Karakoram Highway and Hunza
Overview
A nine-day journey up the Karakoram Highway from Islamabad to the Khunjerab Pass at 4,693 m on the China border, through Hunza and Gojal. Road-based, graded easy, and the single best introduction to northern Pakistan if you have never been.
The road itself
The KKH follows the Indus through the gorge where the Karakoram, Himalaya and Hindu Kush meet — there is a marked viewpoint at the junction — then turns north up the Hunza river. It took twenty years to build and around a thousand lives, and the Shatial and Chilas rock carvings beside it record two thousand years of traffic on the same route.
Attabad Lake, created by the 2010 landslide that buried the old road, is now a turquoise lake with the new highway and its tunnels running above it. Passu and its glacier, and the ridge of rock spires locally called the cones, are a short way beyond.
Hunza, and why you stop for three nights
Baltit Fort in Karimabad is around seven hundred years old, restored in the 1990s, and sits directly above the valley with Rakaposhi at 7,788 m opposite. Altit Fort below it is older still. Eagle’s Nest at Duikar is where people go for sunrise over the Hunza valley, and it earns the early alarm.
We stay three nights in Hunza rather than one. This valley is the reason for the trip and it is wasted as an overnight stop.
The Khunjerab Pass
At 4,693 m, the highest paved border crossing in the world, inside Khunjerab National Park. You drive up and back in a day from Gojal, which gains a great deal of altitude quickly — expect to feel it, and tell us if you have any history of altitude illness. We carry oxygen on the pass day. The border itself is closed to tourists; the pass is the destination.
When it runs
April to October. The Khunjerab road closes for winter. Spring brings the apricot and cherry blossom in Hunza through late March and April; autumn brings the poplars in October, which is the quieter and arguably more beautiful season.
What is inside the price
All permits and park fees, every kilometre on our own vehicles with our own drivers — this is a long road and the vehicle is the trip — hotels throughout, all meals, fort entries, a guide on our payroll, oxygen on the pass day, satellite comms in Gojal and a written evacuation plan for every stage of the highway.
- Duration
- 6 – 10 days
- Maximum altitude
- 4,693 m
- Grade
- Moderate
- Group size
- Max 10
- Guides
- 2 certified, 1 WFR
- Season
- March – October
- Starts / ends
- Islamabad / Islamabad
- The KKH above the Indus, with time in Hunza rather than a drive-through.
Fixed departures
These prices are per person on a fixed departure, and they are the price — we do not discount a published figure. Deposit is 25%; the payment schedule and cancellation terms are published and sent with every quote. For your own dates, see the private pricing below.
Private departures and group pricing
Your party, your dates. The per-person figure falls as the party grows, because the guides, the vehicles and the camp cost the same split more ways. Everything in the inclusions list applies, and the safety standard is the one published above.
| Party size | Price per person | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | USD 2,350 | A full crew for two people |
| 3 – 4 | USD 1,900 | |
| 5 – 8 | USD 1,550 | Second guide joins at six |
Deposit is 25% of the trip price. The payment schedule and the cancellation terms are published and sent with every quote, before you pay anything.
Day by day
Buffer days are built in, not padding. If the weather takes them, nothing downstream collapses and you are not charged twice.
01 Arrive Islamabad Hotel · 540 m
Met inside the terminal. Briefing, SIM and cash.
02 Islamabad to Chilas Hotel
Down the Karakoram Highway into the Indus gorge. Long day, extraordinary road.
03 Chilas to Hunza Hotel · 2,400 m
Past the junction of the Karakoram, Himalaya and Hindu Kush, and up into Hunza.
04 Hunza — Baltit, Altit and Karimabad Hotel · 2,400 m
The forts, the old settlement, and the terraces. A gentle day by design.
05 Attabad, Passu and Gulmit Hotel
The lake, the cones, the Hussaini bridge if it is open, and Gojal.
06 Khunjerab Pass and back Hotel
Up to the border at over 4,600 m and back down. Short time at altitude on purpose.
07 Hunza to Gilgit Hotel
Down the valley with time for stops you choose.
08 Gilgit to Islamabad Hotel · 540 m
By air if the weather allows, by road if not. Buffer built in.
09 Islamabad, and home —
Airport transfer.
What is included
- Visa sponsor letter
- All permits, park fees and NOCs
- Met inside the terminal, all transfers
- Our own 4x4s and drivers
- Certified guides and insured crew
- Camp equipment, cook and all meals on trek
- Medical kit, oxygen where the route calls for it
- Satellite comms and a daily message home
- International flights
- Visa fee itself
- Travel insurance covering evacuation and repatriation
- Personal equipment
- Tips
If our price is wrong for you we will move you to a lower tier or remove a named inclusion. We do not discount a published price, and we do not cut the crew.
Fitness and difficulty — read this honestly
[WRITE THE HONEST FITNESS NOTE FOR THIS ROUTE BEFORE PUBLISHING.]
Kit list
The full list with quantities is sent with your quote. Rental is available in Skardu for most of it, priced separately. Your kit is checked item by item in Islamabad, not the night before the trek.
Group — we provide
- All vehicles, drivers and fuel
- Group first aid
- Satellite phone where there is no mobile signal
Personal — yours
- Layers for a wide temperature range; valley heat and pass cold on the same day
- Comfortable walking shoes for short walks off the road
- Sun hat, sunglasses and sunscreen
- Power bank; mains power is intermittent outside the towns
- Personal medication and a declared medical history
Safety, evacuation and insurance
Helicopter rescue in the Karakoram is not guaranteed. Weather, altitude, daylight and clearance all decide whether a helicopter flies, so every stage carries a named drive-out or walk-out plan. Your insurance must cover helicopter evacuation and repatriation to the maximum altitude on your itinerary, and we verify the certificate before the trip starts.
A graded medical kit sized to the trip, oxygen, a portable altitude chamber, a satellite phone and a messenger, and a wilderness first responder in the crew.
The lead guide’s decision to turn back is final. Not a guest, not an agent, not this office — whatever has been paid.
Getting there
Islamabad
Met inside the terminal. Briefing the same evening, SIM and cash sorted.
Islamabad to Gilgit or Hunza
By air to Gilgit, weather permitting, or by road up the Karakoram Highway. The road is long but reliable and it is scenery rather than dead time.
On the ground
Our own vehicles and drivers throughout.
Questions people actually ask
How much of this is sitting in a car?
Most of it. Two long road days at either end and shorter ones in between. The road is the attraction, but go in knowing that is what the trip is.
Is the Karakoram Highway dangerous?
It is a good sealed road for most of its length, with landslide sections that close and reopen. We drive our own vehicles with our own drivers and we build buffer days because closures happen.
Will we get to Khunjerab?
Weather and border status permitting, yes. It is over 4,600 m and we go up, stop, and come back down rather than lingering, because the gain from Hunza in a morning is steep.
Is it suitable for older travellers?
Often yes — there is very little walking. Tell us about mobility at enquiry and we will plan the stops and the vehicle around it rather than hoping.
When is the best time?
Blossom in spring and colour in autumn are the two reasons to time it deliberately. Summer is warm and busy; winter closes the upper valley.
Can we stop where we want?
Yes. It is your vehicle for the trip. Tell the driver. The itinerary is a plan, not a timetable.
Is there signal along the way?
Mostly yes in the valleys, patchy in the gorges, none at Khunjerab. We carry a satellite phone.
If this one is not quite right
You have already chosen the region, which is the harder decision. These run from the same roadhead.
- Hunza & Gojal · Trek Rush Lake and Rakaposhi Base Camp
- Hunza & Gojal · Expedition Spantik — the Golden Peak
- Hunza & Gojal · Cultural journey Hunza and Baltit with the blossom
If this one is not right
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Deosai plateau and Sheosar Lake
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Skardu & Baltistan · Jeep safari
Sarfaranga and Katpana cold deserts
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Chitral & Kalash · Jeep safari