Gilgit-Baltistan · 1,500 m
The junction town everyone passes through and nobody stops in.
The place
Gilgit is where the Karakoram, Himalaya and Hindu Kush meet, and where every road in the north eventually goes. It is a working town rather than a destination — but it is the logistics centre for all of it.
The airport, the permit offices, the gear shops and the porters' union are all here. There is a 7th-century Buddha carved into a rock face at Kargah, ten minutes out of town, and a suspension bridge over the Gilgit River that has been photographed more than it deserves.
What people do here
01
A 7th-century relief cut high into the cliff, about 10 km west of town.
02
Dried apricots, Chitrali caps, Chinese thermoses, and every trekking permit in the region.
Journeys
Ghizer · Gilgit-Baltistan
Six days west from Gilgit along the quietest river in the north — Gahkuch, Khalti, Phander, and the Shandur pass if the road allows.
$560 per person
Next 6 Sep · 4 places left
Before you go