Hotels in Skardu

Skardu sits at about 2,230 metres in a wide sandy basin where the Shigar river meets the Indus, which gives it a look unlike anywhere else in Pakistan: cold desert dunes on one side, 7,000-metre peaks on the other. Hotels concentrate along the Skardu bazaar and the road out toward Satpara, with the resort properties at Shangrila and Upper Kachura on the lakes. Shigar and Khaplu, an hour and two hours out, have restored fort hotels and are worth a night each.

Rooms run Rs 6,000 to Rs 13,000 for a mid-range double in town and Rs 18,000 to Rs 32,000 at the lake resorts and restored fort properties. Rates climb thirty to forty percent in July and August. Jeep hire is the real budget line: Deosai as a day trip costs Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000 per vehicle, and Askole for K2 base camp treks considerably more. Fuel is available in Skardu but not reliably beyond it, so fill up before any long day.

Flights from Islamabad take about an hour and are the fastest route, but weather cancels them regularly and backlogs can take days to clear. The rebuilt Gilgit to Skardu road covers the distance in around six hours and is now a comfortable drive rather than the ordeal it once was. From Islamabad by road, allow twenty hours or two days via Besham, or use the Naran and Babusar route from late June to October. Do not book an international connection tightly around a Skardu flight.

The season runs April to October. Blossom in the Shigar and Khaplu valleys arrives in April, the Deosai plateau at 4,100 metres opens when the snow clears, usually late May or June, and closes again around October. July and August are the trekking months and the busiest. Late September and October bring autumn colour and the clearest light. Winter is severe, most lake properties close, and the town runs on a much reduced footing.