Complete Attabad Lake Travel Guide

Featured AttractionHunza Travel Guide

✍ Written by: Hunza-Tours.com Editorial Team ✔ Reviewed by: Sultan Ali, Head Guide (Hunza) 📅 Last updated: July 2026 ⛰ Field experience: Local ground team, resident in Gilgit-Baltistan

In short: Attabad Lake is famous for its turquoise water, mountain backdrop, boating activities, lakeside hotels and scenic road tunnels — and it appears in almost every Hunza tour package for good reason. This guide covers how the lake formed, what to do, where to stay and how to plan your visit.

How Attabad Lake Formed

The lake was born in January 2010, when a massive landslide at Attabad village dammed the Hunza River. Water rose for months, submerging villages and 19 km of the old Karakoram Highway. Today the 7 km Attabad tunnels carry the KKH past the lake, and the disaster site has become one of Pakistan’s most photographed destinations — a startling band of turquoise between bare rock walls.

Things to Do

Boating is the classic experience — traditional wooden boats and faster speedboats both operate from the main jetty. Jet ski rides, lakeside cafés and short shoreline walks fill an easy half day. Photographers should come in morning light when the water is stillest; the blue is most intense from late spring through autumn.

Where to Stay

Lakeside resorts at Attabad offer some of the most scenic rooms in Gilgit-Baltistan, from luxury glamping pods to full-service hotels with terrace views over the water. Many travellers stay one night at the lake and the rest in Karimabad, 40 minutes away.

How to Include It in a Tour

Attabad sits on the main KKH route to upper Hunza, so it pairs naturally with Gulmit, Passu Cones, Hussaini Bridge and Khunjerab Pass. Every Hunza-Tours.com package from 3 days upward includes the lake; the 6- and 7-day tours give it the most time.