Skardu Biafo Glacier and Snow Lake Trek
Trek the Biafo Glacier to Snow Lake — the 67-kilometer glacier that is the longest glacier outside the polar regions and its source at Snow Lake, a 40 square kilometer snowfield at 5,000 meters where the Biafo, Sim Gang, and Hispar glaciers meet in a high-altitude wilderness of ice and rock visited by fewer people than the moon.
Skardu Baltistani Culture and Mountain Polo
Discover Baltistan's unique culture — the Shia Muslim community of Tibetan origin whose Balti language preserves ancient Tibetan vocabulary, whose polo tradition is the original mountain game played without goals and referees, whose cuisine of buckwheat bread and dried apricot soup reflects the high-altitude environment, and whose music and dance connect to the Tibetan cultural world.
Skardu Shangrila Upper Kachura Lake Resort
Visit the Shangrila Resort at Upper Kachura Lake — the mountain lake resort established in the 1980s that became Pakistan's most famous domestic tourist destination, where a restored aircraft fuselage serves as a restaurant on the lakeshore, the blue lake surrounded by rose gardens and poplar trees, and the Karakoram peaks reflected in the still water.
Skardu Baltoro Glacier and Concordia Trek
Trek the Baltoro Glacier to Concordia — the 16-day round trip through the Karakoram wilderness considered one of the world's great trekking experiences, passing the granite towers of Trango and Cathedral, camping on the glacier ice, and reaching the Concordia amphitheater where K2, Broad Peak, and four Gasherbrum peaks rise above the greatest concentration of high mountains on earth.
Skardu Shigar Valley Fort and Heritage Village
Drive to Shigar Valley — the side valley north of Skardu where the restored 17th-century Shigar Fort has become Pakistan's finest heritage hotel, the Baltistani village with its carved wooden mosque and traditional architecture preserved through the Aga Khan Trust for Culture's restoration work, and the apricot orchards and poplar trees of a mountain valley at its most beautiful.