Honeymoon Places in Pakistan: Best Destinations for Couples

The best honeymoon places in Pakistan are Hunza for views from your window, Skardu with Shigar and Khaplu for the most romantic places to stay in the country, the Neelum valley in Azad Kashmir for green, quiet riverside days at gentle altitude, and Swat, with Malam Jabba and Kalam, for a shorter trip by road. Which one suits you depends mostly on the month of the wedding and how much of the honeymoon you want to spend in a car.

This guide matches each place to the season and the budget, names the stays that are worth the money, and covers the practical things newly married couples ask about, from how far to drive after a week of functions to what papers to carry.

Which honeymoon place for which season?

Pakistani weddings cluster in the cooler months, and the mountains have a different best place for each of them.

• Late March and April: blossom season. Hunza's apricot and cherry trees flower from late March in the lower villages into April higher up, and Skardu's orchards follow. Nights are cold, and the high places are still shut. Our guide to the Hunza blossom season has the timing.
• May and June: everything green, the valleys open, and the first high passes clearing. Good for all four destinations, though June brings school holidays.
• July and August: Deosai and the upper Neelum at their best, but also the monsoon, crowds and the highest risk of road closures. Keep a spare day.
• September and October: the best months for most couples: clear skies, settled roads, fewer people, and in late October the poplars turning gold in Hunza and Skardu.
• November to February: a different kind of trip. Skardu and Hunza are open but cold, with long power cuts. For snow with comfort, Malam Jabba or the Galiyat work better.

If the wedding falls in December or January, consider a short winter break now and the mountain honeymoon in April or October.

Hunza: views from the room

Hunza is the easiest choice for couples who want to wake up to mountains without doing much to earn it. Karimabad looks straight at Rakaposhi and Ladyfinger, Baltit and Altit forts are a short walk away, and the drive up the valley to Attabad Lake and the Passu Cones is one of the best days out in the north. The Khunjerab Pass, at the Chinese border, makes a day trip in summer.

Where couples stay:

• Top end: the Hunza Serena Hotel, about fifteen minutes' walk from the Karimabad bazaar; the Serena Altit Fort Residence, in the old royal garden beneath Altit Fort; and Luxus Hunza, on the shore of Attabad Lake. The lake setting is the draw at Luxus, but it is a drive from Karimabad's cafés and forts.
• Mid-range: hotels on the upper slopes of Karimabad or up at Duikar, near the Eagle's Nest viewpoint, where the view at sunrise is the best in the valley. Ask for a room facing the valley, not the road.
• Budget: guesthouses in Karimabad, Altit and Gulmit. Many are family-run, simple and clean.

Allow at least five nights, and more if you are driving. Our guide on where to stay in Hunza compares Karimabad, Duikar, Gulmit and Passu as bases.

Skardu, Shigar and Khaplu: the heritage stays

Skardu is the most flying-friendly honeymoon in the north. Three airlines fly from Islamabad, and PIA and Airblue also fly from Lahore and Karachi, so you can be in the mountains by mid-morning. The flight passes Nanga Parbat on a clear day.

What makes it special for couples is where you can sleep:

• Serena Shigar Fort, an hour from Skardu, is a seventeenth-century palace restored by the Aga Khan Cultural Service, with 20 rooms in the old fort and its garden house.
• Serena Khaplu Palace, about three hours up the Shyok valley, has 21 rooms and suites in and around a restored 1840 palace, with apricot orchards around it.
• Shangrila Resort, on Lower Kachura Lake, has been a hotel since 1983. It is the best known, and also a popular day-trip stop, so the grounds are busy on summer afternoons. Our Shangrila Resort guide explains what to expect.

A good shape is two or three nights in Skardu, a night or two at Shigar and one at Khaplu. From late June to September, add Deosai, the high plateau above Skardu, for a day of wildflowers and wide skies. Our 7-day Skardu and Deosai trip, from PKR 90,000 per person on a twin-share basis, is built around that same loop, with a spare day for the flight out.

The Neelum valley: gentle and green

Azad Kashmir is the honeymoon for couples who want forests, rivers and wooden villages rather than bare Karakoram rock, and who would rather not deal with high altitude. The Neelum road climbs slowly from Keran, at 1,524 metres, to Sharda at 1,981 metres and Arang Kel at 2,554 metres, so there is none of the sudden height of Deosai or Khunjerab.

The best moments are small ones: the river at Keran in the evening, the ruins at Sharda, and the ride up to Arang Kel from Kel followed by a short, steep walk to a meadow village above the valley. Stay the night at Arang Kel if you can; it is quiet after the day visitors leave.

Accommodation is simpler than in Hunza or Skardu: guesthouses and small hotels rather than international brands. Choose the room carefully, and check the hot water and heating before you pay. The valley is also cheaper, and it works well on a smaller budget. Our Neelum Valley Escape covers the valley in five days.

Swat: close, comfortable and good in winter

Swat is the honeymoon for couples short on time. It is roughly five hours from Islamabad by motorway and the Swat Expressway, so a four-night trip works without flights.

• Malam Jabba, at about 2,800 metres, has a Pearl-Continental hotel at the ski slopes, and in winter it is the most comfortable snow in Pakistan: ski, sledge or sit by the window.
• Kalam and Ushu, at the head of the valley, are pine forest and river, best from June to September. The road above Bahrain is still slow and damaged in places.
• Mingora is the place to eat, and the Gandharan sites around Saidu Sharif make a calm half-day.

Swat is busy at Eid and on summer weekends, so aim for midweek.

Honeymoon on a budget, or a splurge

If money is tight, go to the Neelum valley or Swat by road, stay in guesthouses, and put the savings into one special night: a room at Arang Kel, or a lake-view room somewhere quiet. Travel outside Eid, June to August weekends and 14 August, when room prices are at their highest.

If you want to splurge, fly to Skardu and split the week between Shigar Fort and Khaplu Palace, or fly to Gilgit and stay at the Serena properties in Hunza. Book these months ahead for April, May, September and October; they have few rooms.

In between, the best value is usually a mid-range hotel with a real view, in Karimabad, Duikar or on Upper Kachura, plus a car with a local driver so neither of you spends the honeymoon driving.

Practical things couples ask

• Carry your nikah nama. Some hotels ask couples for proof of marriage at check-in. Keep a copy on your phone and a paper copy with your CNICs.
• Don't drive the whole way the week after the wedding. Two long days on the Karakoram Highway after a week of functions is a hard start. Fly at least one way, or break the drive.
• Fewer bases, longer stays. Changing hotels every night eats the time you came for. Two or three bases in a week is plenty.
• Ask about heating and hot water, even in summer. Nights above 2,000 metres are cool, and power cuts are common.
• Keep a spare day for flights and roads; the northern flights are cancelled in bad weather.
• Take the altitude easy. Deosai and the Khunjerab Pass are above 4,000 metres. Go up after a couple of nights in the valley, not on the first day.

Which is right for you?

• You want mountain views and walks, with a week to spend: Hunza.
• You want the most memorable place to stay: Shigar Fort and Khaplu, via a flight to Skardu.
• You want green, quiet and gentle, on a moderate budget: the Neelum valley.
• You have four nights and no flights: Swat, or Malam Jabba in winter.
• You are both adventurous: add Fairy Meadows, under Nanga Parbat, from June to September, with a jeep track and a walk to reach it.

What makes a honeymoon go wrong in the north is rarely the place. It is too many hotels, too much driving and no spare day. Plan for fewer places and longer stays, and any of these will work.

Frequently asked questions