Islamabad to Skardu by Road: Route, Time and Stops

Islamabad to Skardu by road is a two-day drive of roughly 700 km. You follow the Karakoram Highway north along the Indus to Chilas and Jaglot, then turn east onto the 167 km Jaglot–Skardu road for the last stretch up the Indus gorge. Allow 16 to 20 hours of actual driving, split by a night in Chilas. In summer, when Babusar Pass is open, the road through Naran is a shorter alternative.

The drive is long rather than technically hard. The road is paved all the way and ordinary cars make it every summer. What decides your day is landslides, construction zones and daylight. This guide covers the route leg by leg, where to stop, what the road is like now, and when it makes more sense to fly.

The route, leg by leg

The standard route uses the Karakoram Highway (N-35) as far as Jaglot. It is kept open all year, although landslides can close parts of it for hours or days at a time.

1. Islamabad to Thakot. Take the motorway to the Burhan interchange near Hasan Abdal, then the Hazara Motorway (M-15) past Haripur, Abbottabad and Mansehra to Thakot, where the road meets the Indus. This is the fast, easy part of the trip.
2. Thakot to Besham and Dasu. From here the KKH follows the Indus through Kohistan. It is narrower and slower, and busy with trucks. Besham is four to five hours from Islamabad.
3. Dasu to Chilas. The hardest section. The valley is steep and unstable, and work connected to the Dasu and Diamer-Bhasha dams means diversions, dust and waiting. It takes longer than the distance suggests.
4. Chilas to Jaglot. About 87 km and two hours, past Raikot Bridge (the turning for Fairy Meadows) and some of the best roadside views of Nanga Parbat.
5. Jaglot to Skardu. A few kilometres beyond Jaglot, the Skardu road leaves the KKH and follows the Indus east through the Rondu gorge to Kachura and then Skardu.

How long does the drive take?

Map apps are optimistic on this route. Driving in daylight, with stops for food and fuel and the occasional hold-up, the two days usually look like this:

Leave Islamabad by 5 or 6 in the morning. The most common mistake is a late start that leaves you on the Dasu–Chilas stretch after dark. If a landslide holds you up for hours, stop for the night in the nearest town rather than pushing on.

It is possible to do the whole thing in one go with two drivers, but it means 16 hours or more at the wheel and the Indus gorge in the dark at the end. We don't plan trips that way, and we would not suggest it for a family.

Coaches run the route too. NATCO, the Gilgit-Baltistan government transport company, and several private operators run coaches from Rawalpindi, and the trip takes around a day. Check current departure times and fares with the operator before you go.

Where to stop overnight

Chilas

Chilas is the usual stop, roughly two-thirds of the way to Skardu. It has hotels from basic to comfortable, fuel, and food on the main road. It is low and very hot in summer, so when you book, ask about cooling and whether the hotel has a generator for power cuts. In June, July and August book ahead; rooms fill with travellers heading to Skardu, Hunza and Fairy Meadows.

Besham

Besham is only four to five hours from Islamabad, which makes it tempting for anyone starting late or coming up from Lahore the same day. The problem is the second day: Besham to Skardu is a very long drive. If you stop in Besham, it is better to make it a three-day trip with a second night in Chilas.

Naran, on the Babusar route

If you are going over Babusar, Naran is the natural first stop, about six hours from Islamabad. It is cooler and has far more hotels than Chilas. The second day, from Naran over the pass and on to Skardu, is long, so leave at first light.

The Babusar Pass alternative

Babusar Road (N-15) continues up the Kaghan valley beyond Naran, climbs to 4,173 metres at Babusar Top and comes down to the KKH at Chilas. It avoids the whole Kohistan section of the KKH, it is shorter, and the scenery is better. Plan on four to five hours from Naran to Chilas, with a stop at the top.

It is only open in the warmer months. The road usually reopens between late May and June once the snow is cleared; in 2026 it reopened on 25 May. It closes again with the first heavy snow, usually in October or November. Some points to weigh up:

• Night travel is restricted. In May 2025 the police banned all traffic between Naran and Babusar Top from 6 pm to 6 am. Plan to be over the pass well before evening.
• Flash floods are a real risk. In July 2025 a cloudburst on the Chilas side of the pass washed away parts of the road near Thak Nala. Tourists died and more than 200 had to be rescued. In monsoon weather, the KKH is the safer choice.
• The descent to Chilas is long and steep. Use low gears, stop if the brakes smell hot, and don't ride them all the way down.
• Altitude. You are at over 4,000 metres only briefly, but anyone who feels unwell at the top should simply keep going down.

If Babusar is closed, or the weather is doubtful, take the KKH. It is slower, but it is open all year and does not cross a high pass.

What is the road like in 2026?

The KKH is paved, but the surface is broken in places and the stretch from Dasu to Chilas has long diversions and roadworks linked to the dam projects. Landslides are most likely during the monsoon in July and August and during the spring melt. In June 2026 heavy rain closed the highway between Gunar Farm and Lal Padi near Chilas, stranding hundreds of vehicles on both sides.

The Jaglot–Skardu road has been rebuilt and widened by the Frontier Works Organisation, from a single lane of 3.6 metres to 7.3 metres, with 28 bridges. It used to be one of the most feared roads in the north; it is now a proper two-lane road and the drive takes about four hours. It still runs along a steep, unstable gorge. Rockfall and mudflows close it for short spells, and the same June 2026 rains blocked it near Maloopa in Rondu.

Before you set off each morning:

• Ask your hotel and other drivers about closures ahead. They usually know before anyone else.
• Check the Gilgit-Baltistan Tourism Department's news and advisories and the local news. Our guide to checking Karakoram Highway road status lists the numbers to call.
• Keep water, snacks, warm clothes and a charged power bank in the car, not in the boot, in case you are held up for hours.
• Expect mobile signal to come and go in the gorges, and tell someone your plan for the day.

Safety and security on the KKH

Pakistani travellers drive this road in large numbers every summer, but it deserves care.

• Drive only in daylight. The road is narrow in places with long unguarded drops, and a breakdown or slide is much harder to deal with after dark.
• Check current security advice before you go. Stretches of the KKH between Besham and Chilas have seen militant attacks in recent years, including on vehicles carrying workers from the Dasu dam project. The UK government currently advises its citizens against all travel on the KKH between Mansehra and Chilas. If you are travelling with foreign guests, they should check their own government's advice and insurance; many choose to fly.
• Carry your CNIC for police checkposts. Foreign nationals have to register with the local authorities in Gilgit-Baltistan.
• Know the numbers. Tourist police in Gilgit-Baltistan answer on 1422, and Rescue 1122 operates across the region.

Stops worth making on the way

On a two-day drive the stops are what make it a trip rather than a transfer.

• The rock carvings around Chilas. Thousands of ancient carvings of stupas, figures and inscriptions, many of them Buddhist, cover boulders along this part of the KKH. Several groups near Chilas are easy to see from the road.
• Nanga Parbat from the KKH. On the stretch between Chilas and Jaglot the mountain appears across the valley on a clear day. The morning light, on the second day, is the time to look.
• The junction of three mountain ranges. Near Jaglot, a viewpoint marks where the Himalaya, Karakoram and Hindu Kush meet, above the confluence of the Gilgit and Indus rivers.
• The Indus gorge. On the Skardu road the river is right beside you for hours. There are few proper lay-bys, so stop only where it is safe to pull over.
• Kachura. The lakes are on your way in, before you reach the airport and the town. If you arrive with light left, it is a gentle first look at Skardu.

Drive, take the coach or fly?

Drive if you have nine days or more, want your own car in Skardu, are travelling as a family with a lot of luggage, or want the KKH as part of the trip. Shared between four people, it is also one of the cheapest ways to go.

Fly if your trip is five or six days, you have young children who get carsick, or anyone in the group would find two long days in the car hard. The flight takes about an hour; see our guide to the Islamabad–Skardu flight for airlines, fares and cancellations. The cost difference is set out in our Skardu trip cost guide.

Mix them if you can: fly one way and come back by coach or hired car, or the other way round. With the flight exposed to weather, knowing the road route is a useful backup either way.

If you would rather not organise any of it, our Skardu and Deosai trip flies in from Islamabad when the weather allows or arrives by road, with a spare day held for weather. And if you are still choosing dates, our guide to the best time to visit Skardu covers when Babusar and Deosai are open.

Frequently asked questions