Best Hill Stations in Pakistan for Summer

Pakistan's hill stations sit between about 1,600 and 2,800 metres, high enough to escape the summer heat of Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar or Quetta without the altitude, permits or long drives of the far north. Murree and the Galiyat are the best known and the most crowded; Ziarat, Rawalakot and Fort Munro give the same relief with far fewer people.

This guide covers the main hill stations by region, with how far each is from the nearest big city, when they get crowded, and what kind of stay to expect.

Murree: the closest and busiest

Murree is the hill station most people from Islamabad and Rawalpindi already know. It sits around 2,291 metres above sea level, roughly an hour and a half to two hours from Islamabad depending on traffic, with the Mall Road, Patriata chairlift and Kashmir Point as the standard stops.

The trade-off for that closeness is crowding. On weekends and public holidays from May to August, and especially during the first heavy snowfalls of winter, the road up can be gridlocked for hours. If you want Murree without the worst of it, go on a weekday, or treat it as a half-day stop on the way to the quieter Galiyat towns rather than the destination itself. Our guide to what a Murree trip costs has more on rooms, food and the seasonal price swings.

The Galiyat: Nathia Gali, Dunga Gali and Ayubia

The Galiyat is the string of smaller hill towns along the ridge beyond Murree, in Abbottabad district. Nathia Gali, at around 2,410 metres, is the best developed of them, with hotels, a small bazaar and walking trails including the route up Mukshpuri. Dunga Gali and Ayubia sit close by, with Ayubia's chairlift and national park adding an easy outing for families.

The Galiyat is generally quieter than Murree itself and a better base for two or three nights rather than a single day. Roads here are narrower and busier in fog, so drive them with care, particularly after dark. Our Galiyat guide covers the individual towns in more detail.

Ziarat: Balochistan's hill station

Ziarat, at about 2,543 metres and 130 kilometres from Quetta, is a different kind of hill station: drier, more isolated and known as much for its juniper forest — among the oldest and largest in the world — as for cool air. It gets a fraction of the visitors Murree does, partly because it's a longer drive from any major population centre, and it suits travellers coming from Quetta or already in Balochistan rather than a dedicated trip from further afield.

Snow closes some of the higher approach roads in winter, and facilities are more limited than in Punjab's hill stations, so plan supplies and fuel before you leave Quetta. Our Ziarat snowfall guide has more on the winter picture.

Rawalakot and the Azad Kashmir hill stations

Rawalakot, the main town of Poonch district in Azad Kashmir, sits at around 1,638 metres and is roughly two to three and a half hours from Islamabad by road. It's lower and warmer than Murree in summer but still a clear step up from the plains, with Banjosa Lake and Toli Pir as the main outings nearby.

Because it's a longer drive than Murree and less established on the standard tourist circuit, Rawalakot stays noticeably quieter, even in peak season. Our guide to Kashmir covers Rawalakot alongside the rest of Azad Kashmir's hill towns and valleys.

Thandiani: the quiet alternative near Abbottabad

Thandiani sits higher than most of the Galiyat, at around 2,750 metres, and about an hour and a half from Abbottabad on a narrower road than the main Murree–Nathia Gali route. It has far less infrastructure — expect a handful of places to stay rather than a proper bazaar — which is exactly why it draws people who find Nathia Gali too busy in summer. See our Thandiani guide for more on the drive up.

Fort Munro: Punjab's southern hill station

Fort Munro is the outlier on this list: a hill station in the Sulaiman range on the Punjab–Balochistan border, about 85 kilometres from Dera Ghazi Khan and roughly 185 kilometres from Multan. At around 1,970 metres it gives South Punjab a genuine escape from summer heat that would otherwise mean a much longer drive north. It's smaller and less developed than the northern hill stations, which suits travellers from Multan, Bahawalpur or Dera Ghazi Khan more than anyone planning a trip from Lahore or Islamabad, for whom Murree or the Galiyat are simply closer.

Which hill station should you pick?

If you want the shortest drive from Islamabad and don't mind crowds, Murree. If you want the same region with more space to breathe, the Galiyat, especially Nathia Gali or Thandiani. If you're coming from Quetta, Ziarat is the obvious choice and has no real competitor nearby. Travellers from Lahore or Islamabad with a bit more time, or anyone who wants the northern-hill-station feel without the Murree traffic, should look at Rawalakot. South Punjab's Fort Munro makes sense mainly for people already in that part of the province.

None of these hill stations need advance permits or long-haul planning the way the far north does, which makes them the easiest weekend option on this site's whole destination list. That also means they suit a short trip better than a long one: two or three nights is enough to see any of them properly, and a week is usually better spent combining a hill station with a longer valley trip further north, or splitting it between two of the closer towns rather than one alone.

Frequently asked questions