A Northern Areas trip for a couple costs roughly PKR 100,000 to 135,000 for the two of you for a week in Hunza in 2026, driving your own car and staying in simple hotels, and about PKR 230,000 to 300,000 with a hired car and driver and mid-range rooms. By coach it can be done for around PKR 75,000 to 100,000. Couples pay more per person than a group of four, because fuel, cars and jeeps are split only two ways, so how you travel matters more than anything else in the budget.
This guide compares the four ways a couple can travel, private car against public transport, then looks at room rates for two and the extras a couple ends up paying in full. All figures are rough 2026 prices for both of you together, from Islamabad, and they change often.
| At a glance: transport for two, a week in Hunza (2026) | Rough cost for the couple |
|---|---|
| Own car, fuel and tolls | About PKR 60,000 |
| NATCO coach, local vans and one hired day | About PKR 40,000 to 45,000 |
| Car with driver from Islamabad, all in | About PKR 128,000 |
| Flights to Gilgit plus a local car and driver | About PKR 180,000 to 225,000 |
| Simple double room | About PKR 2,500 to 5,000 a night |
| Mid-range double room | About PKR 8,000 to 15,000 a night |
Why a couple pays more per person
Almost every big cost on a trip north is priced per vehicle or per room, not per person. A week's petrol to Hunza costs the same for two people as for four. So does a jeep to Fairy Meadows, a day's car hire, or a boat on Attabad Lake.
Rooms are where a couple does fine: a double is shared two ways, the same as for most groups. Everything else costs a couple roughly twice as much per person as a group of four. The practical upshot is that couples should think hardest about transport, and look for ways to share the per-vehicle costs with others.
Private car or public transport?
Your own car
For a couple with a car in good order and a driver comfortable on mountain roads, this is the usual choice. A week from Islamabad to Hunza, with a day to Khunjerab, is about 1,800 km. At PKR 389.28 a litre for petrol, the price from 25 September 2026, a sedan doing 12 km a litre uses about PKR 58,000 of fuel. With about PKR 2,000 in tolls, that is PKR 60,000, or PKR 30,000 each.
The hidden cost is the driving: two long days each way, with one of you at the wheel for most of them. Our Islamabad to Hunza by road guide explains where to break the journey.
The coach and local vans
NATCO runs coaches from Rawalpindi to Gilgit and to Skardu, at about PKR 5,500 to 6,200 each way per seat in 2026. The journey is overnight, roughly 18 to 20 hours to Gilgit, and it saves a night's room each way. From Gilgit, shared vans run up the Karakoram Highway to Aliabad for a few hundred rupees a seat.
For a couple going to Hunza, that comes to about PKR 22,000 for the coach both ways, a few thousand for vans, and your own car and driver for the day to Khunjerab. At 2026 day rates plus fuel, allow roughly PKR 15,000 to 20,000 for that day; ask your hotel for a quote the evening before. The total is about PKR 40,000 to 45,000 for the two of you, less than the fuel for your own car, but with two nights on a coach.
This suits couples on a tight budget who travel light and don't mind a long overnight ride. It suits fewer couples on a first trip, and it doesn't suit anyone who gets car-sick on mountain roads.
A car with driver from Islamabad
The comfortable way to go by road, and an expensive one for two people. For a week to Hunza in a Corolla, the day rate, fuel, the driver's allowance and tolls come to roughly PKR 128,000 for the car, which a couple pays in full. Our guide to hiring a car with driver for the Northern Areas breaks that figure down and lists what to agree first.
Flying, plus a car on arrival
Flying saves about four days on the road. In 2026, one-way fares from Islamabad to Gilgit mostly ran between about PKR 24,000 and 32,000, so a couple's return tickets cost roughly PKR 96,000 to 128,000. From Gilgit you need a car and driver for the week, roughly PKR 84,000 to 96,000 for six days with fuel. Skardu has more flights and a wider fare range, from about PKR 13,000 one way on an early promotional fare to PKR 35,000 or more for a late summer booking.
Keep a spare day for weather. Flights to both airports are cancelled often enough that a trip with no slack is likely to lose a day.
What a room costs for two
Couples share one room, so the room rate is simply halved between you. In 2025–2026 a double room ran roughly:
| Per room per night | Hunza | Skardu |
|---|---|---|
| Simple guesthouse or budget hotel | PKR 2,500 to 5,000 | PKR 2,500 to 4,500 |
| Mid-range hotel | PKR 8,000 to 15,000 | About PKR 8,000 to 9,000 on average for three-star |
| Top hotels | PKR 25,000 to 35,000 | PKR 25,000 for four-star; PKR 45,000 or more for five-star and heritage |
What makes the difference for two people is usually the view and the heating, not the size of the room. A room facing Rakaposhi or the Indus costs more than one facing the car park, and a heater that works matters from September onwards. Ask whether breakfast for two is included, because at mid-range hotels it often is.
On a road trip, two of your nights are on the road, usually in Chilas or Besham, where a simple room costs about the same as in Hunza and a view is not the point.
The extras a couple pays in full
The small costs are where couples lose money without noticing, because so many of them are priced per vehicle:
- The Fairy Meadows jeep, Raikot Bridge to Tato and back: about PKR 16,000 to 20,000 for the whole jeep. Two people pay it all, unless you share with another group at the bridge.
- A day on Deosai from Skardu: about PKR 15,000 to 25,000 per jeep, usually with fuel, in 2026.
- Naran to Saif-ul-Malook: PKR 5,500 per jeep for the return trip, the fare fixed in 2026.
- Boats on Attabad Lake: about PKR 2,000 to 4,500 a ride, often priced per boat.
- Entry tickets for Baltit and Altit forts and the national parks, per person.
The simplest saving is to share. Jeep drivers at Raikot Bridge, Naran and Skardu are used to groups joining up, and it is worth asking at your hotel whether anyone else is heading the same way. A Deosai jeep shared between two couples costs each of you half as much.
Three sample couple budgets
For the two of you together, 2026 prices, with meals at local cafés on the budget trips and at better restaurants on the comfortable one.
| For two people | Coach, 6 days in Hunza | Own car, 7 days in Hunza | Car with driver, 7 days in Hunza |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transport | About PKR 40,000 to 45,000 | About PKR 60,000 | About PKR 128,000 |
| Rooms | 4 nights: PKR 10,000 to 20,000 | 6 nights: PKR 15,000 to 30,000 | 6 nights mid-range: PKR 48,000 to 90,000 |
| Food | PKR 18,000 to 30,000 | PKR 21,000 to 35,000 | PKR 42,000 to 70,000 |
| Tickets, boats, extras | PKR 5,000 to 8,000 | PKR 6,000 to 10,000 | PKR 10,000 to 15,000 |
| Total for the couple | About PKR 73,000 to 103,000 | About PKR 102,000 to 135,000 | About PKR 228,000 to 303,000 |
Per person, that is roughly PKR 37,000 to 52,000, PKR 51,000 to 68,000, and PKR 114,000 to 152,000. If this is a honeymoon and you want better rooms, our honeymoon trip cost guide prices Hunza, Skardu and Kashmir at three levels.
Is a tour better value for a couple?
For a couple with their own car and time to drive, doing it yourself is cheaper. For a couple who would otherwise fly and hire a car and driver, the gap narrows sharply, because that car and driver is the biggest cost and the two of you pay all of it.
Skardu shows this clearly. Two people flying in for a week and doing it themselves at mid-range level pay for the flights, about PKR 48,000 for six days of a local car, a Deosai jeep at PKR 15,000 to 25,000, rooms at around PKR 8,000 to 9,000 a night, and their meals. Our seven-day Skardu and Deosai tour is from PKR 90,000 per person, or PKR 180,000 for the two of you, and includes all ground transport with an experienced mountain driver, twin-share rooms, a guide from the valley, park fees and permits, breakfast daily and all meals on the plateau. Flights, and lunches and dinners in Skardu, are extra. Price both ways for your dates before you decide; if they come out close, the tour carries the risk of a lost day for you.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a Northern Areas trip cost for a couple?
For a week in Hunza in 2026, roughly PKR 100,000 to 135,000 for the two of you by your own car with simple hotels, and PKR 230,000 to 300,000 with a hired car and driver and mid-range rooms. By coach it can cost around PKR 75,000 to 100,000.
Is it cheaper for a couple to drive or take the bus?
The coach is cheaper: about PKR 22,000 for two people return to Gilgit in 2026, against about PKR 60,000 in fuel and tolls for a week in your own car. The car saves two nights on a coach and gives you freedom on the way.
How much is a hotel room for a couple in Hunza?
Roughly PKR 2,500 to 5,000 a night for a simple double and PKR 8,000 to 15,000 for a mid-range hotel in 2025–2026, with the top hotels at PKR 25,000 and up. Rates rise in July, August and over Eid.
Can a couple share a jeep with other tourists?
Yes. Jeeps to Fairy Meadows, Saif-ul-Malook and Deosai are priced per vehicle, and drivers and hotels are used to arranging shared trips. It is the easiest saving a couple can make.
Is it worth flying to Skardu as a couple?
If you have a week or less, usually yes, because the road takes four days of it. Book early, compare PIA, Airblue and AirSial, and keep a spare day for a cancelled flight.
