First ever visit to Pakistan - need advice please!

My husband and I live in Canada and are planning to take a guided tour (run by a Canadian company) to Pakistan in either September 2004 or June 2005. Neither of us has been to Pakistan before.

The tour lasts nearly three weeks. Here is a brief version of the itinerary. I am listing the places in which we shall stop overnight.

Lahore (two nights)
Peshawar (two nights) (including day trip to Khyber Pass if possible)
Saidu Sharif (two nights)
Chilas
Karimabad (two nights)
Gilgit
Rawalpindi (two nights)
Multan
Rohri
Quetta (two nights)
Karachi (two nights)

Does this itinerary sound reasonable? To me it sounds quite busy and I am wondering whether the tour is trying to cover too much in too little time.

I have many other questions about travel to Pakistan. Is anyone willing to answer some of them? If so, I’ll post them. Many thanks in advance.

Best wishes from Canada.

Hi, West Coast. Greetings from Canada and welcome to Gupshup! The itinerary does not sound reasonable, as you will be going through all the provinces, which may or may not be needed. It really depends what interests you the most about Pakistan. If you would like to visit historic places in Pakistan; then you want to see places such as Moenjadaro, Taxila, Multan, Harrappa and Swat. Swat is also a very scenic mountainous destination.

I recommend going to the Northern part, and visiting places such as Islamabad, Taxila, Peshawar, Khyber pass within the same trip. It’s definitely doable. From Swat, you can go to Gilgit, and Karimabad(Hunza) :k: - definitely worth seeing. If you have more time, then plan to see more places. By staying within the North Western part of the country, you can make the most out of your time, and see some awesome places.

To go to 11 cities in Pakistan in 14 days will be extremely hectic and is only feasible if you really really really want to see all of them in the shrotest possible time.

Pakistan is a country of extremely diverse cultures and landscapes. I am assuming you are visitng Pakistan as a tourist and just want to experience the rich culture and interesting sights. If you have another purpose (writing a book etc), you may have different priorities, so you can ignore parts of this post.

Pakistan has 3 big cities that most tourists go to. Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad/Rawalpindi. From a touristic standpoint, Peshawar and Quetta offer some unique cultural insights but they should be explored in due course. If you are a lover of natural beauty of mountains then Pakistan's northern areas are second to none. You should plan a trip to land in Islamabad, stay a night to get over the jet lag and then go on a one week trip to Naraan and Kaghan Valley. It will take you through some of the most breath-taking scenic routes you will ever seen. Once you get to Naraan (with full service hotels and a bustling market scene) you should spend 2 days there and explore Lake Saif-ul-Mulook.

Another favorite mountain spot is through Swat Valley. Again you can go from Islamabad and get to Saidu Shareef. From there the drive upto Kalaam is very scenic and you should stay there for atleast two days and enjoy the moutain hiking and exploring.

Gilgit is another mountainous region. While Naraan and Swat are green mountains, Gilgit is more like Yosemite (rock-like barren mountains). Western tourists flock to the area due to its breath-taking beauty.

For a luxurious experience of our hilly areas, take a 1.5 hour drive from Islamabad to the picturesque town of Bhurban. They have a great hotel there, with amazing views. You can then take day trips to places like Murree, Nathiagali and other assorted places around Murree. Its very touristy, is usually full of people and a lot of fun.

Lahore is considered the cultural capital of Pakistan, with many historic buildings. It was the capital of the whole Punjab province and thus boasts a immense Fort, the Badshahi Mosque, a vibrant inner city with a bustling bazaar scene and countless bargains. It has atleast 3 world class hotels. If you want to experience the cultural heritage of Punjab, then Lahore is a must-see.

Karachi is the biggest city in Pakistan, and being a coastal city it has beaches and an amazing variety in the shopping scene and world-class hotels. Its a very metropolitan city.

Islamabad is the capital city and is practically a bland bureacratic town. It is typically only used as a landing station as it serves as a gateway to our Northern areas and has some good hotels to stay in-between. Its twin city, Rawalpindi, has some some history and culture.

Peshawar and Quetta are much different from the other three big cities mentioned above. They have a unique culture of their own. If you are only going to Pakistan for 14-15 days, and are planning to cover a whole lot of our northern areas, then I wouldn't advise you to go to these two cities. Pakistan's northern areas are maintained pretty much in their natural pristine way, and one side-effect is that most roads are narrow and winding and thus travel can be quite tiring.

These are terrific answers

Faisal and Outlaw,

Thank you very much for these terrific answers. It's the sort of information that's very hard to find here in Canada. (It took me weeks to find just one guidebook about Pakistan.)

Your answers confirm what I suspected: the tour's itinerary is a little too busy. Better to do that itinerary than not to go to Pakistan at all, but best of all to make up one's own itinerary (with the help of people in the know, such as you.)

One of our problems is that my husband and I have different interests: he prefers architecture and archaeological sites (and anything to do with transportation: trains, aeroplanes, cars, lorries...) whereas I am more interested in landscapes, cityscapes and people-watching.

Can you by any chance recommend a tour group or agency which could set up a customized itinerary for us?

In the mean time, here are a few of my general questions about visiting Pakistan. I'd be grateful for your thoughts. Many thanks.

  1. Together and apart, my husband and I have travelled extensively in Canada, Europe and the former USSR, but have never visited Central or Southern Asia. In your view, what's the most important thing for us to know about Pakistan? The one thing that you wish tourists knew before they arrived in Pakistan?

  2. I have been told that western women should wear a salwar kameez. I am willing to do that, but do you think the advice is good? I don't want to look as though I'm trying to be more Pakistani than the Pakistanis.

  3. To what extent can we get by with only English? Unfortunately we have no opportunity to learn even basic Urdu.

Thanks very much for your help. What a great thing these forums are.

West Coast, you are most welcome.

The Tourism Authority of Pakistan has some tours, but they are not customizable. For customized tours, you can contact Waljis. They are reputed and all my friends have good experience with them. To check their website Click here]](http://www.waljis.com)

One of our problems is that my husband and I have different interests: he prefers architecture and archaeological sites (and anything to do with transportation: trains, aeroplanes, cars, lorries…) whereas I am more interested in landscapes, cityscapes and people-watching.

You can actually design a tour to cater to both interests. Your husband should go to Taxila (Moenjodaro and Harappa will be a bonus) and then spend some time in Lahore. While in Lahore you will enjoy the cityscapes and people-watching too. Whole of Punjab province is lush with plains and lush greenry (also depending on which time of year you go).

The best time to go to Pakistan is February-March or November-December. As the weather will be perfect. From May-September it can be very hot (except in Northern Mountainous areas).

You don’t have to wear shalwar kameez. There are plenty of tourists in Pakistan, and you can wear your normal jeans and trousers, even skirts. Just try to avoid wearing short skirts or shorts or sleeveless. That would just invite gawking. If you go in a hot weather, you should wear a cap, plenty of sun-cream and light colored, comfortable clothing.

As long as you are in big cities, just speaking English won’t be a problem in hotels, restaurants or shopping. In smaller cities, where they deal with a lot of tourists, you will get thru on English, else the universal sign language will do.

Re: These are terrific answers

WOW. Fantastic thread. i love this one.

West Coast, Greetings from a fellow Canadian. There are quite a few of us around here, eh. :slight_smile:

hmm. Basically, my advice would be - this is what i would follow to ANY foreign city i go, by the way, whether it is Multan or Mali… i would try to show just a little understanding of local customs. You do not “have” to wear shalwar kameez (don’t worry, if you did no one will think you are trying to “look more Pakistani than the Pakistanis”, infact i think most locals would appreciate it if you did), but that’s okay, whatever you are most comfortable with - yes do try to wear long skirts, generally loose clothes. Enjoy yourself there, your and your husband’s ideas of what you wish to see, sound amazing and i am certain you will enjoy yourself and hopefully come back with lots of wonderful memories to share with your friends and family members.

Depending where you go, most people will know at least basic English. Don’t worry you don’t need to be fluent in Urdu. Faisal Bhai is right - in hotels in the larger cities, you will do fine through speaking English alone. If you want some basic Urdu greeting/meeting/directional phrases just to ‘get by’ on, let me know and i’d be happy to paste a few in this thread.

i really hope you enjoy yourself. Do let us know when you return how it all went. :flower1:

More great answers...

Thanks again to everyone for your replies. I'll print them out and show them to Vladimir (my husband) and we'll no doubt be posting again with more questions.

You guys are great!