Things to do in Hunza
The forts, the viewpoint, the glacier day and the bridge with the gaps in it. What each one really costs you in time and effort.
Our best afternoon in Hunza was spent on a guesthouse roof in Karimabad, watching the light come off Rakaposhi, doing nothing whatsoever. Bear that in mind before you start filling in a schedule. There is still a handful of things worth getting up for, and the useful way to sort them is by what they demand of you: a vehicle, a pair of legs, or an entire day.
Baltit and Altit forts
Baltit is the one you've already seen. It stands over Karimabad on its rock and it turns up on every poster of the valley ever printed. Altit is lower down, older, and the one we send people to. The restored settlement wrapped around it is still lived in, and the lanes between the houses are worth as much as the fort itself.
Both are walkable from Karimabad, so you don't need to arrange anything. If you only do one, do Altit.
Eagle's Nest at Duikar
A short drive above Karimabad, steep enough that you'll be glad someone else is at the wheel. This is the sunrise spot, and it's the sunset spot, and it's crowded at both. Go once. Go at sunrise, take a jacket you think you won't need, and accept that you'll be sharing the railing.
Passu Cones, the glacier and the Hussaini bridge
Up the valley in Gojal. The cones are that serrated skyline you'll have photographed from the car before you knew what it was called; the glacier walk and the Hussaini suspension bridge are the things you actually get out and do. The bridge is planks and cable with daylight showing between the boards, and the daylight is the whole point of it. Plenty of people walk out a little way, take the photograph and come straight back. Nobody minds.
Set aside the whole day for this if you're starting from Karimabad. It's also the day that makes paying for a vehicle worth it. The trip cost page covers what hiring a jeep for a day actually involves.
Up to Khunjerab
The Karakoram Highway keeps going north to the Chinese border at Khunjerab, the highest paved border crossing in the world. Getting to the pass and getting to the border are separate questions on separate calendars, and people conflate the two and get turned back. Passes and roads sorts out both.
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