Is Chilas Safe for Tourists? An Honest Overnight Guide

Is Chilas safe for tourists? Thousands of Pakistani travellers stop in Chilas every summer on the way between Islamabad, Naran and Gilgit, and most nights pass without trouble. But the town is the headquarters of Diamer district, it has a record of serious attacks on the Karakoram Highway nearby, and the road into it from the south is on the UK government's list of routes it advises against all travel on.

This guide gives the facts on that record, the recent events that affect an overnight stop, and the practical habits that reduce risk. It does not say go or don't go. It tells you what we would want to know first.

What is the security picture in Chilas?

Chilas has had a harder history than most of Gilgit-Baltistan. The incidents below are the ones sources agree on.

• April 2012. Gunmen stopped buses on the Karakoram Highway near Gonar Farm, on the Chilas side, and killed 12 Shia passengers. It was part of a wave of sectarian attacks on the highway that year, including a separate attack in Kohistan that killed 18.
• August 2018. A dozen schools in Chilas, Darel and Tangir were set on fire overnight. Most were girls' schools.
• 2 December 2023. A passenger bus travelling from Ghizer to Islamabad was fired on at Chilas. The driver was killed, the bus hit a truck, and 10 people died and 25 were hurt. Six suspects were arrested the next day. No group claimed it, and some reports suggested it may not have been aimed at the bus. It came about ten days after the armed convoy system for traffic between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan, in place since 2012, was discontinued.
• 12 February 2026. A roadside bomb hit a Frontier Works Organization vehicle on the Tangir Boshidas road in the Chilas area. The civilian driver was killed and three others, including an army officer, were slightly injured.

These attacks were aimed at passengers on the road, at schools, and at security-force vehicles. We found no source reporting a recent attack on tourists staying in Chilas hotels. That is not a guarantee, and the history is the reason the advice below exists.

What does the UK government say?

The UK Foreign Office's Pakistan advice (updated 22 September 2026) advises against all travel on the Karakoram Highway between Mansehra and Chilas, via Battagram, Besham, Dasu and Sazin, up to the junction with the N15 road. Chilas sits at the northern end of that stretch. Gilgit-Baltistan as a whole is not on the list, and nor is the Babusar (N15) route.

The advice also says that Gilgit-Baltistan is mountainous, remote and difficult to police, that visitors must register with local authorities, and that every section of the highway north of Battagram has had landslides.

If you hold a foreign passport, read your own government's advice, because it may differ, and tell your insurer where you are going. Advice against travel can void a policy. Pakistani visitors don't face that, but the same advice is still a fair indicator of where the risks are.

Is the road to Chilas the real risk?

For most travellers, yes. The town itself is a busy bazaar-and-highway settlement. What has gone wrong in the past has mostly happened on the road, particularly through Kohistan and around Gonar Farm and Thore. Road disruption is also common for ordinary reasons:

• April 2026. A sit-in by people affected by the Diamer-Bhasha dam blocked the highway at Chilas and Thore for several days. Hundreds of passengers, including tourists, were stranded. It ended after talks with the district administration.
• 18 June 2026. Heavy rain closed the highway from Gonar Farm to Lal Padi in the Chilas area, leaving long queues on both sides.
• July 2026. Flash floods hit the Thore valley near Chilas and blocked the highway, stranding tourists.
• June 2026. A 12-hour sit-in against WAPDA at Patan, in Kohistan, stopped traffic for thousands of passengers.

So when people ask if Chilas is safe, the better question is whether they can be flexible. A plan that survives a day of delay is safer, and less stressful, than one that does not.

How do Pakistani travellers stay safely in Chilas?

These habits are common sense rather than official rules, and they apply to any highway stop in the north.

1. Arrive in daylight. Aim to be in town well before dark. Our guide to driving the Karakoram Highway explains why night driving here is a bad idea, and so does driving at night on the KKH.
2. Choose a hotel before you arrive, rather than searching in the dark. Hotels in Chilas describes what is available.
3. Check the road status with your hotel or a local driver each evening for the next morning. Closures, protests and landslides change fast.
4. Keep your plans loose. One spare day in the itinerary is cheap insurance.
5. Use public transport or a hired driver with care. Public buses in this region usually carry an armed guard. A private car with a driver who knows the road is a reasonable alternative.
6. Follow local advice and checkpoints. Police checkpoints on the highway are part of how the road is managed. Be patient, carry your CNIC and cooperate.
7. Dress and behave modestly. Diamer is conservative. Families and women travelling usually find a proper hotel the simplest option.

Can you avoid Chilas altogether?

In practice few people can, because the town is the natural overnight stop between Islamabad and Gilgit. If you would rather avoid the Mansehra to Chilas stretch, there are three alternatives:

• From Naran in summer, the Babusar road comes down to Chilas without using the Besham–Dasu section. See Babusar Top versus the KKH. It is open only in the warm months, with its own weather risks.
• Fly to Gilgit or Skardu. Flights are unreliable in bad weather, as the UK advice notes, but they avoid the whole southern highway.
• Start from the north. Travellers already in Gilgit don't need to pass through Chilas to reach Hunza.

Is Chilas worth stopping at?

Chilas is not a destination for most visitors, but it has real reasons to stop. The Indus-side rock carvings are some of the largest collections of petroglyphs in the region (see our Chilas rock carvings guide), and it is the base for Fairy Meadows, Tangir and Darel. Our list of places to visit in Chilas covers what is within reach, and Chilas weather helps you pick the month.

If the security history makes you uneasy, the honest answer is that it is a reasonable concern, and that you can choose to cut your Diamer time short, drive through in the morning, or pick a different route. If you do stay, the points above reduce your risk but cannot remove it. For wider planning, see our travel guide and Karakoram Highway safety guide.

Frequently asked questions