hour drive south and worth a couple of days on its own, and Skardu is an easy add-on north for anyone not ready to leave the mountains.

Good to know

Flights to Gilgit are spectacular and entirely weather-dependent. If yours is cancelled we drive the Karakoram Highway instead, which takes most of a day but is one of the great roads on earth — either way you reach Hunza.

The Khunjerab day is a long one, climbing from 2,500 m to 4,693 m and back. Most people feel nothing worse than a little breathlessness, but tell your guide if you feel unwell and we will turn around without argument.

Seasons change the trip completely. Early April is apricot and cherry blossom across the terraces. Late September through November is the autumn colour Hunza is photographed for. Winter is clear, cold and very quiet, with the Khunjerab Pass closed by snow.

Bring layers. A valley afternoon in October can be 20 degrees and the same night close to freezing.

Questions about this trip

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