Pakistan Itinerary for First-Time Visitors: Two Weeks

Two weeks is enough to see Pakistan's two very different sides without rushing either: the Mughal and colonial cities of Punjab, and the mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan. This itinerary spends the first four days in Lahore and Islamabad, flies north for six days in Hunza, and keeps the last four for a buffer around weather-dependent mountain flights and a relaxed finish in Islamabad.

It is written for a first-time foreign visitor rather than a Pakistani family who already knows the cities, so it front-loads the sights a first-timer would want explained and keeps the pace realistic for anyone still adjusting to the heat, the traffic and the altitude.

Days 1 to 3: Lahore

Lahore is the natural start for most international flights and the city that best explains Pakistan's Mughal history before you head north.

1. Day 1: Arrive and settle in. Depending on your flight, plan a quiet first evening. If you land with time to spare, Fort Road or Lakshmi Chowk are good for a first taste of Lahori food.
2. Day 2: The Mughal and old city core. Lahore Fort, the Badshahi Mosque, and a walk through the Walled City from Delhi Gate cover the essential sights in a full day. Our guide to places to visit in Lahore has the detail on each one and how long to give it.
3. Day 3: Wagah border, then Islamabad. The flag-lowering ceremony at the Wagah border, on the India frontier, is a genuinely unusual thing to watch and worth the detour if your schedule allows a morning for it. Travel on to Islamabad in the afternoon; the M2 motorway covers the roughly 375 km in about four hours by car or coach.

Days 4 and 5: Islamabad and Rawalpindi

Islamabad is quieter and greener than Lahore, and a useful place to adjust before the mountains.

• Faisal Mosque, one of the largest in the world and free to visit outside prayer times.
• Daman-e-Koh, a viewpoint over the city in the Margalla Hills, and a short walking trail if you want to stretch your legs.
• Rawalpindi's old bazaars, a short taxi ride from Islamabad, for a more traditional city contrast.
• Use the second day here as slack if your flight or connections ran late, or for a day trip to Taxila's Gandhara-era ruins if you have the time and interest.

Days 5 to 10: Hunza, by air

This is the section our Gilgit, Hunza and Khunjerab tour is built around, and it's the part of the trip worth protecting the most time and flexibility for.

Getting there. Fly Islamabad to Gilgit rather than drive. The flight takes roughly an hour on a clear day, against two long days by road. It is also the safer routing for a first-time visitor: the direct Karakoram Highway drive between Mansehra and Chilas currently carries a UK government advisory against all travel, so flying avoids that stretch entirely rather than requiring a detour. Mountain flights are cancelled for weather often enough that no itinerary should depend on the first one going, so build a spare day around both the outbound and return flight if you can.

1. Day 5: Fly to Gilgit, transfer to Karimabad. The drive from Gilgit to central Hunza takes about two to three hours.
2. Day 6: Karimabad, Altit and Baltit forts. Both forts are open to visitors and give a clear sense of Hunza's pre-Pakistan history as an independent princely state.
3. Day 7: Attabad Lake, Gulmit and Passu. A day along the Karakoram Highway north of Karimabad, taking in the turquoise water of Attabad Lake, the Passu Cones, and the Hussaini suspension bridge if anyone in your group wants to cross it.
4. Day 8: Khunjerab Pass. A long day trip to the Pakistan–China border at 4,693 metres. Altitude affects most people to some degree at that height; keep the visit at the top short and watch for headaches or nausea in anyone in your group. Our guide to Khunjerab Pass has the full timing and altitude advice.
5. Day 9: A spare day. Use it as a genuine buffer if weather has cost you a day elsewhere, or for a shorter outing such as Eagle's Nest viewpoint or Hopper valley if everything has run to plan.
6. Day 10: Back to Gilgit and fly to Islamabad. Build the transfer time in ahead of your flight; the drive back from Karimabad is the same two to three hours.

Days 11 to 14: Islamabad and departure

• Day 11: Buffer day in Islamabad. If the northern leg ran on schedule, use this as a relaxed day; if a flight was cancelled along the way, this is the day that absorbs it.
• Day 12: A day trip north of Islamabad, to Murree or the Galiyat, if the schedule allows and everyone still has the appetite for hills after Hunza.
• Day 13: Rest and shop. Islamabad and Rawalpindi both have reasonable shopping for handicrafts and Hunza's own dried fruit, which travels well.
• Day 14: Departure.

Before you go: visa, safety and packing

• Visa. Most foreign nationals need an e-visa arranged in advance through the official NADRA portal. Apply several weeks ahead; see our guide to the Pakistan tourist visa for the process.
• Safety. None of the places on this route carry a current UK "avoid all travel" advisory, and this itinerary is built to route around the one KKH stretch that does. Read our honest guide to whether Pakistan is safe for tourists before you finalise dates, and check your own government's current advice close to departure.
• What to pack. Summer clothes and sun protection for Lahore and Islamabad; warm layers, a hat and gloves for Khunjerab, even in July, since the wind at 4,693 metres is genuinely cold regardless of the season below.

Is two weeks the right length?

For a first trip covering both the cultural cities and the mountains, yes, and it's a realistic pace rather than a rushed one. If you only have a week, choose one half: Lahore and Islamabad alone, or fly straight to Gilgit and spend the whole week in Hunza. If you have three weeks or more, Skardu and Deosai are a natural extension, covered by our separate Skardu and Deosai tour, though reaching both Hunza and Skardu in one trip means a long day of extra travel between them and is worth planning as two focused trips rather than one rushed one.

Frequently asked questions