Lahore to Arang Kel and back to Lahore, possible in 5 days and 4 nights?

izeeshanali1 (Zeeshan) 2021-06-11 20:00:23 +0500 #1

Hi all,
I am planning a trip to neelum valley till Arang Kel.
I have Toyota Yaris CVT. I will be going with family and kids.
Need advice, if it will be possible to complete the trip in 5 days and 4 nights?
I plan to leave Lahore at about 11pm on Day 0.
Can someone please help me make an itinerary.
Any guidance about stopping points also welcomed.

ali_77 (ali_77) 2021-06-11 23:10:59 +0500 #2

Yes, it is easily doable.
Day 1: Hopefully, u will reach Muzaffarabad by morning. Better is to take route of Hazara Expressway-Garhi Habibullah-Muzaffarabad. Have some rest. If u have stamina, u can easily reach Arang kel on the same day. Otherwise, better is to stay anywhere between Muzaffarabad and Sharda.
Day 2: Reach Kel. Park ur car, and take ride on cable car followed by about 40 minutes hike till Arang Kel. Stay there in any suitable hotel.
Day 3: Arang Kel.
Day 4: by noon, start hiking down. Reach Kel, and drive back to Sharda or Karen (or any suitable spot) for stay.
Day 5: Drive back to Muzaffarabad and then Lahore.

Undeadking0001 (Ameer Shah) 2021-06-11 23:14:06 +0500 #3

Depends on how often you travel and how much can you drive daily.
Idk about a neelum valley itinerary but my 4 day itinerary for a khunjeraab trip was
Day 1 Rahim yar khan- islamabad
but only because it had gotten dark but i wasn't tired,
Day 2 Stopped at basel which is 30 mins ahead of Naran
Day 3 Reached Gulmit about 10 minutes from Hunza
Day 4 reached Khunjerab and returned same day to gilgit where i stayed the night
Day 5 reached Lahore.
All my travels ended at approximately 6 pm with almost 9 am departure times except the first and last days

izeeshanali1 (Zeeshan) 2021-06-11 23:55:36 +0500 #4

Whenever I go on tours, I try to drive the most on first day and try to reach as far as I can. Then I try to have max 4 to 5 hour travel on next days and then again lot of driving on last day

izeeshanali1 (Zeeshan) 2021-06-12 00:01:10 +0500 #5

Yes I am planning to go from hazara expressway. So far I have at leat Kutton in my mind for Day 1 or may be upper neelum. But if I might have to stop for kutton waterfall (useless place anyway, but wife would like to see it at least) then kutton will be the night stay.
Reaching Arang Kel on first day will be way too much I think.
So far my itineray is:
Day 1: Lahore to Kutton
Day 2: Drive to Kel and reach Arang Kel
Day 3: Stay in Arang Kel
Day 4: Go back till Upper Neelum
Day 5: back to Lahore

Should I take the car till Kel or park it in Sharda?

asimlhr (asimlhr) 2021-06-12 12:38:59 +0500 #6

i'm also planning a similar trip but with 2-3 friends, starting from ISB and on only a weekend. i plan to leave on Friday evening and reach Muzaffarabad. overnight in Muzaffarabad, Saturday travel till Sharda or Kel sightseeing on the way plus trying to cover arang kel also. Sunday Taobutt and then back to ISB. Is it too hectic or manageable?

umairjamil6 (30w50) 2021-06-12 12:48:38 +0500 #7

I saw an eagle eye parked in kel but the owner said that it suffered a lot of damage. The road is pretty broken i would advise a vehicle with more ground clear After sharda.

izeeshanali1 (Zeeshan) 2021-06-12 12:58:44 +0500 #8

Bhai itna zulm na kro.
Main 5 din mein Taobat ko skip karna prefer kr rha hun. Ap 2.5 days mein ye sb karna chah rhay ho. Taobat to muzaffarabad hi aik din mein aa jana bohat bra karnaama hoga.
It will take at least 15 hours from Taobat to Islamabad

izeeshanali1 (Zeeshan) 2021-06-12 12:59:29 +0500 #9

I guess Yaris will definitely prove better than eagle eye

umairjamil6 (30w50) 2021-06-12 13:16:31 +0500 #10

Ofc it will be better but i wouldnt take it either. Taobat to isb in one day is possible and you need a proper suv for that and thats why i advise against driving a small sedan to kel.
I stayed in kel overnight. Woke up and visited arang kel and then drove back to isb in one day easy. The arang kel visit took longer than the drive from taobat to kel.

ali_77 (ali_77) 2021-06-12 13:20:07 +0500 #11

I saw all type of cars in Kel. Even saw Aqua and Vitz there. It is definitely doable on own car till kel, however with some care and patience.

ali_77 (ali_77) 2021-06-12 13:26:28 +0500 #12

It is mathematically possible. But If u are stretching this much, then try to reach as far ahead as possible (may be uptil kel) on friday. suggested plan can be:
Friday: Try to reach Kel even by 9-10 pm. At the least, try reaching Sharda.
Saturday: From Kel (or Sharda) to Arang Kel, back from there and reach Taobat for night stay. U can also go to Taobat on Saturday, and be back to kel by night.
Sunday: Leave Taobat max by noon. In about 8 hours, u may reach Muzaffarabad. From there, u can drive in night to pindi/ Islamabad. And if had gone to Taobat and back to Kel yesterday, U can easily go to Arang Kel and be back to Kel by noon or max late by 4 pm for back journey.

izeeshanali1 (Zeeshan) 2021-06-12 13:46:39 +0500 #14

Bhaio meri itinerary final karwao

Day 1: Lahore to Kutton
Day 2: Drive to Kel and reach Arang Kel
Day 3: full day stay in Arang Kel
Day 4: Go back till Upper Neelum
Day 5: back to Lahore

Waisay to Arang Kel mein pasand na anay wali koi baat nhi hogi aur dosra pehlay 2 din drive kr k day3 pay bilkul zero travel best rhay ga. Isi liye day 3 ko 'no travel' rakha hai.
Agar phir b plan change hua to day 3 ko subah subah Arang Kel say nikal k taobat ho k wapis Sharda tk aya ja sakta hai I think

ali_77 (ali_77) 2021-06-12 13:56:55 +0500 #15

This is quite ok.

asimlhr (asimlhr) 2021-06-12 15:21:04 +0500 #16

makes sense, we'll reconsider. thanks

asimlhr (asimlhr) 2021-06-12 15:21:57 +0500 #17

looks good to me, too. do you have any good hotels in mind?

ali_77 (ali_77) 2021-06-12 15:29:03 +0500 #18

Sorry, cant think of any specific hotel. May be some other friend can help.

izeeshanali1 (Zeeshan) 2021-06-12 17:07:36 +0500 #19

Which one of these two is showing correct timings?

The one in English looks more close to google maps. Although, I would never trust google maps timings for northern areas and add 15-20% to get realistic timings.

izeeshanali1 (Zeeshan) 2021-06-12 17:15:53 +0500 #20

Bro ap nay kab jana hai?
Agar meray say pehlay gaye to weather ka zarur btana. I will be with family and kids, so I would need better planning

asimlhr (asimlhr) 2021-06-13 07:49:38 +0500 #21

Bhai, we plan to do it on the coming weekend. Still a bit double minded between Kalam and Neelum. If Neelum, Will definitely update you on our experiences.