Islamabad to Chitral by Road via the Lowari Tunnel

Islamabad to Chitral by road is roughly 400 kilometres and takes 10 to 12 hours with stops. The route runs up the M-1 and the Swat Motorway to Chakdara, north on the N-45 through Timergara and Dir, through the Lowari tunnel, and down the Chitral river past Drosh. You can do it in one long day if you leave before dawn, and many families split it with a night in Dir or in Swat.

The motorway half is quick and easy. The second half, from Chakdara onwards, is a busy two-lane mountain highway through bazaar towns, and it is where the time goes. This guide covers each stage, the tunnel, the overnight options and what to know before you drive.

The route, stage by stage

1. Islamabad to Chakdara, about 2.5 hours. Take the M-1 towards Peshawar and turn north onto the Swat Motorway, which opened in 2019 and runs to Chakdara, at the mouth of the Swat valley. This is the easy part: dual carriageway, service areas and good fuel stations.
2. Chakdara to Dir, about 2.5 hours. Here you join the N-45, the national highway that runs all the way to Chitral. It passes through Timergara, the headquarters of Lower Dir, and climbs steadily up the valley to Dir town. It is a two-lane road with trucks, rickshaws and bazaars, and the towns are slow.
3. Dir to the Lowari tunnel. Above Dir the road climbs in bends to the southern portal. In winter this is the stretch where snow is most likely to hold traffic.
4. Through the tunnel and down to Chitral, about 3 hours from Dir. You come out on the Chitral side and drop down to the Chitral river, then follow it north past Drosh and the turning for the Kalash valleys at Ayun, into Chitral town.

Those stage times add up to about eight hours of driving. Meals, prayer breaks, checkpoints, a slow truck on the climb and any wait at the tunnel usually turn that into 10 to 12 hours door to door. Over Eid and on long weekends, allow more.

How long does the drive really take?

The honest answer is a full day. If you leave Islamabad at 5 or 6 in the morning and stop for breakfast at a motorway service area and lunch in Dir, you should reach Chitral in the late afternoon or early evening.

Leaving at 9 or 10 is the most common mistake. It puts you at the tunnel in the afternoon and on the Chitral side in the dark, which is exactly the part of the road you want to see and drive in daylight.

If you are coming from Lahore, add the drive up the M-2 to Islamabad. That is too much for one comfortable day, and a night in Islamabad, Swat or Dir makes sense.

The Lowari tunnel: timings and what to expect

The Lowari tunnel is what makes this trip possible for most of the year. Before it opened in July 2017, the only road into Chitral from the south went over the Lowari Pass at 3,118 metres, which closed with snow for months each winter. The main tunnel is 8.5 km long, with a shorter second tunnel on the approach, around 10 km in all.

The tunnel is built for two-way traffic, but its hours have not always been straightforward:

• At times the National Highway Authority has run it on fixed hours or stopped traffic for long periods, and in April 2025 Chitrali public figures complained about halts with no clear reason.
• In August 2026 the NHA announced a schedule that would have closed the tunnel for 12 hours a day, in three-hour blocks. It caused an outcry in Chitral, the tunnel was then reopened to all traffic, and operating hours are now to be agreed between the district administration and the NHA.

In practice, this means you should check the current hours before you set off, and ask again at your hotel in Dir if you are staying there. Don't plan to reach the tunnel late at night on the assumption that it is open.

Inside, keep your headlights on, don't overtake, and keep to your lane. If traffic backs up, close the windows; drivers have raised concerns about fumes building up when vehicles are held and then released in a block.

Where to break the journey

You don't have to do the whole drive in one go, and with children or a single driver it is better not to.

Dir

Dir is the last sizeable town before the tunnel and the most practical overnight stop. It has simple hotels and restaurants along the main road. From Dir it is about three hours to Chitral the next morning, which means you do the tunnel and the drive down the Chitral river fresh, in daylight.

Swat the night before

If you want to see Swat anyway, spend a night or two there and continue to Chitral afterwards. From Mingora you come back down the valley to Chakdara and join the N-45 there, which saves you the motorway stage on the day of the mountain drive. Our Swat Valley page covers what to see on the way.

Timergara

Timergara, the headquarters of Lower Dir, is the first big town after Chakdara. It works if you leave Islamabad in the afternoon, but it leaves a longer drive for the next day than stopping in Dir does.

Straight through

With two drivers, an early start and a good car, one day is perfectly manageable. Keep the day free of other plans, and don't arrange anything in Chitral for that evening.

Road conditions and driving tips

The road is fully paved and normal cars drive it every day. What makes it tiring is the traffic and the towns, not the surface.

• Fuel: fill up before leaving the motorway, and again in Dir. There are fuel stations in Drosh and Chitral too.
• Speed through towns: Timergara and Dir are slow in the middle of the day, and early mornings are much quieter.
• The climb to the tunnel: use a low gear on the bends both up and down, and watch for trucks cutting corners.
• Signal: expect it to drop in places on the mountain stretches. Tell someone your plan and your expected arrival time.
• Winter: snow on the approach roads on either side of the tunnel can hold traffic for hours or longer. From December to March, carry warm clothes, water and food in the car, and check the road before leaving Dir.
• Night driving: avoid it on the N-45, for the traffic, the checkpoints and the mountain road on the Chitral side.

Checkpoints and safety

There are police and security checkpoints along the N-45. Pakistani travellers need their CNIC; foreign nationals should carry their passport with a valid visa and several photocopies, and expect to register at checkpoints on the way into Chitral.

The Dir districts have had security incidents in recent years. Foreign governments take a cautious line: the UK Foreign Office, for example, advises its nationals against all travel to Upper and Lower Dir and on the N-45 between Mardan and Chitral. The road is in daily use by Chitralis and Pakistani tourists, but check current news before you go, travel in daylight, and follow what you are told at checkpoints.

Driving yourself, hiring a car or flying

Drive yourself if you are comfortable on mountain roads, have a second driver, and are staying a week or more. Having your own car makes day trips to Garam Chashma and Chitral town easy.

Hire a car with a driver if nobody in the group wants to drive the N-45. It is also the simpler option for the Kalash valleys, where the road from Ayun is being rebuilt and low sedans can struggle; our guide on how to reach the Kalash valleys covers that last stretch.

Flying is not an option at the moment. PIA announced a weekly Islamabad–Chitral flight from April 2025, but it never ran because too few tickets sold, and no scheduled service has started since. tracks the latest.our Chitral flight guide

Is the drive worth it?

For a trip of a week or more, yes. The road is long rather than difficult, the Chitral side of the tunnel is a fine drive in its own right, and a car gives you the freedom to see the district properly.

For a short trip it is harder to justify. In a five-day holiday, two full days on the road leave three days in Chitral, which is enough for the town and one Kalash valley but not much more. Our five-day Chitral itinerary assumes five days on the ground, with the drive at each end on top, and our trip planning page explains how we balance driving days against time in a place.

Frequently asked questions