Route guide · updated for 2026
Rawalpindi → Hunza
Every Hunza story that starts 'we took the NATCO from Pirwadhai' belongs to a forty-year tradition; the buses are newer now, the awe unchanged.
Distance
610 km
Drive time
13–15 h · or fly ISB–Gilgit + 2.5 h
Via
Hazara Motorway → Besham → Chilas → Gilgit → KKH
By bus
Operators
NATCO & Faisal Movers to Aliabad/Karimabad
Duration
16–18 h
Indicative fare
PKR 6,000–9,000
The road, honestly
Pindi's NATCO terminal is the KKH's spiritual southern end — coaches have run this corridor since the highway opened in 1979. Night departures take the motorway dark and give you Kohistan's gorges at first light.
Stops worth the minutes
BeshamDasuRaikot bridgeGilgitRakaposhi viewpoint
FAQ
Questions, answered
What is the Rawalpindi to Hunza bus fare?
PKR 6,000–9,000 by operator and class, 16–18 hours to Aliabad. The ISB–Gilgit flight plus a valley taxi halves the time for triple the fare — both are correct answers to different budgets.
Skip the logistics. Keep the scenery.
Private convoys on this corridor with photo-stop discipline, or the full journey folded into a SafarGB itinerary at Hunza.
More ways to Hunza: from Islamabad · from Lahore · from Karachi · from Skardu · from Gilgit · from Peshawar · Hunza guide