Getting There
By Air: The nearest airport that can be used for air travel to Malam Jabba is Saidu Sharif Airport. At the moment Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) operates twice a week (Monday & Friday) flights between Islamabad and Saidu Sharif Airport. The distance between the airport and the Malam Jabba Ski Resort is around 50km (31 miles) which is roughly around 1 hour and 30 minutes’ drive within the Swat Valley.
By Road: From Islamabad to Malam Jabba Ski Resort the total distance is around 279km (173miles) which is approximately 4 hours and 30 minutes’ drive in total. Get on AH1/M-1 in Islamabad from Srinagar Highway 22 min (20.7 km) Follow AH1/M-1 and M-16 to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 1 hr 56 min (171 km) Follow Bahrain Rd/N-95 to Malam Jabba Rd in Malam Jabba 2 hr 23 min (84.3 km)
By Car: The Swat Expressway was built by the provincial government for the convenience of tourists and the public. You can easily travel on the Swat Expressway by motorway from Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, and Islamabad and if you want to go from Malakand Road to Swat, then you can take the route of Mardan Interchange from Islamabad.
What to Expect
There are many attractions and places to visit in the Malam Jabba, covering a wide area and high-altitude winter sports activity or the best holiday hill station for both summer and winter, Malam Jabba secures its position as No.1 in the list in Pakistan.
There are breathtaking mountains, picturesque valleys, green lush forests, and other natural attractions in Malam Jaba. Apart from natural beauty, Malam Jabba is home to the longest ski resort in Pakistan. This place is also the core of winter sports festivals in Pakistan.
The unique holiday hill station is also very famous for trekking, hiking, backpacking, camping, as well as family holidays. These wonders of nature make Malam Jabba perhaps the most visited place in swat valley. Tourists can bring their own skis, ski boots, ski bindings, ski poles, ski wear, ski helmets, and snowboard and ski goggles, or they can just rent them there and focus on their game and tour.
History
The hilly paradise has seen good and bad times in the past century. It started as a princely state in 1926 and remained so till 1969, when Yousafzai clan relinquished its dynasty. After that, the princely state was incorporated into the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). Since then, several efforts were made to turn Malam Jabba into a ski resort.
This idea was originally conceived by the visiting Austrian ambassador to Pakistan in 1962. After exceptional delays and a lot of new government entities, a hotel was built in 1988. This happened with monetary support from the Viennese government and the last Yousafzai wali. However, the hotel and ski resort in Malam Jabba sat idle for another 10 years. Disputes between the government and the private sector were responsible for this. Eventually, the ski resort and hotel took off, managed by PTDC of the federal government.
By 2006, over 20,000 people in Swat were employed indirectly by tourism to the region, including the resort. The new ski resort is expected to attract many international tourists and do wonders for the tourism industry. Situated around 30 km from Mingora, Swat, the newly opened hotel sits atop the Malam Jabba Hill Station, 2,650 metres above sea level, with eye-catching views of the scenic Swat Valley.
This PC Hotel offers skiing, snowboarding and snow-tubing in the winters and hiking, horseback riding and zipline in the summers.
Facilities Available
- It is safe for families.
- Accommodation in town and hilly areas are clean and affordable.
- You can enjoy the hills, greenery, and peace from your hotel and resorts.
- The road to the main towns is paved and accessible throughout the summers.
- Jeep route takes you to the beautiful meadows and valleys. (if you don’t want to hike)
- Tourism Department helps the Tourist/ Visitors through providing broachers in both Urdu and English languages. The local Police and the local Guides can speak multi languages (i.e local languages, Urdu, English and some of them can speak Chinese also).
- Popular tourist locations have most of the facilities available including eateries, shops, dhabas, washrooms, guesthouses, and car/jeep rentals.
- For hikers and trekkers, all the equipment and tents can be hired in the towns along with porters, local guides and horses, or mule.
- Filling stations are available Malam Jabba which includes Petrol and Diesel.
- Taxis are available in Malam Jabba on daily rent basis.
- Shops are available in Malam Jabba
