What happened
The first snowfall of the winter season arrived in the Galiyat hills over the weekend, covering Nathiagali, Ayubia, Dongagali and Khanspur in Abbottabad district. Thousands of visitors travelled up from the plains to see the snow, and hotels, guesthouses, motels and private rooms filled up quickly after the Meteorological Department’s snowfall forecasts. At Ayubia, families queued for the chairlift to take in the snow-covered slopes.
Local businesses felt the lift immediately: hotel owners, restaurant operators, horse riders, photographers, transporters and shopkeepers all reported busier trade, and some residents opened extra rooms in their homes for visitors looking for cheaper stays.
The rush also revived an old complaint. A visiting lecturer urged the district administration to keep an eye on hotel tariffs, essential-commodity prices and parking at the main destinations, while a former ambassador pointed to private hotels reportedly charging between Rs10,000 and Rs15,000 a room per night across Nathiagali, Naran-Kaghan and Kalam, warning that unchecked pricing could put budget-conscious families off.
What it means for travellers
One clarification first: Galiyat is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, not Gilgit-Baltistan — so this snowfall does not describe road or weather conditions inside GB. What it does give northern-Pakistan travellers is a seasonal signal: winter has started in the northern hills, and the same pattern now applies further north — early snow, busy weekends, and prices that climb with demand.
If you are heading north in the coming weeks, book rooms ahead rather than counting on walk-in availability, budget for peak-weekend rates, and treat any single resort’s snow report as local only. For GB itself, check the Karakoram Highway and Babusar Pass status separately before you set off; a snowy weekend in Galiyat says nothing about whether a high pass further north is open.
What to watch
- Whether the district administration acts on the calls to monitor hotel tariffs and parking during peak weekends.
- Whether early-season snowfall spreads to Naran-Kaghan and the Babusar side, which would tighten the winter picture for GB-bound routes.
- Weekend occupancy and pricing: if budget rooms keep selling out, early booking becomes essential rather than optional for the winter season.
