Eid ul Adha Trip to the Northern Areas: Planning Guide

An Eid ul Adha trip to the northern areas works best if you settle three things early: how the qurbani will be done, which day you drive, and where you will sleep. The holiday brings the heaviest traffic of the year to every valley reachable by road, and in 2026 almost 129,000 tourists entered the Kaghan valley in the three days of Eid alone. There is also a timing problem for the next few years: Eid ul Adha is expected on about 16 or 17 May in 2027 and in early May in 2028, before the Babusar Pass and Deosai usually open.

This guide covers what is open at Eid in the coming years, how to fit a trip around qurbani, when the roads are worst, where to go for different lengths of break, and how to book so the surge does not catch you out.

When is Eid ul Adha, and what is open then?

Because the Islamic calendar moves about eleven days earlier each year, Eid ul Adha has been sliding out of the summer and into spring. In 2024 it fell in mid-June, in the middle of the season. In 2026 it fell on 27 May, and in 2027 it is expected in mid-May. The exact date depends on the moon sighting, so confirm it once the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee announces it.

For a northern trip, that makes a big difference. In mid-May:

• Babusar is usually still shut. It reopened on 25 May in 2026 and in the fourth week of May in 2025, and in other recent years not until June. Plan on the Karakoram Highway. Our guide to whether Babusar Top is open or closed has the dates year by year.
• Deosai and the Fairy Meadows track are normally closed until June.
• Naran is open, but Saif-ul-Malook may still have snow and ice around it, and the higher places above Naran are not yet reachable.
• Hunza, Nagar and the Karakoram Highway are open and at their greenest, and the Khunjerab Pass is usually open to visitors from early May.
• Skardu town, Shigar and Khaplu are open; only the plateau is not.
• The Kalash valleys hold Chilam Joshi, their spring festival, around 13 to 16 May, which in 2027 falls just before Eid; expect both crowds together. Our Kalash valleys guide explains the festival.

Mid-May also means cold nights. Pack as you would for late autumn, even if Lahore is at 40 °C when you leave.

Qurbani first, or the mountains first?

This is the question that shapes every Eid ul Adha trip, and there is no single right answer. The three usual approaches:

1. Qurbani at home, then leave. Stay for the first day, see the sacrifice and the distribution through, and leave early on the second or third morning. It is the most common choice, which is why the second day of Eid is usually the heaviest for traffic. It also shortens the trip: with three days of holiday and a weekend, you have three or four days in the hills at most.
2. Book a share and travel over Eid. Many families now book a hissa through a collective or charity qurbani and leave before Eid, so that they arrive before the rush and drive home after it. Book early; the reputable services fill up in the last week.
3. Split the family. One person stays for the qurbani and follows a day later, or flies up to join the others. It works best when the rest of the group is not dependent on that person's car.

Whichever you choose, don't carry raw meat north in the car. A long drive in May heat is no place for it; freeze it at home or share it out before you go.

How bad is the Eid traffic?

Bad enough to plan around. According to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture and Tourism Authority, 128,862 tourists entered the Kaghan valley between 27 and 29 May 2026, including a record 74,000 on the second day of Eid. The valley road jammed, and the newly reopened Babusar road, still single-lane in places between walls of snow, jammed with traffic heading to the top.

The same pattern repeats across the north:

• The Galiyat and Murree fill on every day of Eid, and entry is sometimes restricted when the roads choke.
• Swat and Kalam see long queues through Mingora and above Bahrain.
• The Karakoram Highway is less affected by day-trippers, but hotels in Gilgit, Hunza and Skardu fill, and the flights sell out.
• Buses and coaches out of Rawalpindi and Islamabad are overwhelmed in the days before Eid, and passengers have been stranded at the terminals.
• Fuel can run short: in past Eid rushes, petrol stations in the Kaghan valley have run dry.

Where to go for an Eid ul Adha trip

Choose by the number of days you actually have, counted after qurbani.

Three or four days

Stay within a day's drive of Islamabad and pick somewhere that is not the obvious choice.

• The Neelum valley in Azad Kashmir is busy at Eid but rarely as jammed as Naran, and gentle on children and older parents. Our Neelum Valley Escape runs over five days, a useful benchmark for how much to fit in.
• The Galiyat are close enough that you can leave on the evening of the first day and still have two full days, if you book a room first.
• Naran works if you leave very early on the third day and come back midweek, against the flow. Don't try it on the second day of Eid.

Five or six days

• Upper Swat and Kumrat give forest and river without Gilgit-Baltistan's distances. In mid-May the higher tracks may not have opened, so base yourself in Kalam or Thal and check what is running.
• Chitral is a full day each way, and quieter at Eid than the Kaghan and Swat valleys, but check whether Chilam Joshi falls on your dates.

A week or more

• Hunza, by the Karakoram Highway or by air to Gilgit. In May it is green and open as far as the Khunjerab Pass, and the drive up avoids the day-tripper jams entirely once you are past Besham. Our Gilgit, Hunza and Khunjerab tour shows how nine days along the highway fit together.
• Skardu, by air if you can get seats, for the lakes, Shigar and Khaplu; Deosai will not be open.

Hotels and transport: booking around the surge

Rooms in the popular valleys are the first thing to sell out at Eid, and among the most expensive nights of the year.

• Book the hotel before anything else, and as early as possible; the better places in Naran, Karimabad and Skardu can be full a month or more ahead.
• Get the rate and what it includes in writing, and confirm the booking again two or three days before Eid.
• Never drive up without a room. On a crowded Eid night the alternative is the car.
• Book flights early. The Gilgit flights use small aircraft and sell out first; Skardu has more seats but high Eid fares. Keep a spare day either way, because cancellations do not stop for holidays.
• Book coach seats early too, and travel a day before the pre-Eid rush if you are taking a bus north.

If a problem comes up with a hotel or transport in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or Gilgit-Baltistan, the tourism helpline 1422 is the place to start.

A driving plan for Eid week

1. Pick your departure day around the traffic. Leaving two or three days before Eid, or on the third day, avoids the worst.
2. Leave before dawn. The queues at Balakot, Murree and Mingora build from mid-morning.
3. Fill the tank at the last big town and top up whenever you can.
4. Carry food and water for a long wait in a queue, especially with children.
5. Plan to be off the mountain roads before dark, even if the queue has put you behind.
6. Come back against the flow, a day before the holiday ends or a day after.

Is an Eid trip worth it?

For many families, Eid is the only time everyone is free, and a well-planned trip is worth the effort. It works best when you go further than the day-trippers, stay longer than two nights, and treat the drive days as the price of the holiday rather than part of it.

It is not worth it if you have only two days after qurbani and your plan is Naran or Murree on the second day of Eid. You will spend most of the holiday in a queue. In that case, stay home for Eid and go the following weekend, or save the trip for June, when the high passes are open. If you would like help building a trip around the holiday, tell us your dates on our planning page.

Frequently asked questions