5-Day Karakoram Highway China Side Tour from Kashgar

The Karakoram Highway is the highest paved international road on Earth, and the China side delivers the postcard. The G314 climbs south out of Kashgar across the Pamir, past the milky-turquoise Karakul Lake with the 7,546 m peak of Muztagh Ata reflected in it, then up to the Tajik autonomous county of Tashkurgan and on toward the Pakistan border at the Khunjerab pass area. This is one of the great drives of Asia — empty road, snow peaks, yak herders, Kyrgyz and Tajik villages — and almost no Western travellers see it.

This is a private 5-day tour from Kashgar with a licensed English-speaking guide and a driver who has run the G314 for years. The Pamir corridor south of Kashgar is a restricted border zone — foreign visitors need a permit at multiple military checkpoints, and we handle the paperwork in advance. Altitude on the high days sits between 3,000 and 4,000 m — manageable for most adults but worth pacing.

Day-by-day:

• Day 1 — Pickup in Kashgar; drive south on the G314 through the Ghez River canyon; lunch at a roadside Kyrgyz tea house; arrive Karakul Lake (~3,600 m) in late afternoon; sunset over Muztagh Ata; overnight in a lakeside guesthouse
• Day 2 — Sunrise at Karakul Lake; morning walk along the lake; continue south to Tashkurgan (~3,100 m); afternoon visit to the Stone Fort ruins and the high-altitude grassland viewpoint outside town; overnight in Tashkurgan
• Day 3 — Full day in the Tashkurgan area: drive toward the Khunjerab pass area as far as foreign visitors are permitted, photo stops with the snow peaks; afternoon in a Tajik village near Tashkurgan
• Day 4 — Return drive north on the G314 with photography stops you missed on the way down; arrive back at Karakul Lake for a second sunset if light cooperates; overnight at the lake or continue toward Kashgar
• Day 5 — Final morning drive back to Kashgar; afternoon free in the Old Town; airport or hotel drop-off

Who this is for: Road-trip travellers, photographers chasing 7,000 m peaks, anyone fascinated by Silk Road geography and ethnic borderlands. Minimum age 8. Not recommended for travellers with serious heart or lung conditions because of the sustained altitude.

Logistics: Private 4WD or comfortable van. Four nights of accommodation along the route — clean local standard, not luxury (Karakul Lake guesthouses are basic by design; Tashkurgan has better hotels). All entry tickets, foreign-visitor permits and military checkpoint paperwork handled by us. Daily breakfast. Foreign passport required at every checkpoint — keep it on you, not in your luggage.

Local Roads. Global Eyes. We're a Beijing-licensed inbound operator with permits and Kashgar-based drivers who run the Karakoram Highway every season. Questions about permits, altitude or border-zone rules? WhatsApp +86 139 1764 3020 or [email protected].

Bei den meisten Touren kostenlose Stornierung bis 24 Std. vor Beginn. Genaue Bedingungen werden bei der Buchung angezeigt.