8 days
Moderate
Nanga Parbat Base Camp and Fairy Meadows Trek
Eight days from Islamabad to the Raikot face of Nanga Parbat: Fairy Meadows, Beyal Camp and base camp, reached over the Babusar Pass.
Quoted in USD on request
View itineraryTour for international travellers
K2 Base Camp and Concordia Trek
This is the classic walk to the foot of the world's second-highest mountain: from the last village, Askole, up the 63 km Baltoro Glacier to Concordia and on to K2 Base Camp. It is a serious trek in a restricted border zone, so we arrange the permit, the licensed guide and the whole camp crew, and we build spare days into both ends because the Skardu flight depends on the weather.
- Duration
- 21 days
- Starts and ends
- Islamabad
- Best months
- Late June to early September
- Effort
- Strenuous: 13 days on trek, most of it on glacier moraine above 4,000 m
- Highest point
- About 5,100 m at K2 Base Camp (published figures range from 5,050 to 5,150 m)
- Price
- Quoted in USD
The route
Day by day
- Concordia, where the Baltoro and Godwin-Austen glaciers meet below K2, Broad Peak and the Gasherbrums
- A day walk to K2 Base Camp and the Gilkey Memorial
- The Trango Towers and Masherbrum seen from the Baltoro Glacier
- Rest days at Paiju and Concordia for acclimatisation
- Restricted-zone trekking permit, licensed guide, cook and porters arranged
- Reserve days at both ends for the weather-dependent Skardu flight
This is a private tour. Dates, pace and hotels are set for your group and confirmed in writing with your quote.
Travel advice, October 2026: As of October 2026 the UK Foreign Office (advice updated 22 September 2026) does not advise against travel to Skardu, Shigar or the Baltoro, but it does advise against all travel on the Karakoram Highway between Mansehra and Chilas, so this trip uses the Skardu flight, with the Babusar Pass road as the only road alternative. K2 stands on the border with China, and the same advice notes that foreign nationals are not normally allowed within 10 miles of that border: the upper Baltoro is open to trekkers only with the restricted-zone permit we arrange, and the Foreign Office warns that trekking without the correct permits can affect your insurance. Check your own government's advice, and ask your insurer to confirm in writing that your policy covers trekking to 5,200 m in this permit zone, with helicopter evacuation. Check your own government's current advice before you book.
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Day 1
Arrive in Islamabad
Your guide meets you at Islamabad International Airport and drives you about 33 km, roughly 45 minutes, to your hotel. The rest of the day is for sleep and sorting your kit. In the evening the guide goes through the plan for the trek and checks your equipment.
Overnight: Islamabad
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Day 2
Fly to Skardu
The flight from Islamabad to Skardu takes 45 minutes to an hour. It operates only in clear weather and is often delayed or cancelled; if it does not go, we start the two-day road journey over the Babusar Pass instead (see Good to know). Skardu stands at about 2,230 m, so the afternoon is kept easy.
Overnight: Skardu
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Day 3
Skardu, permit formalities and acclimatisation
Your guide completes the trekking permit formalities, including the briefing that the rules require before a restricted-zone trek, while you repack for the porters. In the afternoon there is an easy outing to Kharpocho Fort above the town or to Sadpara Lake. This day is also the reserve if yesterday's flight was cancelled.
Overnight: Skardu
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Day 4
Drive to Askole
A four-wheel-drive takes you through Shigar and up the Braldu valley to Askole, about 105 km and six to seven hours on a rough, narrow track. Rockfall can close this road for hours, so the timing is never certain. Askole, at about 3,040 m, is the last village; you meet the porters here and spend the first night in tents.
Overnight: Askole (camp)
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Day 5
Trek Askole to Jhola
Permits are checked at the national park post before you set off. The first stage is about 18 to 20 km and takes six to seven hours over dry, open ground with little shade, passing the snout of the Biafo Glacier. Camp is at Jhola, at about 3,200 m.
Overnight: Jhola (camp)
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Day 6
Trek Jhola to Paiju
A long day of about 19 to 22 km and seven to eight hours by way of Bardumal, with a first distant sight of the high Baltoro peaks if the sky is clear. Paiju is a green campsite below Paiju Peak and the last one with trees. Published altitudes for it range from about 3,400 to 3,600 m.
Overnight: Paiju (camp)
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Day 7
Rest and acclimatisation day at Paiju
A full rest day before you go onto the ice. It gives your body time to adjust to the altitude, which is the best protection against mountain sickness higher up. A short walk above camp is optional.
Overnight: Paiju (camp)
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Day 8
Trek Paiju to Khoburtse
About an hour beyond Paiju the path climbs onto the Baltoro Glacier, which is 63 km long and covered at this end in rock and rubble. The stage is about 13 km and five hours across the moraine to the camp at Khoburtse. The granite Trango Towers come into view across the glacier.
Overnight: Khoburtse (camp)
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Day 9
Trek Khoburtse to Urdukas
A short stage of about 8 km and four to five hours to Urdukas, at roughly 4,000 m. This is the last camp on grass and it looks straight across the Baltoro to the Trango Towers. The short day is deliberate, to help acclimatisation.
Overnight: Urdukas (camp)
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Day 10
Trek Urdukas to Goro II
From here the whole route is on the glacier. About 12 km and six hours on moraine and ice lead past Goro I to Goro II, a cold camp on the ice at around 4,300 to 4,500 m. Masherbrum (7,821 m) stands above the southern side of the glacier.
Overnight: Goro II (camp)
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Day 11
Trek Goro II to Concordia
About 13 km and six hours bring you to Concordia, at about 4,650 m, where the Baltoro and Godwin-Austen glaciers meet. K2 (8,611 m) comes into view up the Godwin-Austen Glacier, with Broad Peak, the Gasherbrum group and Mitre Peak around the camp. Four of the world's peaks above 8,000 m stand around this junction.
Overnight: Concordia (camp)
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Day 12
Rest day at Concordia
A day to rest, acclimatise and wait for clear weather before the highest point of the trek. It also serves as a spare day if there have been delays lower down.
Overnight: Concordia (camp)
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Day 13
K2 Base Camp and the Gilkey Memorial
The longest day: about 24 km and ten to eleven hours there and back, up the Godwin-Austen Glacier past Broad Peak Base Camp to K2 Base Camp at about 5,100 m. If time and conditions allow you also visit the Gilkey Memorial, where plaques remember climbers who died on K2. The day is optional, and anyone who prefers can turn back at Broad Peak Base Camp, about 7 km and three hours from Concordia.
Overnight: Concordia (camp)
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Day 14
Trek Concordia to Goro I
The return follows the same route. Today is about 18 km and seven to eight hours down the glacier, passing Goro II, to camp at Goro I.
Overnight: Goro I (camp)
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Day 15
Trek Goro I to Khoburtse
About six hours down the glacier past Urdukas, where you step back onto grass for the first time in five days, and on to Khoburtse. The descent is easier on the lungs, but the moraine is just as rough underfoot.
Overnight: Khoburtse (camp)
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Day 16
Trek Khoburtse to Bardumal
Seven to eight hours of walking. You leave the Baltoro Glacier near Paiju and continue down the valley to Bardumal, at about 3,250 m, a camp among willows and poplars beside a stream.
Overnight: Bardumal (camp)
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Day 17
Trek Bardumal to Askole
A last seven to eight hours by way of Jhola to Askole, where the trek ends and you say goodbye to the porters. This is the final night in tents.
Overnight: Askole (camp)
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Day 18
Drive Askole to Skardu
The same six to seven hour four-wheel-drive journey back down the Braldu valley and through Shigar to Skardu, about 105 km. You have a hotel room and a hot shower tonight, and your guide completes the debriefing that the rules require after the trek.
Overnight: Skardu
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Day 19
Fly Skardu to Islamabad
The morning flight returns you to Islamabad in under an hour, weather permitting. If it is cancelled you leave by road instead, down the Indus valley and over the Babusar Pass to Naran, about 365 km and 11 to 12 hours.
Overnight: Islamabad (or Naran if travelling by road)
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Day 20
Reserve day in Islamabad
This day is kept free to absorb a cancelled flight. If you travelled by road, today is the drive from Naran to Islamabad, about 245 km and six to seven hours. If everything ran to plan it is a free day, with an optional half-day tour of the city.
Overnight: Islamabad
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Day 21
Departure
Your driver takes you to Islamabad International Airport, about 45 minutes from the city, for your flight home. Please do not book an earlier departure than this, because the reserve day is what protects your international flight.
The detail
What your quote covers
What is included
- Airport pickup and drop-off in Pakistan
- Private vehicle with an experienced driver for the whole route
- English-speaking guide throughout
- Accommodation on a twin-share basis with breakfast
- Entry tickets, park fees and permits named in the itinerary
- Visa support letter for your Pakistan e-visa
- Restricted-zone trekking permit, with Central Karakoram National Park and waste management fees
- Licensed mountain guide, as the rules require, plus cook and camp staff
- Camping equipment: two-person tents, mattresses, mess tent and kitchen
- All meals on trek, from Askole back to Askole
- Porters or pack animals for group equipment and one personal kit bag each, up to the weight limit we confirm when you book
- Four-wheel-drive transfers between Skardu and Askole
What is not
- International flights
- Pakistan visa fee
- Travel insurance, which every traveller must carry
- Lunches and dinners unless stated
- Domestic flights, quoted separately with your itinerary
- Tips and personal expenses
- Personal trekking gear: boots, sleeping bag rated for nights well below freezing, down jacket and waterproofs
- Rescue and evacuation costs, which your insurance must cover
- Extra hotel nights, meals or transport caused by flight cancellations or road closures beyond the reserve days in the itinerary
Good to know before you book
How do I get to the start of the trek and back?
You fly from Islamabad to Skardu, 45 minutes to an hour, then travel by four-wheel-drive to Askole, about 105 km and six to seven hours. Several airlines fly the Skardu route in summer, but every flight depends on clear weather. The return is the same in reverse. We do not use the Karakoram Highway between Mansehra and Chilas in either direction.
How fit do I need to be, and how is the altitude handled?
You need to be able to walk six to eight hours a day for almost two weeks on loose rock and ice, carrying a day pack. No climbing skill is needed on the standard route. You sleep above 4,000 m for about a week, so the plan gains height slowly, with rest days at Paiju and Concordia; if someone shows signs of mountain sickness the guide will hold them back or send them down with staff, and that decision is final. Camp altitudes in this itinerary are approximate, because published figures differ by 100 to 200 m.
What are the accommodation and food like?
In Islamabad and Skardu you stay in comfortable hotels, the best available in Skardu. From Askole onwards there are no buildings: you sleep in two-person tents for 14 nights, several of them on the glacier, where nights are below freezing even in July. A cook prepares all meals on trek and drinking water is boiled or filtered. Tell us about any dietary needs when you book, because all food is carried in from Skardu.
What permits do I need, and is a guide compulsory?
Yes. The Baltoro is in a restricted zone, and the Gilgit-Baltistan tourism department requires a trekking permit, a licensed guide and licensed porters there; a briefing before the trek and a debriefing after it are also mandatory. The application goes in through a licensed tour operator with your passport copy, visa application, route map and insurance, and security clearance usually takes 30 to 45 days, so please confirm your booking at least ten to twelve weeks ahead. You must apply for your Pakistan visa online before you travel, here in the mountaineering and trekking category, with a passport valid for at least six months; we send the invitation letter and supporting documents. Permit fees for foreigners were raised and then challenged in court in 2025, and the trekking rules have been under government review since September 2026, so we confirm the current fees and procedure in your quote.
What happens if the Skardu flight is cancelled or a road is closed?
Days 3 and 20 are reserve days for exactly this. If the flight does not operate we drive: Islamabad to Naran on the first day, about 245 km and six to seven hours, then over the Babusar Pass (4,173 m) and up the Indus to Skardu, about 365 km and 11 to 12 hours. We stop in Naran rather than in Chilas town, which lies at the end of the stretch of highway the UK government advises against. The Babusar road is usually open from late May or June until October or November and can be shut by floods in the monsoon, as it was in early August 2026; if both the flight and the pass are closed we wait rather than use the highway through Besham and Dasu.
Can we return over the Gondogoro La instead of walking back down the Baltoro?
Only for parties with previous experience on crampons and fixed ropes, and only if the pass is open and the guide judges it safe when you reach Concordia. The Gondogoro La is about 5,585 m, with snow slopes of up to 50 degrees, fixed ropes on both sides and a start in the night; avalanche and rockfall danger rises as the snow melts through August. The route goes from Concordia to Ali Camp, over the pass to Khuspang and down to Hushe, about 130 km by road from Skardu. It must be requested when you book, because the route goes on the permit application; otherwise everyone returns the way they came.
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