Things to Do in Pakistan

About Pakistan

Pakistan announces itself through scent and sound. The first breath you take outside Islamabad Airport carries woodsmoke and diesel, cut through with the floral sweetness of jasmine from the roadside stalls. This is a country of extremes that refuses to be moderated: the deafening, exhilarating chaos of Lahore’s Anarkali Bazaar — where rickshaws weave between sizzling tawa griddles and the call to prayer echoes off Mughal-era brick — sits a four-hour drive from the absolute, wind-whipped silence of the Karakoram Highway, where the only sound is your own breath and the distant groan of a glacier. You’ll find the best qorma in the country at a family-run dhaba in Gawalmandi, Lahore, for PKR 600 ($2.15), served on a steel plate with naan hot enough to blister your fingers. The catch: the infrastructure between these moments can be rough. The bus from Lahore to the fairy-tale mountains of Swat is an eight-hour endurance test of potholes and honking horns, and outside major cities, reliable Wi-Fi becomes a fond memory. But that friction is the point. It’s what keeps the Hunza Valley’s apricot orchards and the 2,000-year-old Buddhist stupas in Taxil from feeling curated for Instagram. Pakistan doesn’t perform for visitors; it simply exists, magnificently and unapologetically itself, and to travel here is to be invited into that reality.

Travel Tips

Transportation: Navigating cities is a choose-your-own-adventure between chaos and convenience. The ride-hailing app InDrive tends to offer better rates than Careem for intercity trips — a ride from Lahore’s Gulberg to the Badshahi Mosque might run PKR 400-500 ($1.40-$1.80). For longer journeys, Daewoo Express buses are the gold standard for safety and relative comfort; the six-hour trip from Islamabad to Lahore costs around PKR 2,500 ($9). The one pitfall to avoid? Unmetered taxis. They’ll quote a price five times the local rate the second they spot a foreign face. Your move: agree on a fare in advance, in rupees, before getting in.

Money: Cash is still king, but the landscape is shifting. While major hotels and some upscale restaurants in Lahore and Islamabad now accept cards, your daily life will run on Pakistani rupees. ATMs are widespread, but withdrawal limits can be surprisingly low (often PKR 20,000-30,000, about $70-$110). Carrying a mix of crisp, newer USD bills as a backup isn’t a bad idea, as they’re easy to exchange. An insider’s trick: the best exchange rates aren’t at the airport or banks, but at the licensed money changers in commercial districts like Karachi’s Zainab Market or Lahore’s Liberty Market. Just be sure to count the stacks of rupees carefully — they come in thick, high-denomination bundles.

Cultural Respect: Modesty is the default setting, and observing it opens doors. For everyone, that means covering shoulders and knees. Loose, breathable cotton is your friend. When visiting mosques like Lahore’s stunning Badshahi, women will need a headscarf; they’re often available to borrow at the entrance. The most meaningful etiquette, though, is in the greeting. A simple “As-salamu alaykum” with a slight nod of the head is deeply appreciated. If you’re invited to a home — and you likely will be — always remove your shoes at the door. It’s a small gesture that signals respect for a space they’re generously sharing with you.

Food Safety: Eat where the locals eat, but use your eyes. The rule of thumb is simple: if there’s a crowd and the food is turning over fast, it’s generally safe. The chicken tikka sizzling on a busy skewer in Karachi’s Burns Road is a better bet than a quiet, buffet-style hotel restaurant where food might sit. Stick to cooked items — the seekh kebabs, the biryani, the parathas — and be cautious with raw salads or unpeeled fruit from street stalls. Carry hand sanitizer. For water, sealed bottled water is non-negotiable, even for brushing teeth. The payoff for this vigilance is a plate of nihari from Lahore’s famous Waris Nihari shop for PKR 500 ($1.80), a slow-cooked beef stew so rich and complex it’ll recalibrate your idea of breakfast.

When to Visit

Your ideal month in Pakistan depends entirely on your altitude tolerance. The sweet spot for most travelers is the shoulder seasons: March to May (spring) and September to November (autumn). In the plains, like Lahore and Karachi, March sees daytime highs around 28-32°C (82-90°F) with manageable humidity, before the furnace of June kicks in. Up north in the Hunza Valley, May is perfect — days are a crisp 15-20°C (59-68°F), the apricot trees are in bloom, and the mountain passes like the Khunjerab are usually open. Come July and August, the monsoons drench the lowlands (Karachi can get unpleasantly swampy), but this is actually prime time for the high-altitude deserts of Skardu and the trekking routes around Fairy Meadows, where days are dry and sunny. Winter (December-February) brings bargain prices — hotel rates in Islamabad can drop by 40% — but the trade-off is serious cold in the north and persistent, dense fog in Punjab that can ground flights and trains for days. If you’re chasing festivals, the springtime Basant kite-flying season in Lahore (dates vary) is a riot of color, while the Shandur Polo Festival in July up in Gilgit-Baltistan is a spectacle of sport against a backdrop of 3,700-meter peaks. For a single recommendation? Aim for late September. The summer heat has broken, the monsoon rains have passed, the mountain roads are clear, and the crowds from both the domestic Eid holidays and the international peak season have thinned out.