Itinerary
Planning a Pakistan Trip: The Karakoram Highway
The classic northern trip in Pakistan runs along a single thread: the Karakoram Highway, the astonishing road that climbs from the plains near Islamabad through deepening mountains to the Chinese border at Khunjerab, the highest paved border crossing in the world. It ties together everything the north is famous for — the Kaghan valley, Gilgit, the fabled Hunza valley — into one journey. What needs planning is the shape of that journey, whether to fly in or drive, and, more than anything, the timing.
Updated 2026-08-20
The Shape of the Journey
Most northern trips are built around Hunza, and the Karakoram Highway is the way there. From Islamabad the road climbs steadily north — past Abbottabad and into the mountains — with the great milestones falling in sequence: the Kaghan valley and its lakes, the town of Gilgit as the regional hub, and then the Hunza valley with its terraced villages and old stone forts as the usual turning point, before the final run to the Khunjerab Pass on the frontier. Driving the full route is two long days each way from Islamabad, which is why the sequencing matters.
A week to ten days gives the north its due: time to reach Hunza without rushing, base there for a few days of side-valleys and viewpoints, and make the day run up to Khunjerab and back. Trying to do it faster means spending the trip in the vehicle rather than in the mountains, and the road — spectacular but slow and winding — does not reward hurry.
Two Roads North and the High Passes
There are two ways to make the climb, and the choice is seasonal. The summer route goes over the Babusar Pass, a scenic high crossing through the Kaghan valley that is only open when the snow has cleared, roughly high summer into early autumn; the year-round route follows the main highway along the Indus through Besham and Chilas, longer and less pretty but reliable when Babusar is shut. Knowing which is open on your dates shapes the whole itinerary.
Beyond Hunza, the road pushes on to the Khunjerab Pass at nearly 4,700 metres, the roof of the journey and the frontier with China, set in a high national park where marmots and, with luck, ibex are seen from the roadside. Khunjerab itself is only open in the warmer months and closes through the winter, so it is a summer-and-autumn objective, reached as a long day trip up from Hunza and back.
Fly or Drive: Reaching the North
The alternative to the long drive is to fly. Short flights link Islamabad to Gilgit and to Skardu, turning two days on the road into under an hour in the air over the mountains — a spectacular flight in its own right. The catch is reliability: these are weather-dependent mountain services that are cancelled at short notice when cloud closes in, so anyone flying should build spare days into the plan and treat the road as the fallback rather than an emergency.
A popular compromise is to fly one way and drive the other: fly up to save time and arrive fresh, then drive back down the highway at leisure, or the reverse. It gives you the extraordinary journey of the road in one direction and insurance against a grounded flight, and it is how many well-planned northern trips are structured.
When to Go and Acclimatising
Season is the single biggest decision. The high country is a summer-and-autumn destination: the passes are open, the weather settled and the trekking season live roughly from June to early October. Two special windows draw travellers deliberately — the Hunza apricot blossom in early spring, when the valleys turn pink and white, and the autumn colours of October and November, when the poplars and orchards blaze gold against the snow peaks. Winter closes the passes and much of the high country with them.
Altitude is the practical thing to respect. Khunjerab and Babusar both sit well above 4,000 metres, and gaining that height quickly from the plains can bring on altitude sickness, so a sensible itinerary climbs gradually, sleeps lower than the day's high point, and allows a rest day or two in Hunza before pushing to the top passes. Take it steadily and the north is one of the most rewarding road journeys anywhere.