A 17-day mountain journey through Baltistan, Nagar and Hunza
Follow northern Pakistan from the capital to the fortress villages of Baltistan and the cultivated terraces of Hunza. This seventeen-day route pairs heritage stays with purposeful walking: irrigation channels, village paths, glacier viewpoints and the meadow trail beneath Rakaposhi. The mountains provide the scale, while home lunches, markets and restored forts bring the journey close to everyday life.
The journey begins and ends in Islamabad, linking Baltistan with Nagar and Hunza. Long road transfers alternate with time based in mountain communities. Accommodation ranges from restored palace hotels to simpler lodges, and the walking includes steep, high-altitude sections. Weather can affect the Skardu flights and therefore the opening mountain sequence; flexibility is part of travelling well here.
Islamabad → Skardu → Khaplu → Gilgit → Kargah Valley → Minapin → Nagar Valley → Hapakuin Meadows → Altit → Karimabad → Duiker → Alti Sat → Borith Lake → Passu Glacier → Gulmit → Janabad → Yunz Valley → Batura Glacier → Zarabad → Attabad Lake → Gilgit → Skardu → Islamabad
A personal welcome, luggage assistance and coordinated transfers make the arrival straightforward. Your local guiding team explains each touring day and the arrangements for the road, walking and flight sectors in your confirmed journey.
Illustrative branded vehicle; actual transport and airport services are confirmed before travel.
Spend two nights within Khaplu’s restored nineteenth-century palace, where carved timber and local textiles give the rooms their character. The photographed heritage bedroom illustrates the property’s distinctive setting. It is an accommodation example, with the booked room category confirmed separately; the journey also uses simpler mountain hotels and lodges.
Spend two nights within Khaplu’s restored nineteenth-century palace, where carved timber and local textiles give the rooms their character. The photographed heritage bedroom illustrates the property’s distinctive setting. It is an accommodation example, with the booked room category confirmed separately; the journey also uses simpler mountain hotels and lodges.
This accommodation illustrates the style of stay for your journey. The exact property, room category and availability are confirmed before booking.
Tell us about bedding preferences, dietary needs and mobility requirements before arrangements are finalised. Your team explains meeting points, transfer timings and walking or boarding requirements in advance.
Arrive in Islamabad and meet the local arrival team for your transfer to the Serena Hotel. Its garden setting gives the journey a gentle beginning, with time to settle into your room before the evening gathering. There is no scheduled sightseeing circuit today: the priority is recovering from the flight and preparing comfortably for the mountains. At the orientation, review the coming route, hiking arrangements and practical details with your guide. A welcome dinner follows at the hotel, introducing the people with whom you will explore northern Pakistan.
Fly from Islamabad to Skardu, with mountain views dependent on clear weather. From the airport, follow the Shyok River by road to Khaplu, where a restored fortress becomes your home for two nights. Serena Khaplu Palace introduces the timber details and layered architectural traditions of Baltistan in an unusually atmospheric setting. The scheduled flight takes about an hour, followed by roughly three hours driving. If weather prevents flying, the alternative arrangement is an overland journey towards Gilgit, with an intermediate overnight, and omits the Skardu and Khaplu section.
Discover Khaplu on foot, beginning with village lanes and the historic Chaqchan Mosque. The wooden structure provides a different architectural perspective from the palace, while the surrounding orchards reveal how settlement depends on water brought down from the mountains. Climb to a viewpoint near the remains of the former royal castle, then pause for lunch before descending beside a hand-cut irrigation channel. The scheduled walk covers approximately four miles over two hours, with around 650 feet of ascent and descent. Return to the palace for another evening in Baltistan.
Leave Khaplu for a substantial road journey to Gilgit, following the Indus through the Rondu Gorge before joining the Karakoram Highway. Allow approximately seven to eight hours for the drive; the scale of the valleys makes this a landscape day as much as a transfer. Watch the transition between steep river walls, road cuttings and the broader approaches to Gilgit. After checking into the Serena Hotel, take the scheduled walk to a juniper forest on the outskirts of town. The evening offers a welcome change from the road.
Walk from the hotel towards the Kargah Valley, tracing a water channel through Napura, Barmus and Kargah. Orchards soften the valley floor, while the carved Kargah Buddha recalls an earlier religious landscape in these mountains. A picnic breaks the day before the route returns towards central Gilgit. This is a relatively level acclimatisation walk, approximately seven and a half miles in four to five hours, with about 650 feet of ascent and descent. Views may include Rakaposhi and Haramosh when conditions are clear. Finish with a garden barbecue dinner.
Travel for roughly two hours along the Karakoram Highway to Minapin in the Nagar Valley. The village sits below immense mountain walls, with Rakaposhi and Diran shaping the horizon when the weather is clear. After lunch and settling into the mountain accommodation, explore the village and meet residents along the way. The scheduled walk is gentle, around two miles in ninety minutes with modest height gain. Before dinner, hear about Nagar and Hunza as former princely states, giving tomorrow’s mountain views a setting within the region’s human history.
Set out from Minapin on the trail towards Rakaposhi Base Camp, with Hapakuin Meadows as today’s destination rather than the full base camp. The ascent follows a stream descending from the glaciers and becomes appreciably steeper than the earlier walks. Carry a packed lunch and allow five to seven hours for the approximately seven-and-a-half-mile outing, allowing for pauses along the way. Support staff can accompany anyone choosing to turn back earlier. At the meadow, take time to absorb the surrounding ice and rock before descending to the same accommodation.
Enter the Hunza Valley and settle into Serena Altit Fort Residence after a drive of roughly ninety minutes. Visit Altit Fort and the Baltit bazaar, then share lunch in a local home. The afternoon continues through Karimabad’s market streets, where embroidered caps, textiles, carpets and stonework provide plenty to examine at your own pace. Forts and settlement terraces make the relationship between the former rulers and the cultivated valley visible. Above the town, Baltit Fort’s commanding position adds another layer to the story of Hunza’s former princely state.
Begin near Baltit Fort and follow the Barber Water Channel, carrying meltwater from the Ultar Glacier across the slopes above Hunza. The route travels east to west through three villages, opening views across both the Hunza and Nagar valleys. A picnic lunch keeps the day outdoors. Allow four to five hours for approximately seven miles, with little overall ascent or descent. These channels are practical infrastructure as well as remarkable walking paths, sustaining orchards and fields on dry hillsides. Vehicle access allows the walk to be shortened where appropriate.
Drive up to Duiker and settle into Eagle’s Nest, a simple mountain hotel chosen for its commanding position. From here, walk towards Alti Sat, reaching approximately 10,000 feet and carrying a picnic lunch. The scheduled outing takes about two and a half hours, with roughly 700 feet of ascent and descent; distance alone understates the effect of the altitude. Return to the hotel as the light changes across the Karakoram. Weather permitting, the Noor-e-Toq viewpoint offers a memorable sunset before dinner and a night high above the valley.
Continue along the Karakoram Highway to Borith Lake, then take a packed lunch on the walk towards Passu Glacier. The landscape becomes increasingly spare, with moraine, ice and the sharp mountain skyline replacing the cultivated terraces of lower Hunza. Look towards Shishper and the neighbouring glacier country as conditions allow. Afterwards, walk back along the highway to a small restaurant to freshen up, then drive to Silk Route Lodge in Gulmit. The detailed programme lists a three-hour hike of approximately six and a half miles, with significant elevation change.
From the lodge, head towards Janabad and the moraine beside the Batura Glacier, continuing into the Yunz Valley towards the shepherds’ hut at Yunzben. The day is built around seeing the glacier’s extraordinary scale from the surrounding slopes rather than treating it as an ice crossing. The planned hike lasts about five hours over roughly five miles, with the ascent depending on the option chosen. Stronger walkers can continue higher; a shorter return with support staff leaves time in Janabad. Return to the same lodge for the evening.
Explore the hanging bridges around Passu, crossing towards Zarabad and returning by another bridge if you choose the full walk. Anyone uncomfortable with the crossings can spend time in the local villages instead. The programme allows a longer outing of about six hours, with a shorter option available. Continue down the valley for a boat ride on Attabad Lake, whose colour contrasts sharply with its rocky shores. The lake formed after the destructive 2010 landslide, a history worth understanding alongside the scenery. Drive onwards to Gilgit for the night.
Return towards Skardu on an approximately four-hour drive, arriving at Shangrila Resort for lunch. The transfer retraces part of the northern journey, offering a different perspective on the valleys after the days spent walking above them. In the afternoon, the programme allows a visit to Kachura Lake. Keep the pace relaxed and enjoy the contrast between the water, gardens and surrounding mountains. This is the final overnight in Baltistan before the planned flight south, so prepare your luggage for tomorrow while leaving time to appreciate the lakeside setting.
Transfer to Skardu Airport for the flight to Islamabad, subject to weather and operating conditions. On arrival, return to the Serena Hotel and settle into familiar surroundings after the mountain journey. The afternoon is deliberately free for shopping or rest, with time to unwind at your own pace. Use the time according to your energy, perhaps organising photographs or enjoying the hotel’s gardens. Flight timing determines how much of the afternoon is available. A second night in Islamabad provides space for the capital’s scheduled sightseeing tomorrow.
Explore Islamabad through the Lok Virsa Museum and Shah Faisal Mosque, moving from displays of cultural traditions to one of the capital’s most recognisable buildings. In the afternoon, head towards the Margalla Hills for the farewell lunch and a final perspective over the city. The hillside dining venue will be confirmed when the final arrangements are made. Today brings together memories of Baltistan’s palace villages, Hunza’s water channels and the great glacier landscapes. Enjoy the company of your fellow travellers before the journey concludes with tomorrow’s airport transfer.
After breakfast, transfer from the hotel to Islamabad International Airport for your onward flight. No further excursion is scheduled, allowing departure arrangements to follow your confirmed airline itinerary. Keep travel documents and any essentials for the flight accessible as you leave the hotel. The journey ends in the same city where it began, but the intervening days have traced a remarkable change of scale: from palace courtyards and village orchards to the vast mountain walls of northern Pakistan. Additional nights or onward arrangements sit outside this seventeen-day programme.
Recommended months: April–May and September–October; favour May or September for higher walks
Typical daytime temperatures: Approximately 21–29°C in the lower Gilgit-Baltistan valleys; higher villages and trails cooler
Typical night temperatures: Approximately 8–15°C in lower valleys; colder at altitude
April–May and September–October offer the best balance of walking weather, mountain scenery and comfortable valley temperatures. May and September are especially useful for the higher walks; April brings blossom and October autumn colour. In the lower Gilgit-Baltistan valleys, typical daytime highs are around 21–29°C and nights around 8–15°C. Hunza’s higher villages, glacier viewpoints and exposed trails are colder, while Islamabad can be considerably warmer. These are seasonal averages, with mountain conditions varying from day to day.
Temperatures are approximate seasonal averages, not a forecast. Final dates, access and local arrangements are confirmed before booking.
