Naran Weekend Trip from Islamabad: 2-Day Plan

A Naran weekend trip from Islamabad is possible, but only if you leave on Friday evening. Drive to Balakot after work, sleep there, and reach Naran by about 9 on Saturday morning. That gives you Saif-ul-Malook in the morning, Lulusar Lake in the afternoon, and an early start on Sunday to be home by mid-afternoon. Without the Friday night start, most of your weekend is spent in the car.

This plan is for June to October, in a car in good condition, with a driver who is comfortable on mountain roads. Below is the timetable, what it costs, what to drop if things run late, and when a weekend in Shogran makes more sense.

Is two days enough for Naran?

Enough for a taste, not for the valley. In two days you can see Saif-ul-Malook and one other place, eat by the Kunhar and sleep a night in the mountains. You can't also fit in Lalazar, Babusar and Shogran without spending all of Saturday in a jeep or a car.

The real cost is the driving. The last stretch, from Balakot to Naran, is a narrow mountain road that takes longer than the motorway half. Two days means doing that stretch twice in 36 hours. If you can take the Monday off, a three-day trip is far more relaxed; our three-day Naran and Kaghan itinerary shows how.

Friday evening: Islamabad to Balakot

Leave Islamabad by 6 pm if you can. Fuel up and draw cash before you go.

1. Islamabad to Mansehra, about 2 to 2.5 hours. The M-1 to the Hazara interchange, then the Hazara Motorway to Mansehra. It is quick and well lit, and quiet on a Friday evening.
2. Mansehra to Balakot, about 1 hour. Down to the Kunhar and along it to Balakot, the gateway town of the valley.

Arriving around 9.30 pm, you have dinner and sleep. Balakot has hotels along the river, including GreenPak Hotel Balakot, one of the former PTDC properties now run by Green Tourism. Book ahead and call on Friday afternoon to confirm: a visitor in late 2025 found most of Balakot's hotels shut, after flood scares had kept tourists away.

If you are running late, stop in Mansehra instead. What you want to avoid is driving the valley road above Balakot in the dark; it is narrow, unlit and exposed to rockfall.

Saturday: Saif-ul-Malook and Lulusar

Morning: Saif-ul-Malook by jeep

The lake is the reason most people come. Ordinary cars can't manage the track, so you take a local jeep; in 2026 the official return fare from Naran was PKR 5,500 for the whole jeep. Agree the waiting time before you set off, and aim for about an hour and a half at the lake. Our guide to the Saif-ul-Malook jeep fare explains the rules.

The time the lake opens decides your morning. After the monsoon closure in August 2026, visits were allowed only from 9.30 am to 4 pm. Ask your hotel what the hours are on the day.

Afternoon: Lulusar Lake, or Babusar Top

Lulusar Lake, at 3,410 metres, lies beside the paved road about 48 km above Naran, roughly an hour to an hour and a half each way. You drive there in your own car, and the lake is the source of the Kunhar. On the way you pass Batakundi and the meadows around it.

Babusar Top, at 4,173 metres, is about 65 km from Naran and 1.5 to 2 hours up, from late May until the first snow. It is possible on this afternoon only if you leave Naran by 1 pm and turn round in good time. The road between Naran and Babusar is for daylight only: in 2025 the police closed it from 6 pm to 6 am, and in May 2026 the administration warned that it became unsafe after 6 pm. If the lake takes longer than planned, choose Lulusar.

Either way, carry warm clothes. It is much colder up the valley than in Naran, even in July.

Evening in Naran

Naran bazaar has run a one-way traffic plan since 2026, with no parking in the bazaar itself, so ask your hotel where to leave the car. Then walk by the river, eat early, and go to bed early.

Sunday: home by mid-afternoon

The early start matters more than anything else in this plan. On Sunday the whole valley heads home, and the traffic between Naran and Balakot builds from late morning. Leave at 7 and you are through Balakot before the rush and home with the afternoon to rest before Monday.

If you have half an hour to spare, stop at Kiwai waterfall, where tea stalls set their tables in the stream.

What a weekend in Naran costs

For a family or group of four in their own car, the main costs in 2026 were:

• Petrol: roughly 55 litres for a car doing 12 km a litre, covering the return trip and the drive to Lulusar. At late-September 2026 prices of about PKR 390 a litre, that is roughly PKR 21,000. Fuel prices have been changing often, so redo the sum before you go.
• Tolls: PKR 400 each way on the Hazara Motorway from July 2026, plus a smaller charge for the stretch of the M-1.
• Jeep to Saif-ul-Malook: PKR 5,500 for the whole jeep, the official 2026 fare.
• Two nights' rooms, one in Balakot and one in Naran, and meals. These vary more than anything else, and weekends cost more than weekdays.

Our Naran trip cost guide gives room rates and food costs in more detail.

When not to try it

A two-day trip has no slack. Skip it, or change the plan, if:

• it is an Eid or long weekend. The Balakot to Naran road can jam for hours, and a two-day plan collapses.
• heavy rain is forecast. In July and August cloudbursts close the road and the lake track. In 2026 the lake road was closed after rain on 21 July, washed out on 30 July, and closed to visitors for a week from 1 August.
• it is November to April. In winter, visitors can't go beyond Kaghan town; in April the road may not yet be open.
• you have small children or older parents. Around 13 hours of driving and a jump to 3,000 metres or more in a weekend is hard going.
• nobody wants to drive a mountain road tired. The Sunday drive is where tired drivers make mistakes. Share the driving or hire a car with a driver.

A weekend in Shogran instead

If the list above describes your weekend, go to Shogran. It sits on a forested shelf above Kiwai, about an hour's jeep ride up from the main road, and you are spared the whole Kiwai to Naran stretch in both directions. You can leave on Saturday morning, have the afternoon in the meadow, ride up to Siri Paye early on Sunday, and still be home for dinner. Our Shogran guide covers the jeep and the hotels.

Naran is better saved for a trip of three days or more, when the lake, Babusar and Lalazar each get a proper morning. If you would like us to plan one around your dates, get in touch.

Frequently asked questions