Islamabad to Gilgit Travel Guide: Flights, Buses, and Safety

The north of Pakistan is where many of the country's most epic landscapes are, and if you are planning a trip to Northern Pakistan, you are likely to pass through Gilgit, the administrative capital of Gilgit-Baltistan, and begin your journey from there. In this article, I will show you how to travel independently from Islamabad to Gilgit by air or road, while keeping my own experience on the route for context.

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By Plane

Flying is the quickest way to travel from Islamabad to Gilgit, with the flight taking roughly one hour. Mountain weather can still disrupt flights, however, so I would avoid building a tight international connection around a Gilgit flight.

When I traveled in Pakistan, I had a flight from Skardu to Islamabad canceled on me and had to scramble my way back to Islamabad by road, which took me 32 hours. I still missed my flight out of the country. That was my experience rather than a normal journey time, but it is a good reason to leave some buffer before an important onward flight when traveling in the mountains.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) operates the Islamabad-Gilgit route, but the number of flights and fares vary by date, season, and operating conditions. Be sure to check PIA's current timetable and fare for your travel date. You can also compare flights through Expedia or Skyscanner.

If the flight is canceled, another way you can travel from Islamabad to Gilgit is by bus.

By Bus

NATCO (Northern Areas Transport Corporation) is the government-owned transport company serving Gilgit-Baltistan and remains one of the main public-transport options between the Islamabad/Rawalpindi area and Gilgit. Other private operators also serve northern Pakistan, but NATCO is a practical option for independent travelers.

When I was there, the bus costed 2,500 PKR and ran at 5 PM, 7 PM, and 9 PM daily, but that has since changed. NATCO now publishes current routes, schedules, fares, and booking information through its official website, so check your travel date before going to the terminal. The Gilgit-Baltistan Tourism Department currently estimates the Islamabad-Gilgit road journey at roughly 10-12 hours under normal conditions, although buses can take longer because of stops, traffic, roadworks, landslides, or weather.

I would still book ahead when possible, especially during busy travel periods. NATCO now supports mobile booking, so you no longer have to rely only on buying a ticket at the terminal. NATCO currently lists terminals in both Islamabad and Rawalpindi, so confirm the departure point shown on your booking.

Once you've got the ticket, be at the terminal 30 minutes before and wait in the room next to the ticket kiosks. The driver will call you when the bus arrives.

Before taking the bus, carry your passport and any documents required for your trip. Checkpoint procedures for foreign travelers can change, so confirm the current requirements with NATCO when you book rather than relying entirely on what was required during my trip.

Schedules, fares, road conditions, and documentation requirements can change, so before your trip, check the NATCO official website or app for the latest transport information. During periods of heavy rain or snow, also check current road advisories before leaving Islamabad.

Things to Prepare Before Your Trip

• Carry your original passport and a few photocopies. When I traveled this route, I brought 10 copies and the bus staff used 7 of them at checkpoints, while I also had to leave the bus once to register and have my photo taken. Treat that as my historical experience rather than a fixed current requirement: checkpoint procedures change, so ask NATCO how many copies, if any, they currently recommend for foreign passengers.
• The buses stop for meals and toilets, but bring snacks and water in case the journey is delayed. Landslides, flash floods, roadworks, accidents, and weather can temporarily close or slow the Karakoram Highway, so allow extra time and check road conditions before departure.
• Prepare a good noise-canceling earbud and an eye mask if you want a good night's sleep. They tend to stop a lot, either for toilets or police checkpoints, and they will not hesitate to turn the lights on in your face.

Safety Concerns

On my trip, the overnight bus felt safe and the seating arrangement generally avoided placing unrelated men and women together. I would not rely on that as a guaranteed current policy, though, especially if you are traveling solo. If seating matters to you, confirm the arrangement with NATCO when booking and choose your seat in advance when the option is available.

The presence of all these police checkpoints may seem a little excessive, but they are there to protect us. So, if there are any incidents, you can always report them to the police at one of these checkpoints.

Security and checkpoint procedures along the Karakoram Highway can change. During my trip, I personally encountered a nighttime restriction near Chilas, which is what happened in the story below. I would not assume that the same rule is automatically enforced today; follow current instructions from NATCO, police, and local authorities.

From my personal experience, I was traveling in the opposite direction with a shared taxi, and since I was the only non-Pakistani in the car, we were stopped at a checkpoint after Jaglot. It was around 11 PM, and they told us that we had to turn back and wait until sunrise because we had a foreigner in the car.

The checkpoint officers would not allow our vehicle to continue through Chilas at night because I was a foreign passenger. We tried to persuade them for half an hour, but they would not budge, so we slept in Jaglot until 5 AM before they let us continue. This describes what happened to me on that trip, not a permanent rule for foreign travelers today.

I missed my flight because of that restriction, but at least I made a few new friends coming out of it. Whatever the current checkpoint rules are when you travel, the best thing to do is follow the instructions from local authorities and leave enough buffer in your itinerary for unexpected delays.

Further Reading for Pakistan

I hope this guide will help you plan your trip to Pakistan. I have written a ton of more articles about Pakistan, and here's a selection of them to further assist you in planning your trip to Pakistan.

• Looking for a complete itinerary and travel guide for Pakistan? One Month Travel Itinerary for Pakistan.
• If you do not have one month to spare, you can spend 2 weeks traveling the Karakoram Highway from Islamabad to Sost. Here's a complete travel guide and a 2-week itinerary for traveling the Karakoram Highway.
• Lahore is a beautiful city full of stunning Mughal and British architectures that have stood the test of time. If you are looking for things to do in Lahore, here’s 7 amazing things to do in Lahore.
• Islamabad is the new capital city of Pakistan, built with a modern mindset in mind, and it shows. Here’s 6 best things to do in Islamabad.
• Fairy Meadows and Nanga Parbat, the 8th highest mountain in the world, are probably the most accessible 8000+ mountains out there. Here's a complete hiking guide to Fairy Meadows and Nanga Parbat Base Camp.
• Another great hike you can do is the Rakaposhi Base Camp hike that will take you up atop the Nagar Valley with an unbeatable view of the Minapin Glacier. Here's a complete hiking guide to Rakaposhi Base Camp in one day.
• The Hunza Valley is one of the most beautiful valleys in Pakistan. The capital city of the Hunza Valley is Karimabad, which is a perfect base for you to explore the Valley. Here's 5 awesome things to do in Karimabad, Hunza Valley.
• You can also watch my travel videos about South Asia here: Sri Lanka travel video, Nepal travel video, and Pakistan travel video.
• Want to know where to go after Pakistan? How about exploring the Golden Triangle in India, doing some trekking in Nepal, or going off-the-beaten-path to explore Sri Lanka by train?
• For all articles about Pakistan, visit Pakistan Travel Guide page.
• Looking for more travel guides for South Asia? You can find more on my South Asia Travel Guide page.
• For more of my travel guides, visit my Destinations page.