Gilgit to Hunza Valley and Baltit Fort
Drive up the Karakoram Highway from Gilgit to the Hunza Valley — the most beautiful mountain valley in Pakistan where apricot orchards, ancient forts, and the Rakaposhi and Ultar Sar peaks create a landscape of extraordinary visual richness, with the medieval Baltit Fort above Karimabad village as the cultural centerpiece.
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KKH Drive to Hunza
Drive the Karakoram Highway from Gilgit north through the Hunza gorge — the road cut into the canyon walls above the roaring Hunza river, the gorge narrowing until the blue sky is a strip above and the river far below, the drama of the approach setting up the revelation of the Hunza Valley beyond.
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Rakaposhi Viewpoint
The famous roadside viewpoint where Rakaposhi (7,788m) appears in its entirety above the valley — the mountain's long ridgeline and perfect pyramid summit rising 6,000 meters above the viewpoint, the most accessible view of a major Karakoram peak from any road in Pakistan.
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Baltit Fort Karimabad
The 700-year-old Baltit Fort above Karimabad — the seat of the Mir of Hunza, perched on a cliff above the valley with views of Ultar Sar glacier behind and the green Hunza Valley below, the fort restored by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and open to visitors showing the traditional architecture of the mountain kingdom.
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Karimabad Village Apricot Orchards
Walk through the apricot orchards of Karimabad — the terraced gardens where the Hunza apricot dries in the summer sun on flat rooftops, the dried apricots being both Hunza's most important food staple and export product, the orchards in blossom in April creating a celebrated natural spectacle.
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Eagle's Nest Viewpoint
The Eagle's Nest viewpoint above Duikar village — reached by jeep track above Karimabad, the 360-degree panorama here encompasses Rakaposhi, Ultar Sar, Diran Peak, and the Hunza Valley below, arguably the finest high mountain panorama accessible by vehicle in the Karakoram.
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Altit Fort Ancient History
The even older Altit Fort below Karimabad — predating Baltit by 300 years and occupied continuously for 900 years, the fort overhanging a cliff above the Hunza river, its history reaching back to the pre-Islamic period of the Hunza kingdom and the earliest written records of this mountain territory.