More variety inside one border than most continents manage, and almost nobody there to see it.
Pakistan holds more variety inside one border than most continents manage, and almost nobody is there to see it.
In a single trip you can stand below an eight-thousander in the morning and eat in a Mughal courtyard that evening. The country carries seven thousand years of history, three of the world's great mountain ranges, and a tradition of hospitality that surprises almost every visitor. Tourism is growing quickly, but the valleys are still quiet in a way the Alps or Nepal stopped being decades ago.
The valley most travellers fall for. Apricot orchards below thousand-year-old forts, Attabad Lake's impossible blue, and the Passu Cones rising straight off the Karakoram Highway. Hunza is also among the most relaxed and welcoming parts of the country, with a long tradition of education and a literacy rate well above the national average.
The gateway to the great peaks. Skardu sits where rivers, cold desert and granite meet, and it is the road to Concordia, where K2 and three other eight-thousanders stand within sight of one another. Shigar and Khaplu hold two of the finest restored forts in the region.
Pakistan's cultural capital. The walled city, the Badshahi Mosque, Lahore Fort and the Shalimar Gardens sit within a few kilometres of each other, and the food is reason enough to come. Nearby Taxila preserves the Gandhara civilisation, where Greek and Buddhist worlds met.
A meadow of alpine grass and pine at the foot of the ninth highest mountain on earth. Nanga Parbat's Rakhiot face rises more than four vertical kilometres above the viewpoint, one of the largest mountain walls anywhere.
March to May
Cherry and apricot blossom across the northern valleys. Mild in the cities, cool in the mountains. One of the most beautiful windows of the year.
June to August
The high passes and treks open up. Cities are very hot, often above 40C, so this is the season to be north.
September to November
Our favourite. The valleys turn gold and red, skies are clear, and the trekking is at its best before the cold arrives.
December to February
Snow closes the high routes, but Hunza in winter is quiet and striking, and the cities are at their most comfortable.
Lahori street food, Peshawari karahi, Hunza apricots and walnut bread, trout from mountain rivers. Regional cooking changes completely as you move north, and almost none of it resembles what is served as Pakistani food abroad.
The guest is honoured. Expect to be invited in for chai by people who have no interest in selling you anything. It is the single thing travellers mention most when they come back.
The Indus Valley cities were contemporaries of ancient Egypt. Gandhara was where Greek and Buddhist art met. The Mughals left Lahore some of the finest architecture in South Asia. Most of it you will see without a crowd.
Pakistan receives a fraction of the visitors of comparable destinations. Trails that would be queued elsewhere are often yours alone, and that will not last forever.
Tell us what interests you and we will build a trip around it.