Hunza Spring Blossom Week

The experience

Hunza Spring Blossom Week

For ten days each April the Hunza valley turns white and pink with apricot blossom.

History & background

Navroz, the Persian new year, has been observed in Hunza for centuries, brought along Silk Route trade and pilgrimage networks that connected the valley to Central Asia and Iran long before modern borders existed. The timing lines up almost exactly with the apricot blossom, Hunza's defining crop and a livelihood the valley has depended on for generations, so the new year celebration and the agricultural calendar have become inseparable here. Families gather in orchard terraces below Rakaposhi and Ultar Sar for shared meals, music and the blessing of the coming harvest, a custom that predates the region's 20th-century opening to outside travellers by hundreds of years. Because the blossom window is short and weather-dependent, exact dates shift slightly year to year, which is part of what makes catching it well worth the trip.

Day by day

The programme

1. D1Islamabad to Chilas

   KKH along the Indus.

2. D2Chilas to Karimabad

   Blossom terraces en route.

3. D3Navroz & Orchards

   New Year celebrations, Eagle's Nest sunset.

4. D4Attabad & Passu

   Boat on the lake, Passu Cones in bloom.

5. D5Altit & Crafts

   Royal garden, walnut wood carving.

6. D6Fly Out

   Gilgit to Islamabad over the Karakoram.