Hunza Valley: Getting There and Getting Around

The Karakoram Highway runs the whole way from Islamabad to Hunza — about 790 kilometres and fifteen hours of driving, almost always broken with a night at Chilas.

The faster option is to fly to Gilgit and drive the last two and a half hours. Gilgit flights are subject to the same weather cancellations as Skardu, so treat the road as the fallback rather than the surprise.

Coming from Skardu, Hunza is about eight hours via Gilgit. This is the usual shape of a northern loop: Islamabad, Chilas, Skardu, Gilgit, Hunza and back down.

Two peaks, both short. Cherry and apricot blossom in late March and April, and autumn colour in October. Both are genuinely worth planning a trip around and both fill up months ahead.

Summer, June to August, is the reliable season with everything open and the side valleys accessible. It is busier and less photogenic than the two shoulder peaks.

Winter Hunza is spectacular and serious. The Karakoram Highway is kept open but conditions change quickly. Ring before committing to winter dates.

Baltit Fort above Karimabad and Altit Fort below it are the two set pieces and both are properly restored and worth the entry.

Attabad Lake, formed by a landslide in 2010, is on the way in and the road now runs through a series of tunnels above it. Eagle's Nest at Duikar is the viewpoint everyone photographs at sunrise.

Passu and the Passu Cones are an hour further up the highway, and Khunjerab Pass on the Chinese border is another two beyond that, open in summer only.

The Karakoram Highway itself is well surfaced and a sedan could technically do it. We send four-by-fours because the side valleys, the Duikar road and the Khunjerab run all reward clearance, and because fifteen hours is more comfortable in a Prado.

Cash is important. Card acceptance improves in Karimabad every year but is still not something to rely on.

Altitude is real at Khunjerab, which is over 4,600 metres. Go up slowly and do not plan anything strenuous the same day.

Three nights in Hunza is the minimum that justifies the journey — one for Karimabad and the forts, one for Attabad and Passu, one for Duikar at sunrise and whatever you missed.

Most people build it into a longer loop with Skardu, which turns it into a seven to ten day trip from Islamabad and is the shape of nearly every northern booking we run.

Adding Khunjerab needs a further day and only works between roughly June and September. It is a long drive up and back for a border marker, and people either badly want it or do not want it at all.