Hunza Valley

Orchards, Attabad Lake, and the Karakoram Highway

Region

Gilgit-Baltistan

Give It

3-4 days

Altitude

~2,500m

Best Time

Apr-Oct

Overview

A Valley Out of a Story

Strung along the Hunza River beneath Rakaposhi and Ultar Sar, Hunza is the most beloved destination in the Pakistani north. Karimabad, the main town, climbs the hillside below the restored Baltit Fort; across the valley, Altit Fort guards the oldest settlement.

Give it three or four days, for the forts, the Eagle's Nest sunrise, the boat across Attabad Lake, and a day trip up toward Passu and the Khunjerab Pass.

Blossom weeks

Apricot and cherry orchards turn pink and white in March-April, local blossom events vary by village altitude; confirm peak weeks before booking.

North from Hunza

Continue the KKH to Passu, Gulmit, and Khunjerab Pass on a clear-weather window, altitude and snow close the road outside summer.

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Top sights in Hunza Valley

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Baltit Fort

A 700-year-old fort above Karimabad, beautifully restored.

Attabad Lake

Turquoise water born of a landslide, best by boat.

Eagle's Nest

The valley's classic sunrise viewpoint over Rakaposhi.

Altit Fort & Village

The oldest settlement in Hunza and its royal garden.

Passu Cones

The jagged 'cathedral' peaks up the Karakoram Highway.

Hopper Glacier

A short drive to a dramatic, accessible glacier snout.

Festivals & Events

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March - April

Spring Blossom Festival

Apricot and cherry blossoms wake the orchards of Hunza and Skardu, the first sign of mountain spring.

Field Guides

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Attabad Lake

Attabad Lake is the startling turquoise centrepiece of upper Hunza, a body of water that did not exist before January 2010, when a massive landslide buried the village of Attabad, dammed the Hunza River, and drowned a stretch of the Karakoram Highway along with several villages. From that disaster emerged one of the region's most photographed sights: a 20 km ribbon of intense blue-green water hemmed by sheer brown cliffs, now lined with boat jetties, cafés, and resorts. It stands as a vivid reminder that in the Karakoram the landscape is still being violently rewritten.

Khunjerab Pass

The Khunjerab Pass is the highest paved international border crossing in the world, 4,693 m on the crest of the Karakoram, where the Karakoram Highway leaves Pakistan and enters China's Xinjiang. The name means 'Valley of Blood' in Wakhi, a reference to old bandit raids on the caravans that once crossed here, but today the pass is a place of pilgrimage for road-trippers: a stark, wind-scoured saddle marked by border gates, a stone arch, and grazing yaks, with the Pamir and Karakoram rolling away on both sides. It lies within Khunjerab National Park, prime habitat for Marco Polo sheep, snow leopard, ibex, and blue sheep.