Area guides / Khyber Pakhtunkhwa / Galiyat & Murree
Area guide
Galiyat & Murree
Pine-forest hill stations an hour or two from Islamabad
Region
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
When to go
Spring and autumn for walking
Getting there
Murree is about 60 km from Islamabad on the Murree Expressway, 1.5-2 hours. The winding Galiyat road links Murree and Abbottabad through Nathia Gali and Ayubia. Travel midweek if you can.
Spots
4 key places
Overview
About Galiyat & Murree
The Galiyat is a narrow hill tract 50-80 km north-east of Islamabad, on both sides of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-Punjab border between Abbottabad and Murree. Murree, built in the 1850s as the summer capital of British Punjab, sits at about 2,300 m; Nathia Gali, higher and cooler, is at the centre of the tract.
Murree is about 60 km from Islamabad on the Murree Expressway, 1.5-2 hours. The winding Galiyat road links Murree and Abbottabad through Nathia Gali and Ayubia. Travel midweek if you can.
Two sides of the hills
Murree is the busy, famous one; the Galiyat towns along the road to Abbottabad, such as Nathia Gali and Ayubia, are quieter bases for forest walks. The name comes from gali, an alley between two mountains, and many of the towns carry it.
Beating the traffic
Weekend and public-holiday traffic on the Expressway and in Murree can be heavy, and winter snow brings closures. Midweek travel and an early start make the difference.
Top sights in Galiyat & Murree
Region guide →Field Guides
All places →Murree & the Galiyat
Murree is Pakistan's most famous hill station, a Victorian-era resort town strung along a forested ridge at around 2,300 m, just a couple of hours from Islamabad. Built by the British in the 1850s as a summer refuge from the heat of the plains, it kept its colonial bones: the pedestrian Mall Road, an Anglican church, and old gabled bungalows among the pines. Today it is hugely popular with domestic tourists, especially in summer and during winter snowfalls, when the town and the nearby Galiyat draw crowds from across the country. Murree is less a wilderness than a lively, accessible mountain town, and the gateway to the quieter pine resorts beyond.
Nathia Gali
Nathia Gali is a compact mountain town in Abbottabad District, surrounded by pine, oak, and temperate forest in the central Galiyat. It works as a stay and walking base with its own streets, church, viewpoints, and trail access. Nathia Gali is not another name for the whole Galiyat tract, and it remains separate from Dunga Gali, Ayubia, Changla Gali, and Murree.
Bhurban
Bhurban is a hill-station resort area on the Murree Expressway, a little above Murree itself, known for its pine forest, a golf course, and views that swing between clear valleys and drifting cloud in a matter of minutes. It's a quieter, more resort-like stop than Murree's busy Mall Road.
Patriata (New Murree)
Patriata, better known as New Murree, is home to a chairlift and cable car climbing a pine-forested ridge south of Murree, with a small amusement park at the top. It's one of the most visited single attractions on the whole Murree Expressway corridor, popular with families for the ride itself as much as the summit views.
Kohala Bridge
Kohala Bridge carries the road across the Jhelum River at the historic gateway between Punjab and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The current two-lane bridge dates to 1993, following earlier crossings from 1877 and 1899, and the fast, cold, turquoise river below has made the riverside restaurants here, known for white trout, a destination in their own right.
Resorts
All resorts →
Curated Journeys
All tours →Ayubia Day Trip From Islamabad
A single day out of Islamabad into the Galyat, leaving F-8/4 at seven in the morning. The pipeline track and its tunnel
Ayubia From Lahore
A twelve-seat group run from Lahore every Friday, leaving Liberty at six in the morning by Toyota Grand Cabin. Two night
Private Escape to Ayubia From Lahore
Three days in the Galyat with the driving, the rooms and the mornings arranged around you rather than a group. A private