Karakoram Highway Motorcycle Expedition
Twelve nights riding from Islamabad to the Chinese border and back
Thirteen hundred kilometres of the Karakoram Highway on a bike, with a support vehicle carrying luggage and spares and a lead rider who has done the route in every condition it produces. Up via Babusar Pass when it is open, to Khunjerab at 4,693 metres, and back down the Indus gorge.
- The full KKH from Islamabad to Khunjerab Pass
- Babusar Pass at 4,173 metres, in season
- A support vehicle with spares, tools and your luggage
- Three nights in Hunza to break the riding
- A lead rider and a mechanic on the road with you
About 54 hours on the road across 12 nights. Northern Pakistan is big and the roads are mountain roads. We show the driving day by day below rather than burying it, because the commonest complaint in this business is a transfer nobody was warned about.
Elevation across the trip
Altitude is the thing that most often spoils a trip up here. This is the profile we actually follow, with the acclimatisation nights built in.
Day by day
Met at the airport. Bike handover, fitting and a full briefing.
What’s included
- All accommodation on a twin-share basis, in the tier shown
- Private vehicle with an experienced driver for the whole trip
- 4x4 jeeps where the road requires one
- An English-speaking guide throughout
- All meals — breakfast, lunch and dinner
- All entry tickets and site fees
- Airport transfers on arrival and departure
- Bottled water in the vehicle
- Restricted-zone permits and NOC paperwork where needed
- Visa invitation letter and hotel confirmations for your e-visa application
What’s not
- International flights
- Pakistan e-visa fee (typically USD 35–60, higher for some nationalities)
- Travel insurance — mandatory, and it must cover the altitudes on your itinerary
- Domestic flights unless listed in the itinerary
- Tips for your guide and driver (guidance provided, never expected)
- Personal expenses, laundry and telephone
- Anything not listed under what is included
Fitness and difficulty
You need a full motorcycle licence and real experience on unsealed and broken surfaces. Days are six to eight hours in the saddle at altitude, and sections of the KKH have no barrier and a long drop. This is not a first tour.
Not quite right?
Add a few days in Skardu, drop the long transfer, travel a month earlier, upgrade where it matters and save where it does not. Start from this itinerary and change whatever you like — customisation is free, and you pay only for the trip you confirm.
Build my version of this tripKarakoram Highway Motorcycle Expedition
from $2,180 pp