Complete Packing List for Pakistan by Season and Region

A Pakistan packing list starts with one fact: the country runs from desert heat to glaciers, so what you pack depends far more on where and when you are going than on the trip's length. For the mountains, pack layers, a proper jacket and sun protection whatever the month. For the plains and the coast, pack light cotton, a hat and modest clothing. For both, add documents, a power bank, medicines and cash.

This is the master list. If you are heading to one region only, our more detailed lists for the northern areas in summer, autumn and winter go into more depth, and there is a separate trekking packing list.

Documents and money

• CNIC for Pakistanis. Hotels, checkpoints and airports ask for it. Foreign visitors need their passport and a valid visa. Keep photocopies or phone photos in a separate place.
• Booking confirmations for flights, hotels and tours, saved offline.
• Travel insurance documents, including the emergency phone number. Check that your policy covers Pakistan and any altitude you plan to reach.
• Cash in small notes. ATMs and card machines can be unreliable in mountain towns, and small shops, jeep drivers and park gates want cash. See our guide to money in Pakistan for tourists.
• Passport-size photos are occasionally needed for permits and SIM cards, so carry a few.

Clothing for the mountains

The northern valleys are the reason most people ask about packing. The rule is layers, because a hot valley floor and a cold pass can be a few hours apart.

• Base layers: two or three T-shirts or long-sleeved tops that dry quickly. Cotton is fine in towns but slow to dry on a hike.
• Mid layers: a fleece or a light wool sweater.
• A warm outer jacket: down or insulated, even for summer, since mornings and high places are cold.
• A waterproof shell: for rain in the hills and wet weather in the monsoon months.
• Trousers: loose quick-dry trousers for the day and one warmer pair. Jeans are heavy when wet.
• Warm accessories: a hat, gloves and a scarf. The scarf also works as a head covering.
• Footwear: sturdy shoes or light boots with grip, plus sandals or slip-ons, which are easy for hotels and mosques.
• Sun protection: sunglasses, a brimmed hat and high-SPF sunscreen. Sun at altitude burns quickly.

In winter, add thermals, thick socks, a heavier down jacket and waterproof boots, and check whether your hotel has heating.

Clothing for the plains and coast

In Lahore, Karachi, Multan and Sindh, the heat from April through to September is the challenge. Choose loose cotton or linen in light colours, and carry a hat and sunglasses. December and January are cold at night in Punjab, and Lahore and Islamabad need a jacket and sweater. Karachi stays mild.

Dress code: what suits Pakistan

Modest clothing is expected everywhere, more so in villages and outside big cities.

• Women: loose tops that cover the hips, long sleeves or elbow-length sleeves, and trousers or a long skirt. A shalwar kameez is practical and cheap to buy locally. Carry a dupatta or large scarf.
• Men: long trousers, and shirts with sleeves. Avoid shorts outside beaches and sports settings.
• Everyone: avoid tight, sheer or sleeveless clothing in mosques, shrines and rural areas.

See our guides on what to wear in Pakistan as a foreign woman and mosque etiquette.

Electronics and connectivity

• Power bank. Take a large one for long drives and remote places, where charging points may be scarce.
• Plug adapter. Pakistan uses 230 V at 50 Hz, with Type C and D sockets. Visitors from the UK, US and elsewhere will need an adapter, and dual-voltage chargers need only the plug shape.
• Phone and SIM. All the main networks work in the main towns of Gilgit-Baltistan, and SCOM ranked first in a Pakistan Telecommunication Authority survey of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan in the second quarter of 2026. Signal still drops on passes, on trekking routes and on long empty roads. Download offline maps and translations before you go. See our guide to a Pakistan SIM card for tourists.
• Camera, spare memory cards and a dry bag for photographs. Check our photography rules before flying a drone.
• Headlamp or torch. Useful for power cuts and early starts.

Health and toilet kit

• Regular medicines, in the original packaging with a prescription, and extra for delays.
• Basic first aid: plasters, antiseptic, rehydration salts, painkillers and something for stomach upsets.
• Altitude: if you are going above 3,000 metres, ask a doctor whether to carry any altitude medication. Read our guide to altitude sickness.
• Vaccinations: foreign visitors should check the current advice. See vaccinations for Pakistan travel.
• Sunscreen, lip balm and moisturiser. Mountain air is dry.
• Hand sanitiser and tissues. Toilets outside hotels may not have paper or soap.
• A refillable bottle and purification tablets, since tap water is not usually safe to drink and bottled water creates a lot of plastic waste.

Useful extras

• A small daypack for day trips
• Zip bags to keep documents and electronics dry
• A padlock for luggage
• Earplugs, for noisy hotels and long journeys
• A small notebook with the phone numbers and addresses you need
• Snacks, for long roads with few stops

What to leave at home

• Expensive jewellery and anything you would hate to lose.
• Revealing clothes, which you will not wear.
• Alcohol, which is not something to bring as a gift or to carry casually, and drones or professional camera gear you have not checked the rules for.
• Too much: luggage on small planes and jeeps is limited, and you can buy shawls and shalwar kameez locally.

Luggage: what to pack it in

For a trip that mixes cities and mountains, a soft duffel bag or a medium suitcase with a separate daypack works best. Hard suitcases are awkward on jeep roofs and in narrow hotel corridors, and small mountain guesthouses rarely have lifts. Keep anything you will need on the road (a jacket, water, snacks, medicines, chargers and documents) in the daypack or inside the car, not in the boot or on the roof rack.

Flights to Skardu and Gilgit are smaller and more weather-dependent than city flights, and baggage limits can be strict, so check the airline's allowance and pack the essentials in hand luggage in case your checked bag arrives on a later flight.

Pack a lightweight foldable bag too. Most people come home with shawls, dried fruit, carpets or gems that need somewhere to go.

Pack by type of trip

How to adjust by season

Our when to go guide explains the seasons region by region.

A note on where you are going

Security advice varies between regions, and some areas, such as Swat, Upper and Lower Dir, parts of the Karakoram Highway between Mansehra and Chilas, Balochistan and areas near the Line of Control, are on the UK government's advise-against list. Check current local news and government advice for your route before you plan or pack for it. Visitors on a foreign passport should also check that their insurance still applies.

Once you know your route, our trip planning page can help build it into an itinerary, and our travel guide covers the basics of getting around.

Frequently asked questions