Khyber Pass: Visiting Bab-e-Khyber and Jamrud in 2026

The Khyber Pass begins at Jamrud, about 18 km west of central Peshawar, where the Bab-e-Khyber gate stands across the road beside the Sikh-era Jamrud Fort. From there the pass climbs for about 40 km to Landi Kotal and then drops to the Afghan border at Torkham. In a normal year Pakistani visitors can drive to the gate with their CNIC, and foreigners need prior permission and an escort. In 2026, with Pakistan and Afghanistan in open conflict and the border largely closed, we would not plan a trip beyond Jamrud without checking first, and would not push on if told otherwise.

This guide explains what the current situation means, what you can see at Jamrud, what lies further up the pass, the permissions involved, and the history that makes the name so well known.

Can you visit the Khyber Pass right now?

Not in the way people did a few years ago, and possibly not at all beyond Jamrud.

The Torkham crossing at the top of the pass was shut to travellers and cargo after heavy fighting on the border in October 2025, and apart from limited openings, including for Afghans returning home, it has stayed largely closed. Since late February 2026 the two countries have been in open conflict, with air strikes, clashes at Torkham itself, and a shell from the Afghan side that injured civilians in Landi Kotal in March. Ceasefires around the two Eids did not hold, and fighting was continuing into the summer.

Inside Pakistan, the Khyber district has also seen fighting between the security forces and militants this year. The UK government advises against all travel to Khyber district, and to anywhere within 10 miles of the Afghan border, which takes in the upper part of the pass.

What this means in practice:

• Bab-e-Khyber at Jamrud, on the edge of Peshawar, is the realistic limit for a visitor. Whether you can stop there on a given day depends on the security posture, so ask locally and follow what the police tell you.
• Landi Kotal, Michni and Torkham are not places to plan a trip to at present. If the situation eases, check the current rules in Peshawar before going, and go with someone local.
• Foreign nationals should assume the pass is off limits for now.

If you are planning a Peshawar trip, our guide to whether Peshawar is safe covers the city itself.

Bab-e-Khyber and Jamrud Fort

Bab-e-Khyber, the Khyber Gate, is a monumental gateway built across the road at the mouth of the pass. It was completed in 1963 and inaugurated by Field Marshal Ayub Khan on 11 June that year. It is the best-known modern monument in the Khyber, and it appears on the ten-rupee note, so most Pakistanis have been carrying a picture of it for years.

Right beside it is Jamrud Fort. The Sikh general Hari Singh Nalwa laid its foundation in December 1836 and had it built in 54 days, with walls about three metres thick, to hold the mouth of the pass against the Afghans. It was first named Fatehgarh. In April 1837 an Afghan army attacked it while much of the garrison was away; Hari Singh Nalwa was killed in the fighting, but the fort held until reinforcements arrived.

Jamrud Fort is still a military post, garrisoned by the Frontier Corps, and is not open to the public. You see it from the road, alongside the gate. Don't photograph the fort's gate, the soldiers or the checkpoint.

Beyond Jamrud: what the pass holds

In calmer years, the drive from Peshawar to Landi Kotal took about an hour and a half, through a landscape of bare, folded hills, fortified family compounds and the old railway line winding beside the road. The places visitors used to stop, in order, were:

1. Shagai Fort, a British-era fort above the road on the way up.
2. Ali Masjid, at the narrowest point of the pass, where the valley closes to a gorge. A fort here saw fighting in the Anglo-Afghan wars.
3. The regimental badges, the emblems of British and Indian regiments that served in the Khyber, carved and painted on the rock face beside the road.
4. Sphola Stupa, the remains of a Buddhist stupa above the road, a reminder that this was Gandhara country long before it was a military frontier.
5. Landi Kotal, the last Pakistani town of any size, near the highest point of the road, with a busy bazaar.
6. Michni checkpoint, the usual limit for visitors, with a view down to Torkham and into Afghanistan.

These are all inside the area the UK and others currently advise against, and within easy range of this year's border fighting. They are listed here so you know what the pass holds, not as a plan for now.

Permissions and checkpoints

Pakistani citizens have normally needed only their CNIC to drive into Khyber district, with the vehicle and passengers registered at checkpoints on the way. Rules can tighten overnight, and parts of the road may be closed to anyone without business there. Ask in Peshawar, and at the first checkpoint, before assuming you can go on.

Foreign nationals, including dual nationals travelling on a foreign passport, need prior permission from the authorities and must be accompanied by a security escort. Arriving without permission can mean being turned back or detained. At present, permission for tourism is unlikely.

On the road: keep your ID in your hand at checkpoints, answer questions plainly, don't photograph soldiers or military posts, and turn back if you are told to.

A short history of the Khyber

The Khyber has been the main route between the plains of South Asia and Afghanistan for as long as there are records. Persian kings, traders on the routes to Central Asia, and armies from Babur's onwards came through the pass or near it. It made Peshawar a caravan town, and Qissa Khwani, the storytellers' bazaar, grew up serving the traders who came down it.

In the 19th century the pass became a frontier fought over by Sikhs, Afghans and the British. The Sikhs pushed up to its mouth and built Jamrud in 1836. The British marched through it in the Anglo-Afghan wars, and after 1880 held the pass with forts, pickets and the Khyber Rifles. The regimental badges on the rocks date from that long garrison.

After 1947 the pass became part of Pakistan's tribal areas, administered separately from the province until the former tribal agencies were merged into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018. The Khyber Agency became Khyber district.

The Khyber railway

The Khyber Pass Railway, opened in 1925, is one of the great feats of railway engineering in the region: it climbs from Jamrud to Landi Kotal through tunnels, bridges and reversing stations, rising about 600 metres. For a decade from 1996, the Khyber Steam Safari ran tourist trains up it behind old steam engines, until floods damaged the line in 2006. A relaunch in 2015 ran on a different route, to Attock, and the line through the pass has not carried a regular service since.

Is it worth it, and what to do instead?

In a calmer year, the drive to Landi Kotal and Michni was one of the most memorable half-days you could spend from Peshawar, more for the landscape and the sense of history than for any one sight. At present it is not a trip we would plan. The gate at Jamrud is easy to see from the road on the edge of the city, and on its own it doesn't justify taking risks.

If the Khyber's history is what draws you, spend the time in the city instead. The Peshawar Museum and the old caravan bazaars tell the same story of trade and invasion, and our one-day Peshawar itinerary fits them into a day. Before any trip to the area, read the latest UK travel advice for Pakistan alongside the local news. If you would like a Peshawar trip planned around the current situation, send us your dates.

Frequently asked questions