Where the ATMs are — and which ones work
Islamabad is your reliable banking stop: every major bank's ATMs are there, limits are reasonable, and you can visit a branch if a card misbehaves. North of that, the picture thins fast. Gilgit has the region's best cluster of machines, Aliabad in central Hunza has a handful, and Skardu has several — but any single machine may be offline, empty, or unwilling to talk to your card on a given day.
Traveler reports on the Tripadvisor Hunza forum most often name Bank Alfalah and Allied Bank machines as the ones that accept foreign cards — worth knowing, but treat it as a fallback rather than a plan. The only strategy that never fails is arriving with the rupees you need.
One December 2025 visitor described the reality well: when a week of cancelled Skardu flights forced a 14-hour shared taxi south, the fare was $24 — payable, like nearly everything up here, only in cash.
How much cash to carry
Hunza is excellent value, which keeps the numbers manageable. Independent travelers staying in guesthouses and eating locally get by on modest daily budgets; add boat rides at Attabad, fort tickets, jeep hires and souvenirs and you still rarely need more than the equivalent of USD 30–60 per person per day outside of tours. On an organised tour with lodging and transport prepaid, you mainly need cash for meals not included, tips, and shopping.
Carry a mix: plenty of 500- and 1,000-rupee notes for cafés, entry tickets and jeeps, since small businesses struggle to change 5,000s. Keep the stash split between bags, and remember park fees — Khunjerab and Deosai charge per-person foreigner entry, payable in rupees only at the gate.
Cards, transfers and the dual-pricing question
Card terminals are limited to a few upmarket hotels; assume your Visa or Mastercard is useless once you leave Islamabad. Currency exchange in Gilgit-Baltistan is similarly thin — bring rupees, not dollars or euros, though a small emergency reserve of US dollars is easy to change in Gilgit.
Be aware that dual pricing exists: some sights and services charge foreigners more than locals — official at park gates and fort tickets, informal elsewhere. One 2025 visitor grumbled about it honestly, and we'd rather you arrive expecting it. Where it's informal, a polite ask — or a local guide doing the asking — usually lands you the fair local rate.
