Private trips from Lahore, Islamabad or any city, on request
Our Kalash Valley tour packages are private road trips from Lahore, though we can just as well start you from Islamabad or any other city. The usual plan is 7 days and 6 nights: up the Swat Motorway to Dir, through the Lowari Tunnel to Chitral, and three nights in the valleys of Bumburet, Rumbur and Birir. Many guests time the trip for the Chilam Joshi festival in May. The Kalash valleys are in Lower Chitral District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, close to the Afghan border, and not in Gilgit-Baltistan.
We do not sell one fixed Kalash package at a set price, because the cost turns on the car, the number of nights and the festival calendar. Message us your dates, how many of you there are and where you start, on WhatsApp or through the contact page, and we will reply with a day plan and a quote.
The road to Chitral passes the edge of Swat, so many guests add a night or two in Kalam on the way home. Our Swat tour packages cover Kalam, Ushu Forest and Mahodand Lake.
All three valleys are reached from Ayun on the Chitral River, on narrow roads that are partly unpaved and close for hours after a landslide. Most visitors stay in Bumburet and visit the other two as day trips.
Bumburet, called Mumuret by the Kalash, is the largest and most developed of the three, with most of the hotels and guesthouses. Krakal and Brun are the villages most visitors walk through. It is the easiest valley for families and the busiest during Chilam Joshi.
Rumbur, or Rukmu, is the valley to the north of Bumburet. It is smaller and more traditional, with the villages of Balanguru and Grom and far fewer hotels. Go with a local guide, keep your voice down in the villages, and ask before you walk into a courtyard.
Birir, or Biriu, lies furthest south and gets the fewest visitors. It is the main valley for Pul, the autumn festival of the walnut and grape harvest. The road is rough, so we usually visit it on the way out to Chitral town.
Chitral town is the district centre, about an hour or two from Bumburet. The old Chitral Fort and the Shahi Mosque stand side by side on the river. Garam Chashma, with its hot springs, is further north up its own valley and makes a good extra day.
On a Kalash trip the car and driver stay with you from the first morning to the last, and you choose the dates. The car takes you as far as Chitral and Ayun. For the last stretch into the valleys we switch to a local jeep where the road needs it, and we plan the drive so you cross the Lowari Tunnel in its open hours and are off the mountain roads before dark.
A couple or a family of four travels in one car, and bigger groups get a bigger vehicle. We book rooms once your dates are fixed and tell you where you are staying before you leave Lahore. Where we can, we put guests in guesthouses run by Kalash families, so the money stays in the valley.
Most of our Kalash trips follow this outline. Days get moved around for festival dates and the Lowari Tunnel timings.
| Day | Route and stops | Night |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A long first day: the M-2 and M-1, then the Swat Motorway to Chakdara, Timergara and Dir | Dir |
| 2 | Lowari Tunnel, Drosh and Chitral town, then Ayun and the jeep road into Bumburet | Bumburet |
| 3 | Bumburet: Krakal and Brun villages, the river walk, a village graveyard seen from outside | Bumburet |
| 4 | Day trip to Rumbur for Balanguru and Grom, the quieter side of Kalash life | Bumburet |
| 5 | Birir in the morning, then Chitral town for the fort and the Shahi Mosque | Chitral |
| 6 | Back through the Lowari Tunnel and down to Swat | Swat |
| 7 | Swat Motorway to Islamabad and Lahore, arriving in the evening | Home |
From Islamabad a Kalash trip can be done in 5 days, with two nights in the valleys. With Kalam added on the way back, plan 9 days from Lahore. Festival trips need an extra night, because rooms in Bumburet fill up and the main festival days are worth seeing in full. For Garam Chashma, the hot springs north of Chitral town, add a day.
The valleys sit at about 1,800 to 2,000 m, which keeps summer days mild while Lahore bakes. The three valleys open off the Chitral River south of Chitral town.
The Kalash year turns on four festivals, roughly one for each season. The days move by a day or two from year to year and from one valley to the next, so treat these as the usual dates, not fixed ones.
| Festival | Usual dates | What it marks |
|---|---|---|
| Chilam Joshi | Around 13 to 16 May | Spring, with dancing in all three valleys |
| Uchal (Uchau) | Around 20 to 22 August | The summer harvest |
| Pul (Phool) | September, near the full moon | The walnut and grape harvest, mainly in Birir |
| Chaumos (Choimus) | About 7 to 22 December | Winter solstice, the most important festival |
Chilam Joshi welcomes spring in mid May, when the valleys are green and the fruit trees are in blossom. Women in their best embroidered dresses and headdresses dance at the dancing grounds to songs and drums. It is the festival most Pakistani and foreign visitors come for, so book rooms early and expect crowds in Bumburet.
Uchal in late August is smaller and quieter, a good time for a trip with fewer people. Chaumos in December is the longest and most important festival, but it is cold, and some of its rituals are closed to outsiders. If you visit at Chaumos, follow your guide on where you may stand and what you may watch.
The Kalash are a small community: the 2023 census counted about 7,500 Kalasha speakers. They speak Kalasha, an Indo-Aryan language close to Khowar, and follow their own old religion with many gods, sacred sites and seasonal rites. Women wear long black dresses with bright embroidery and a beaded headdress, the kupas or shushut. Each village has a bashali, the house where women stay during menstruation and childbirth, and a jastakhan, the temple of the clan. Graveyards hold carved wooden coffins.
The valleys are their home, not a show put on for tourists, and the people you photograph are farmers going about their day. Please do not call the Kalash "pagan" or "kafir"; both words give offence.
Most of our Kalash trips run between May and October. December is cold and it can snow, but the tunnel road stays open, and Chaumos draws a small number of visitors who do not mind the cold.
| Months | Weather | Why go |
|---|---|---|
| April | Cool, blossom starting | Quiet valleys before the season |
| May | Mild, green, blossom | Chilam Joshi, the busiest time of year |
| June to September | Warm days, cool nights | Fruit, river walks, Uchal in August, Pul in September |
| Mid October to early November | Crisp, clear | Autumn colour, few visitors |
| December | Cold, snow possible | Chaumos, for those who do not mind the cold |
| January to March | Cold, snow in the valleys | We do not usually plan trips |
Lahore to Chitral is about 730 km, 13 to 15 hours of driving, so we split it with a night in Dir, Swat or Islamabad. From Islamabad it is about 400 km, 8 to 10 hours. The route goes up the M-2 and M-1, then the Swat Motorway to Chakdara, through Timergara and Dir, under the Lowari Pass by tunnel, and on through Drosh to Chitral town. The turn for the valleys is at Ayun, south of Chitral, and the last 28 to 40 km to Bumburet take 1 to 2 hours by jeep.
The Lowari Tunnel opened in July 2017 and replaced the old Lowari Pass road, which closed every winter. The main bore is about 8.5 km long. It does not run around the clock: traffic is let through at set hours, and the schedule has changed over the years, so we check the current timings before your trip and plan the day around them.
PIA flies from Islamabad to Chitral in about 40 to 50 minutes, but the flights are irregular and need clear weather. Some guests fly up and drive back. If you do, leave a day in hand for a cancelled flight; the car comes up separately and meets you in Chitral.
Pakistani citizens need no permit for the Kalash valleys. Carry your CNIC, and a B-form for children, for the police checkpoints on the way. An entry fee is collected at the Dobaz checkpost on the way in, for a Kalasha welfare fund run by the Chitral district. It has been reported at about PKR 20 for Pakistanis and PKR 200 for foreigners, though some foreign visitors were charged PKR 600, so keep some cash ready.
Foreigners must register with the police in Chitral on arrival, and the rule is enforced. In July 2025 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tourism started an online NOC system for foreign tourists visiting Chitral, Upper Dir, Swat and other northern areas, and registered tour operators can apply for their guests. Police escort practice has changed over the years. Rules for foreigners change often, so we check with the Chitral police and KP Tourism shortly before each trip.
Bumburet has most of the rooms, from simple guesthouses to small hotels; Rumbur and Birir have only a few simple guesthouses. Carry cash from Chitral town, as shops and guesthouses in the valleys work in cash. The main risk on this trip is the road: the jeep track into the valleys is narrow and landslides can close it for hours, so we drive in daylight and keep a spare hour in every plan.
Message us on WhatsApp with your dates and group size. Once you are happy with the plan and the quote, a 30% advance books the car and the rooms, and you pay the balance when you set off.
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Ambreen TanveerVerified travellerThere is no single price. A couple in one car pays more each than a family of five sharing it, a start from Islamabad costs less than one from Lahore, and festival dates cost more because rooms in Bumburet fill up. WhatsApp us your dates for a day plan and a quote.
Two days by road from Lahore: the motorways to Chakdara, then Dir, the Lowari Tunnel and Chitral, and a jeep road from Ayun into the valleys. Lahore to Chitral is about 730 km. From Islamabad it is about 400 km, which a fit driver does in one long day of 8 to 10 hours.
Seven days and six nights from Lahore gives three nights in the valleys, which is enough for Bumburet, Rumbur and Birir. From Islamabad, 5 days is the shortest sensible trip. Add a night for a festival and two for Kalam on the way back.
Bumburet is the largest, with the most hotels, and suits families and first visits. Rumbur is smaller and more traditional, with fewer visitors. Birir is the least visited and the main valley for the Pul festival. Most guests stay in Bumburet and visit the other two as day trips.
Chilam Joshi usually falls around 13 to 16 May each year. The exact days shift a little each year and between valleys, so we check with people in Bumburet before we fix your dates. Uchal is usually around 20 to 22 August and Chaumos runs through much of December.
Pakistanis need only their CNIC. Foreigners must register with the police in Chitral on arrival, and since July 2025 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tourism runs an online NOC system for foreign tourists in Chitral and other northern areas, which tour operators can apply for. These rules change, so we check them again for every booking.
Pakistani families visit Bumburet every summer, and the festivals draw large crowds. The main risk is the road: the jeep track into the valleys is narrow and landslides can close it. We drive in daylight, plan around the Lowari Tunnel hours, and foreigners register with the police as the rules require.
No. The Lowari Tunnel lets traffic through at set hours, and the schedule has changed several times since it opened in 2017. We check the current timings before your trip and plan the drive so you reach the tunnel while it is open.
Ask first, every time, and accept a no, above all with women and girls. Never photograph or enter the bashali, the women's house, and keep clear of shrines and graves. At festivals, stay at the edge of the dancing ground unless someone invites you in.
Yes, from Islamabad, about 40 to 50 minutes with PIA. The flights do not run every day and are often cancelled when cloud sits on the mountains, so fly one way at most and drive the other.
Tell us your dates, group size and budget and our Lahore travel desk will tailor a package for you. Call +92 311 1696777 or send an enquiry.