Hunza Valley

Hunza sits at around 2,400 metres in Gilgit-Baltistan, strung along the Karakoram Highway between apricot orchards and some of the steepest mountain faces in the world. Rakaposhi rises to 7,788 metres barely twelve kilometres from the road, which is why the view from Karimabad feels closer to the peaks than it has any right to be.

The valley rewards slow travel. Baltit and Altit forts have watched over the villages here for centuries, Attabad Lake fills a section of valley formed by a landslide in 2010, and the road on towards Khunjerab Pass climbs to the Chinese border at 4,693 metres. Spring brings cherry and apricot blossom; autumn turns the poplars gold.

Most travellers reach Hunza by road from Islamabad — a long but spectacular two-day drive — or by flying to Gilgit and continuing by vehicle. Both routes are weather-dependent, so we build a buffer day into every northern itinerary.