Khewra and Katas Raj in One Day: A Timed Plan

Khewra Salt Mine and the Katas Raj temples sit about 15 to 20 minutes apart by road in the Salt Range, close enough that a Khewra and Katas Raj day trip from Islamabad or Lahore covers both without rushing either. The main decision is which to visit first and how much time to leave for each, since the mine has a fixed ticketed visit while Katas Raj rewards a slower, unhurried look. This guide sets out a timed plan that gets you home the same day with time to spare.

Visiting order: Katas Raj first, then Khewra

Coming from Islamabad or Lahore on the M-2, Katas Raj is the closer of the two once you leave the motorway at the Kallar Kahar interchange, and Khewra lies a further 15 to 20 minutes beyond it via Choa Saidan Shah. Doing Katas Raj first also means you see it in the cooler morning light and are free to linger, since it has no fixed closing time, whereas Khewra's guided mine visit runs to its own schedule once you're inside. Reversing the order works too if you'd rather start with a ticketed, timed stop and end with a site you can leave whenever you're ready, but the Katas-Raj-first order generally makes for calmer timing.

A timed plan from Islamabad

1. Leave Islamabad by 6:30 to 7 am. The drive to the Kallar Kahar interchange on the M-2 takes a little over two hours in normal traffic.
2. Katas Raj, arriving mid-morning. Allow an hour to an hour and a half to walk the complex, see the sacred pond and the Satgraha temples, and climb up to Hari Singh Nalwa's haveli for the view. Entry is free.
3. Drive to Khewra, about 30 to 40 minutes, via Choa Saidan Shah, arriving around midday to early afternoon.
4. Khewra Salt Mine, 1.5 to 2 hours. Buy tickets at the gate; each ticket covers a set window inside the mine, so don't dawdle at the entrance. Decide in advance whether you want the optional underground train ride, which costs extra.
5. Lunch in Pind Dadan Khan or Choa Saidan Shah on the way back, or bring your own food if you'd rather not rely on finding somewhere open.
6. Leave the Salt Range by mid-to-late afternoon to be back on the M-2 before dark, especially in winter when daylight runs out earlier.

Starting late is the most common way this trip goes wrong: leave Islamabad or Lahore after 8 or 9 am and you'll be doing the drive home in the dark, on a road that's better driven in daylight.

What each stop actually needs

Katas Raj doesn't need a ticket, but it does need a little patience: many of the temples are locked, and a caretaker or informal guide will often walk round with you and open them, for which a small tip is customary rather than fixed. There's no official timetable, so arriving in the morning gives you the most flexibility, and the site is at its busiest around the Maha Shivratri festival in February or March, when it's worth checking ahead whether general visitors are being admitted.

Khewra Salt Mine runs on a firmer schedule. It opens at 9 am, and as of 2026 a standard adult ticket for local visitors costs around PKR 475, with reduced rates for students, children and senior citizens, and separate rates for foreign nationals; the underground train ride is a further optional charge. Prices and hours are the kind of detail that changes, so treat these as a guide and check current rates at the gate or on the mine's own booking page before you go.

Food and fuel

Neither Katas Raj nor Khewra has much in the way of restaurants on site, so plan food stops around the towns either side of them: Choa Saidan Shah and Pind Dadan Khan both have basic local eateries suited to a lunch stop, and the Kallar Kahar service area on the M-2 is a reliable option if you'd rather eat before or after the Salt Range leg entirely. Fill up on fuel before leaving the motorway corridor, since stations become less frequent once you're off the M-2 and moving between the two sites.

Can you do this trip from Lahore?

Yes, on the same logic, just with a longer drive at each end: expect around three hours each way from Lahore to the Salt Range, which makes an early start even more important if you want a comfortable day rather than a rushed one. Some travellers from Lahore prefer to break the trip with an overnight stop nearby, particularly if Kallar Kahar or wider Soon Valley sightseeing is part of the plan, rather than trying to fit everything into a single very long day.

Is one day enough?

For Khewra and Katas Raj specifically, yes, this pairing is a well-worn day trip precisely because the two sites sit so close together. If you also want to add Kallar Kahar or push further into Soon Valley, that's a longer day than most people should attempt alongside Khewra and Katas Raj, and it's better split across two days. Our trip-planning guide can help you decide how much of the wider Salt Range fits into the time you have, and our guide on how to reach Khewra Salt Mine covers the motorway routes in more detail.

Frequently asked questions