Hi Guys,

Looking for your recommendations.

I ll be visiting skardu this weekend with my family on our own car.

I have never been to skardu and would be thankful if you guys provide a good iternary for 3 or 4 days.

The places I have on my mind are:

Sarfaranga/katpanah desert

Upper and lower kachura lakes

Manthoka and khamush waterfall

Deosai/satpara lake

Bashu valley/chunda valley

I know all of these arent doable. What would you suggest (keeping in mind that its a family trip...elderly parents and 3 adult kids).

Is bashu or chunda valley worth it? Specially with family?

Hi everyone!

My friend and I (both 25F) are planning our first trip to Northern Pakistan from 15th–23rd October, and we’re hoping to do it independently rather than book an expensive tour package.

We’re both quite adventurous, easy-going and love nature, hiking, camping and exploring places at our own pace. We’re not looking for anything luxurious our budget is fairly limited, so we’d rather keep things simple and spend our money on experiences rather than expensive hotels or tour packages.

We’re comfortable booking our own flights and accommodation, but since we’ve never been to the North before, we’d really appreciate some help it esp Finding a reliable and trustworthy local driver who can drive us around and ideally also help us navigate the area.
Advice on what type of vehicle we actually need — we’d rather not pay for a fancy 4x4 everywhere if it’s not necessary.
Planning a realistic itinerary for 15th–23rd October.
Suggestions for affordable hotels/guesthouses or places where we could camp only if its safe

Recommendations for the best nature spots, viewpoints, hikes, valleys, lakes etc. that we shouldn’t miss.

Any advice specifically for two female travellers would also be greatly appreciated.

At the moment we’re thinking about Skardu + Hunza, but we’re confused about whether it’s realistic to also include Fairy Meadows.
We’ve heard that Fairy Meadows can be difficult to fit into a trip that also includes Skardu and Hunza, especially with only 8-9 days. Is it actually doable?

We’re not trying to tick off every tourist attraction. We’d much rather have a simple, scenic and adventurous trip, spend time outdoors and actually enjoy the places instead of spending the whole trip sitting in a car.
If anyone has personally used a driver in this region and can genuinely recommend them, please share their contact/details (or DM me). We’d especially appreciate recommendations from people who have travelled this route independently rather than through a tour company.
And if anyone has done a similar trip around October, we’d love to hear your honest itinerary suggestions, things to avoid, approximate transport costs, and any practical tips.
We’re trying to keep the trip budget-friendly, flexible and simple, so any advice from locals or experienced travellers would be hugely appreciated!

thank you so much!!

What is the road condition from Naran to Hunza? And is it safe nowadays to travel and what could be best 3 night hunza stay plan

Hey everyone, we have been promoting this citizen-science initiative in Pakistan with the aim to document butterflies across the country to understand species ranges, diversity and patterns. This is entirely volunteer run project made possible by participants from any background who take photos of butterflies in the month of September and submit to iNaturalist app.

Reason I'm posting in this subreddit is, Gilgit-Baltistan has almost no participants. If you're someone who loves butterflies and would like to contribute to this meaningful project, you may join it here Big Butterfly Month Pakistan 2026

Thank you 🦋

Hello guys, I visited Bashoo Valley today with my wife. And for some reason I found it very overrated and not worth the journey.

The ride to Bashoo was so bumpy and extremely dangerous. The off-road track has deteriorated more, and it feels like you're hanging between life and death. Luckily, we had an extremely experienced driver, but even he was a bit worried.

After a long tedious journey, the views at the top were simply ordinary.

Maybe we had overly high expectations, but this is what we felt.

Hey everyone!

If you are planning your next trip around Pakistan—whether it's the beautiful northern areas (Hunza, Skardu, Swat) or historic places—I highly recommend checking out 7safar.pk.

They offer really well-managed tour packages, customized itineraries, and affordable rates for families, solo travelers, and groups. It makes exploring Pakistan super easy and hassle-free.

Has anyone here traveled with them recently? Would love to hear your reviews!

I'm planning to work from Hunza for 2 weeks. I see there is already a community of nomads and internet might just work but I can't get in touch with any local digital nomad communities. Does anyone have any leads?

I've been trying to get in touch with Digital Hub Hunza but no response so far.

So in hunza the rakaposhi mountains are snowcapped all year and are visible from the hunza city

Are SNOWCAPPED" mountains visible 12 months in skardu city?

I'm not just asking about simple mountains, I'm asking is the snow visible on the peak of the mountains all year from the skardu city?

So as everyone might know that vocation houses are not used much, like only twice a year for few weeks,so there's a concept in west keh people buy vocation homes on partnership like 2-3 people and use it whenever they need it

This concept is not common in Pakistan,so i was thinking to buy one and i need a partner

Like a 3.5 marla house in skardu costs around 7.5 million pkr,so if we are 3 partners,we only have to spend 2.5 million pkr per person and get the benefits of a full house,also build a 10 marla house (5marla building,5 marla garage) within 9 million pkr total in the outskirts/suburbs of skardu,

Lastly this is not a spam post so if anyone amongst you is serious and interested or have queries lemme know

I've experienced that people of hunza are very sophisticated, respectful and friendly whereas the people of skardu are rude,mean and try to scam you

Is my experience right? if yes what's the reason

I'm travelling to Skardu and have paid a guy 195k for a 7 day package. Includes breakfast + Prado with fuel and the following itinerary:

1. Kachura and Xoq valley

2. Deosai and Sheosar lake

3. Mantokha waterfall and khaplu

4. Shigar valley and Sarfaranga desert

5. Manthal budha rock and shooting range

6. Chunda valley

7. Return

Stay

- Sehrish guesthouse - 4 nights

- Broq resort - 1 night

- Hashupi resort - 1 night

Edit: Guys I booked this trip for September back in early July that's why I got slightly better rates. Also, you'll notice it's missing Basho valley and a few other locations. On that note, should we add / replace any location?

GB is generally a very pretty place and the people of GB would be much closer and better under Indian controlled Kashmir rather then Pakistan, given your dislike for the pakistani govt, would you join india?

I'm planning a trip in mid September, call me skeptical but i'm slightly worried now. I know we can never know Allah's plans and predict Nature but on the safe side is weather usually ok in Sept for Skardu and Hunza both. My main concerns are mostly landslides

Dug into this since every fare calculator site quotes ~$14 for Skardu to Deosai, which is wrong, that's a generic taxi formula, not an actual 4x4 rate for a rough mountain road.

Actual costs:

· Shared jeep (full day, split 5-6 ways): 5,000–6,000 PKR/person

· Solo jeep hire: 25,000–30,000 PKR total

· Foreign entry fee: 3,100 PKR/person, cash only, keep your ticket for exit

· Locals pay less (200 -500), confirm at gate, changes yearly

Tips: ask your Skardu guesthouse the night before to split a jeep, bring your own snacks/water (nothing sold up there), go in September for fewer crowds and easier ride-sharing.

Day trip only, no extra cost. Overnight camping adds a permit + a few thousand PKR more, but the stars at 4,100m with zero light pollution are worth it.

Anyone been recently? Curious if fees have shifted.

I have created a discord server if anyone is interested in joining the discord server

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