Swat Family trip of one week, need information

[Abd008]

Dear Friends/ brothers

I would like to visit Swat (very first time) with family in end of june, few questions:

1. Suitable itinerary for one week from Islamabad.

2. Till which place i can easily go on my honda civic (without hurting it much)

3. Which good (neat clean) hotels do you recommend

4. Any special instructions

thanks in advance.

[capricon2]

nice
well you can go till mahudand lake which is like 15 kms ahead from kalam

[capricon2]

best hotel is in kalam the very moment you enter kalam on left side you will see a big hotel named HOTEL DIAMOND HILLS best hotel with reasonable price

[capricon2]

do t carry gass cylinder for cooking pr any other weapon along withyou as u will be checked by miltary after every 5 kms chkpost
carry your id along with you if you are travelling with foreigner than passport
complete vehicle papers are must as miltary people will ask for id cards of all passengers and passport for foreigners

[capricon2]

you can go via mardan then swat roads are like awsum till bahrain ( 35 kms before kalam ) from bahrain to kalam road is not carpeted but its wide you can achieve max 15-20kmh on bheain to kalam

[capricon2]

it will take almost 8 hours nonstop drive to kalam from islamabad

[zahid135]

We came back from Swat Valley on this Sunday.
Here some of your required information:-

1. Suitable itinerary for one week from Islamabad.
   Mingora,Saidu Sharaif - Murghzar- Madyan - Miandam - Bahrain - Kalam - Forest - Maidans - Ushu - Mahoodand Lake, Bayun - Utror, Shangla Top, Malam Jabba
   

2. Till which place i can easily go on my honda civic (without hurting it much)
   You can take your car till Bahrain.
   Roads are good till Madyan with some bad patches
   From madyan to Bahrain road is under-construction and will be ready in 2-3 weeks, it is just 10-12 Kms and more than 50% road is completed from Madyan to Bahrain and remaining part is also good shape to drive by car.
   

3. Which good (neat clean) hotels do you recommend
   there are many hotels in whole swat valley which are very neat & clean.
   Search at the spot as per your choice.
   (We stayed 1 night @ Grace hotel Bahrain, 1 Night @ Holiday resort Kalam, 1 Night @ Imran Pearl Bahrain) all are very good

4. Any special instructions
   Drive carefully
   Keep your CNIC along with you.
   

[zahid135]

Travel time:
Lahore - ISD : About 4 Hours (Car)
ISD - Maradan : About 1:30 hours (Car)
Maradan - Swat : 2 - 2:30 Hours (Car)
Swat To madyan : 1:30 - 2:00 Hours (Car)
Madyan to Bahrain : 0: 30 Hours (Car)
Bahran to Kalam : 2:00 hours (Rented Car/Jeep)
Swat - Malam Jabba : 1:30 Hours (Car)
Kalam - Mahoodand : 2:00 Hours(rented Car/Jeep)
Kalam - Utror : 2:00 Hours (Rented Car/Jeep)

[Abd008]

thanks All.

Is it possible if i go till Saidu Sharif, park my car there and onward go by rented car/ jeep etc. hows the experience of any pakwheeler about serena swat??

[lse1]

Hi

Does anyone know if Shangla top will be open, thinking of going to Besham from Swat? What is the road condition?

[asifcae]

Hi

Does anyone know if Shangla top will be open, thinking of going to Besham from Swat? What is the road condition?

its open bro... my friend recently went there

[shk_54]

best hotel is in kalam the very moment you enter kalam on left side you will see a big hotel named HOTEL DIAMOND HILLS best hotel with reasonable price

kya yaad kara dia yaar, stayed there in 2006 before swat operation..

[shk_54]

thanks All.

Is it possible if i go till Saidu Sharif, park my car there and onward go by rented car/ jeep etc. hows the experience of any pakwheeler about serena swat??

In swat make Kalam ur base point bcoz the real beauty of swat is kalam and beyond.. kalam forest, ushu glacier, mahodand, matiltan and utror side.. kalam is cold while Mingora is hot, bit noisy and boring.. u can take ur car till bahrain, park it there and take jeep onwards..
in 2006, the road link between mingora and bahrain was temporarily disconnected bcoz of flood hitting a bridge in khawaza khela, we had to use an alternate route that passed through bagh dheri, and Matta.. i must say that route was much more scenic and there were lots of fruit orchards on this way.. excellent

[shk_54]

in 2006 total driving time from Lahore to Kalam was 16 hours as M1 connecting Isb with Mardan-Peshawar was not built and Malakand road was also under construction..

[lazers]

Does anyone has the latest on road conditions till Mingora, and from there to Kalam ?
Also I heard and saw some videos that road to malam jaba is no more, it is just kacha raasta ?

How is the weather conditions in first to second week December. I have Honda Civic 8th (reborn) and intend to go in my car only till the road is clear. Don't want to put the car in any kind of harm's way

[ajeowner]

Upto Mingora you can take any car, infact anycar upto Bahrain, from Bahrain the pain starts, its too boring and bad as hell.I do not recommend it to anyone unless the car you have is for free. People are seen turning back from area called "landakha" The road doesn't exist and the bad small stones compressed as road foundation make it more worst. The road to Mahodand from Kalaam is also absolute hell. Mahodand Up / down will easily take 5Hrs drive. Road from Bahrain to Kalaam will take 3hrs if the car is yours and less if not. I went their last week and attaching the pictures for your reference. I was on a 4x4 and literally saw people crying over the bad journey, the place also has no amenities like washrooms, baby facilities etc. Kalaam is bad too, only 1 food place was open and we managed to get 4 botis and a plate of rice from it at 7:30PM.

Multiply this road by 2 and you get the cond of road towards Mahodand, the nights were very very cold, prob less than 0 due to snowy peaks all around. LAke Mahodand is also shrinked now. I suggest go somewhere else or take a NCP vehicle from Bahrain onwards

[lazers]

Thanks, it helps a lot. I will plan accordingly. Its really sad to see the road conditions. They are really beautiful areas and due to roads issues and other facilities many people do not go.