Day Trips From Karimabad: Five Plans for Hunza and Nagar

The best day trips from Karimabad are the Hopper glacier across the river in Nagar, Attabad Lake and Gulmit, Passu with the Hussaini bridge, the Khunjerab Pass, and the Rakaposhi View Point at Ghulmet. Hopper, Attabad and Rakaposhi each take half a day; Passu is a full day, and Khunjerab a long one of eight to ten hours. With three days based in Karimabad you can fit in three of them without rushing.

Each trip below is set out as a day plan: how long the drive takes, what order to do things in, and what time of day suits it. Karimabad itself, with Baltit, Altit and Eagle's Nest, is a day of its own and not covered here.

How to choose between them

Think of Karimabad as the middle of a cross. North on the Karakoram Highway lie Attabad, Gulmit, Passu and, at the end of the road, Khunjerab. Across the river is Nagar, with the Hopper glacier. South, back towards Gilgit, is the Rakaposhi View Point.

Don't mix directions in one day: Hopper in the morning and Passu in the afternoon means seeing neither properly. Do the long drives once everyone has had a day to adjust to the altitude, and keep a spare day in case a landslide or snow closes the road.

Hopper glacier and Nagar: half a day

Hopper (Hopar) is a bowl-shaped valley in Nagar, on the far side of the Hunza river from Karimabad, ringed by snow peaks and glaciers. The attraction is the Hopper glacier, also called the Bualtar, a huge, grey, rubble-strewn river of ice that meets the Barpu glacier opposite the village. You can often hear it creak and rumble.

The plan:

1. Leave Karimabad at about 8 am. Drive down to the highway at Ganish and cross the bridge over the Hunza river.
2. Climb through Nagar Khas, the main town of Nagar, about 7 km up from the river.
3. Continue about 10 km to Hopper village, which looks down on the glacier, roughly an hour from Karimabad in all.
4. Spend an hour at the edge, looking down on the ice. Go onto the glacier only with a local guide who knows where the moraine is stable.
5. Back in Karimabad for lunch.

The road is narrower and steeper than the highway, so an experienced driver matters more here than on the Passu run. Hopper is also where the multi-day trek to Rush Lake begins.

In summer heatwaves, glacial floods are a real risk in these valleys. Check for alerts from the National Disaster Management Authority before going near any glacier, and stay away from stream beds if one is in force.

Attabad Lake and Gulmit: half a day

The easiest trip north, and the one to choose if the group wants water and a gentle pace.

The plan:

1. Leave Karimabad by 7:30 or 8 am and drive north on the highway, 30 to 40 minutes to the main landing at the southern end of the lake.
2. Take a boat out while the water is calm. The wind usually picks up later in the day.
3. Drive on through the tunnels to Gulmit, at the northern end of the lake, for tea and a walk through the old village, or a climb up the Ondra Poygah staircase if everyone is fit.
4. Back through the tunnels, stopping at a lakeside café, and in Karimabad by early afternoon.

Colour, crowds and boating all change with the season, which our guide to the best time to visit Attabad Lake goes through month by month.

Passu, the Hussaini bridge and Borith Lake: a full day

This is the best single day out of Karimabad, and the one to choose if you can only do one. It takes you through the whole of lower Gojal to the Passu Cones.

The plan:

1. Leave at about 9 am and drive straight past Attabad and Gulmit; stop at them on the way back if there is time.
2. Hussaini, after about an hour. Walk out onto the Hussaini suspension bridge, as far as you are comfortable.
3. Borith Lake, 2 km up a paved side road from Hussaini, a quiet saline lake between the Ghulkin and Passu glaciers. Tea on the shore.
4. Lunch in Passu, where Glacier Breeze, on the slope above the highway, is known for apricot cake and its view of the glacier and the Cones.
5. The walk to the Passu glacier snout on a flat track from the southern end of the village, if legs allow.
6. The Passu Cones in the late afternoon, from the highway just south of the village, when the sun lights the face you see from the road.
7. Back in Karimabad by dark, with Attabad on the way.

Our guide to things to do in Passu has more on each stop, and on why a night in Passu is better still.

Khunjerab Pass: a long day

The Pakistan–China border at 4,693 metres is open to visitors from about May into November, snow permitting. From Karimabad it is three and a half to four hours each way, and the day runs eight to ten hours with stops.

The plan:

1. Leave by 7 or 8 am, with warm clothes in the car, not packed away.
2. Refuel in Sost, the last fuel stop, about two hours out.
3. Show ID and pay the park fee at Dih, the Khunjerab National Park checkpoint, about half an hour beyond Sost.
4. An hour at the top, less if anyone feels unwell.
5. Stop at Passu and Attabad on the way down, when the light is better.

The altitude is the main consideration: you climb more than 2,000 metres in a few hours by car, so keep the visit short and think carefully about small children, older parents or anyone with a heart or lung condition. Our Khunjerab Pass guide covers opening dates, the checkpoint and altitude in full. A night in Gulmit or Passu beforehand takes about an hour off each way.

The Rakaposhi View Point at Ghulmet: half a day

Rakaposhi, 7,788 metres, rises from the Nagar side of the valley, and from the roadside at Ghulmet, about 30 km down the highway towards Gilgit, you look almost straight up its north side. The spot is known locally as Zero Point, with tea stalls, small hotels and a cold stream running down from the mountain.

The plan:

1. Go early. Cloud often builds on the summit as the day goes on, so leave Karimabad by 8 am, about 45 minutes' drive.
2. Tea on a terrace facing the mountain, an hour or so.
3. Stop at Minapin on the way back if you want a quiet walk through a Nagar village below Rakaposhi and Diran; the trek to Rakaposhi base camp starts there, but it is a separate walking trip, not an add-on.

Most people driving up from Gilgit stop here on arrival. If the mountain was clear then, skip this trip; if it was in cloud, come back on a clear morning.

Getting around: own car, driver or van

• Your own car is fine on the paved Karakoram Highway to Attabad, Passu and Ghulmet, and to Khunjerab in summer if the car is in good order. Take the Hopper road slowly, or leave it to a local driver.
• A car with a local driver, arranged through your hotel, suits Khunjerab and Hopper especially, so nobody drives tired or at altitude. Agree the price, hours and stops first; our guide to hiring a car with driver for the Northern Areas covers typical 2026 rates.
• Shared vans run north from Aliabad to Gulmit, Passu and Sost and can drop you at Attabad or Hussaini, but you depend on flagging one down for the return.

Which day trips are worth it?

If you have one spare day, do Passu, Hussaini and Borith. It shows you Gojal at its best, suits almost every age, and involves no altitude to speak of.

If you have two, add Attabad and Gulmit as a gentler half day, or Hopper if you would rather see a glacier than a lake.

Khunjerab is worth it for the drive, but it costs a whole day and asks a lot of anyone who struggles with altitude. With fewer than three days in Hunza, or with small children, skip it.

The Rakaposhi View Point is the one to drop if time is short, since you pass it anyway on the way in or out.

Our nine-day Gilgit, Hunza and Khunjerab tour builds most of these into one route, and our Gilgit and Hunza page gives the wider picture of the valley.

Frequently asked questions