Map
Explore Pakistan on a map
The famous places in every city and valley we write about. Pick a place for its guide, or for directions in Google Maps.
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Gilgit-Baltistan
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Rattu
Village in Astore, Pakistan.
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Rupal valley
Valley in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.
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Chaqchan Mosque
Mosque in Khaplu, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.
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Hushe
Village in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.
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Khaplu Palace
Historical fort and palace, now hotel in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.
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Ishkoman valley
Valley in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.
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Khalti Lake
Lake or river widening of Gilgit River in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.
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Yasin valley
Valley in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.
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Altit Fort
About 3 km along the hillside, Altit Fort is older and smaller than Baltit and sits on a cliff above the river.
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Attabad Lake
The lake formed when a landslide blocked the Hunza river in January 2010.
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Baltit Fort
The old palace of the Mirs of Hunza stands at the top of the town, a 10 to 15 minute climb from the bazaar up a steep lane.
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Borith Lake
Lake in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.
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Ganish
Just below Karimabad, beside the highway, Ganish is thought to be the oldest settlement in Hunza, with carved wooden mosques and old watchtowers in its…
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Gulmit
Gulmit was once the summer capital of the Hunza state and is now the main town of Gojal.
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Khunjerab Pass
The border with China at 4,693 metres, at the top of the Karakoram Highway, is usually open to visitors from around May into November.
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Amburiq mosque
Mosque in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.
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Katpana cold desert
High-altitude desert in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.
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Khaplu
Khaplu is 103 km east of Skardu along the Shyok river, about three hours each way.
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Manthal Buddha Rock
A few kilometres south of the bazaar, in Manthal village off the Satpara road, a large granite boulder carries a carved relief of the Buddha surrounded by…
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Sarfaranga cold desert
Cold desert in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.
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Satpara Lake
Satpara Lake is about 10 km south of town, at around 2,600 metres, held back by the Satpara Dam and fed by snowmelt from Deosai.
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Shigar Fort and village
Fort in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.
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Upper Kachura
Lake in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
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Ilyasi Masjid
Built around 1927-32 over a natural spring, in Nawansher on the edge of town, and the town's best-known building.
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Thandiani
About 30 kilometres east and 2,800 metres up — pine forest, cool air and far fewer people than Murree.
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Dasu
The district town, on the KKH beside the Indus.
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Birmoghlasht
Birmoghlasht is the old summer retreat of the Mehtars, high on the ridge above the town at over 2,800 metres, about 15 km away by a steep jeep road.
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Broghil
Broghil is the far north of the district, a national park of high pastures and some 30 lakes on the Wakhan border, about 250 km from Chitral.
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Chitral Fort
On the river bank, and the site of the 1895 siege.
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Chitral Gol National Park
National park in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
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Garam Chashma
Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
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Madaklasht
Madaklasht sits at the top of the Shishi Koh valley, at around 2,600 metres, reached from Drosh by about 40 km of unpaved road.
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Shahi Masjid
Next to the fort, and the most photographed building in the valley.
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Ansoo Lake
A small, tear-shaped lake high above Saif-ul-Malook, reached only on foot.
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Babusar Top
The pass at 4,173 metres, where the Kaghan road crosses into Gilgit-Baltistan, about 65 km and two to two and a half hours from Naran.
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Batakundi
The first village up the Babusar road, 16 km and about half an hour from Naran.
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Besal
Just below Lulusar, the hamlet of Besal is the start of the walk to Dudipatsar Lake, at about 3,800 metres in the Lulusar-Dudipatsar National Park.
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Dudipatsar
Just below Lulusar, the hamlet of Besal is the start of the walk to Dudipatsar Lake, at about 3,800 metres in the Lulusar-Dudipatsar National Park.
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Gittidas
The last settlement before the pass, between Lulusar and Babusar Top, with high summer pastures at around 3,678 metres.
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Kaghan town
About 45 minutes below Naran, with a small bazaar and the river.
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Lulusar Lake
At 3,410 metres, Lulusar is the source of the Kunhar river: a long, narrow lake right beside the road, about an hour and a half from Naran.
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The Kunhar river
The river runs beside the road for the whole length of the valley.
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Takht-i-Bahi
Takht-i-Bahi is the reason most people come.
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Gor Khuttree
The trail ends at Gor Khuttree, a large walled compound with a long story.
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Karkhano Market
Market area in Peshawar, Pakistan.
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Mahabat Khan Mosque
From 1630, hidden inside the bazaar, and startling when you come through the entrance into the courtyard.
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Peshawar Museum
A Victorian building holding one of the world's great collections of Gandharan Buddhist sculpture.
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Qissa Khwani Bazaar
The storytellers' bazaar, and the heart of the old city.
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Bahrain
Madyan, 55 km from Mingora at 1,320 metres, and Bahrain, 60 km out where the Daral stream meets the Swat river, are the two market towns of middle Swat.
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Butkara
Buddhist structure in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
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Gabral
West of Kalam, a jeep road runs up the Utror valley and into Gabral: quieter, greener side valleys with far fewer visitors than Ushu.
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Kalam
Kalam, at about 2,000 metres, is where the Swat river forms from the Ushu and Gabral rivers and where the valley turns from farmland into pine and deodar…
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Madyan
Madyan, 55 km from Mingora at 1,320 metres, and Bahrain, 60 km out where the Daral stream meets the Swat river, are the two market towns of middle Swat.
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Mahodand Lake
Mahodand is a long lake at 2,865 metres, reached by jeep from Kalam past Ushu and Matiltan.
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Malam Jabba
Malam Jabba is Swat's ski resort, about 40 km from Mingora up a paved mountain road that leaves the main valley at Manglor.
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Matiltan
Matiltan is a few kilometres further on, about 11 km from Kalam.
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Miandam
Miandam is a small hill village about ten kilometres up a steep side valley that leaves the main road at Fatehpur, some 55 km from Mingora.
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Swat Museum
The Swat Museum in Saidu Sharif holds Gandharan sculpture from sites across the valley: Buddha figures, relief panels and everyday objects from the centuries…
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Utror
West of Kalam, a jeep road runs up the Utror valley and into Gabral: quieter, greener side valleys with far fewer visitors than Ushu.
Azad Kashmir
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Baghsar Fort
The best-known site, in the Samahni valley.
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Baghsar Lake
A small lake in the same valley at around 975 metres, popular for a quiet picnic.
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Samahni valley
A long, narrow valley of villages, streams and pine forest, reported to be about 35 km long.
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Pir Chinasi
A shrine on a ridge about 30 kilometres east at around 2,900 metres, with a view over the whole valley system.
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Arang Kel
Arang Kel, at 2,554 metres, is the reason many people come to Neelum at all: a village of wooden houses on a grassy shelf high above Kel, with forest around it…
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Dhani waterfall
About 38 km from Muzaffarabad, the Dhani waterfall drops about 15 metres beside the Neelum road near Nauseri.
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Jagran
River in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan.
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Kel
Kel, about 156 km from Muzaffarabad at 2,097 metres, sits where the Shounter stream joins the Neelum.
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Keran
Keran, 93 km from Muzaffarabad at 1,524 metres, is the most visited place in the lower valley and the usual first night.
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Kutton
From Kundal Shahi a side road climbs up the Jagran valley to Kutton, at about 1,500 metres, among forest and orchards.
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Kutton waterfall
Weir in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan.
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Ratti Gali Lake
Lake in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan.
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Sharda
Sharda, 136 km from Muzaffarabad at 1,981 metres, is a riverside town where the valley widens.
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Sharda Peeth
Ruined temple and ancient centre of learning in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, India.
Punjab & Islamabad
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Lal Suhanra National Park
One of the largest national parks in South Asia, with desert, wetland and forest inside one boundary.
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Noor Mahal
Finished in 1875 and the best known of the palaces — Italianate from the outside, and not at all what you expect at the edge of a desert.
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Gatwala Wildlife Park
A large park on the edge of town, and the easiest green space.
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Lyallpur Museum
For the canal colony story, which explains most of modern Punjab.
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Daman-e-Koh
A viewpoint terrace on the hills at about 730 metres, directly above the city, reached by a short road off Margalla Road or on foot by Trail 2.
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F-9 Park
Public recreational park in Islamabad, Pakistan.
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Faisal Mosque
Finished in 1986 to a design by the Turkish architect Vedat Dalokay, and shaped like a tent rather than a dome.
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Lake View Park
Park in Islamabad, Pakistan.
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Margalla Hills
Hill range north of Islamabad, Pakistan.
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Pakistan Monument
Opened in 2007.
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Pakistan Monument and museum
The monument, inaugurated in 2007 and designed by the architect Arif Masoud, is shaped like an opening flower: four large petals for the four provinces'…
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Pir Sohawa
The road continues above Daman-e-Koh to Pir Sohawa, at about 1,100 metres on the top of the ridge, for wider views and cooler air.
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Rawal Lake
A reservoir on the eastern side that does a quiet job of keeping the city's microclimate liveable.
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Saidpur village
A settlement roughly five hundred years old, now inside the city limits, with Hindu temples still standing in it.
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Shakarparian Park
Park in Islamabad, Pakistan.
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Anarkali Bazaar
A short walk from the museum, one of the oldest bazaars in the city.
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Badshahi Mosque
Aurangzeb's, from 1673, and the largest of the city's Mughal monuments.
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Bagh-e-Jinnah
The former Lawrence Gardens, a large, shady park further along the Mall with the Quaid-e-Azam Library in a colonial hall.
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Delhi Gate
One of the historic gates of the Walled City of Lahore, Pakistan.
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Gulberg
Administrative town (tehsil) in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
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Gurdwara Dera Sahib
Sikh Gurudwara in Lahore.
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Hazuri Bagh
Garden in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
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Lahore Fort
The Shahi Qila, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, built and rebuilt by four Mughal emperors and added to under Ranjit Singh.
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Lahore Museum
For the Gandharan collection, including the Fasting Buddha, which is worth the trip on its own.
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Lahore Zoo
Zoo in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
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Minar-e-Pakistan
The tower in Greater Iqbal Park, across the road from the mosque, marks the spot where the Lahore Resolution was presented on 23 March 1940.
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Samadhi of Ranjit Singh
Building in Lahore, Pakistan.
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Shalimar Gardens
Shah Jahan's terraced garden of 1641–42, about 5 km east of Delhi Gate on the GT Road, is the finest Mughal garden in Pakistan and part of the same UNESCO…
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Wazir Khan Mosque
Smaller, seventeenth century, and covered inside and out in tilework of a quality that is hard to believe until you are standing under it.
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Shrine of Bahauddin Zakariya
Thirteenth century, on the same mound, and still very much a working place of pilgrimage rather than a monument.
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Shrine of Shams Sabzwari
Smaller, and the tilework here is the brightest in the city.
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Patriata
A chairlift and gondola up above the town, and a better view than anything in Murree itself.
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Lower Topa
Lower Topa lies on the Expressway a few kilometres below Murree, among pine forest, with a PAF base and several resort hotels.
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Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium
Hosted World Cup matches in 1996.
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Ayub National Park
Ayub National Park, on the GT Road, is the largest park in the twin cities, at over 300 acres.
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Lohi Bher Wildlife Park
Lohi Bher Wildlife Park, off the Islamabad Expressway, is run by Punjab's wildlife department and set up in 1992.
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Mankiala Stupa
The Mankiala Stupa stands in the village of Tope Mankiala, about 36 km southeast of Islamabad and a short drive beyond Rawat.
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Pakistan Army Museum
The Army Museum, opened in 1961, occupies colonial-era barracks within the GHQ area.
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Rawat Fort
Rawat Fort stands beside the GT Road about 17 km east of Rawalpindi.
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Taxila
Taxila, about 35 km northwest, is the best day out from Rawalpindi: a museum of Gandhara art and the ruins of three ancient cities and several Buddhist…
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Bhir Mound
The oldest of the three cities, sixth century BCE, and the least visually rewarding — but it is where the sequence begins.
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Dharmarajika Stupa
Mauryan-era, large, and surrounded by the remains of the monastery that served it.
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Mohra Muradu
Quieter than Jaulian, with a beautifully intact votive stupa in the assembly hall.
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Sirkap
The Indo-Greek city from the second century BCE, laid out on a grid.
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Taxila Museum
One of the most complete collections of Gandharan stone sculpture anywhere, from the first to the seventh centuries.
Sindh & Balochistan
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Pacco Qillo
The Talpur fort, much decayed, and still the largest structure in the old town.
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Shahi Bazaar
A market that runs for kilometres in a more or less straight line.
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Kotri Barrage
Barrage on the Indus River in Sindh, Pakistan.
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Tombs of the Talpur Mirs
Historic site in Sindh, Pakistan.
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Boat Basin
For dinner, Boat Basin in Clifton has a long row of restaurants and food stalls open late.
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Burns Road
The old city's food street, a few minutes from Saddar, known for nihari, fry kabab, rabri and dahi baray.
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Clifton beach
Beach In Karachi, Pakistan.
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Empress Market
Built in 1889 and still the working market of Saddar.
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Frere Hall
Victorian Gothic, with gardens, and a ceiling painted by Sadequain upstairs that is worth asking to see.
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Manora
A former island reached by boat from Keamari, with a lighthouse, a beach and very little else.
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Mazar-e-Quaid
Jinnah's mausoleum, finished in the 1960s — white marble, severe lines, and best at dusk when it is lit.
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Merewether Tower
Clock tower in Karachi, Pakistan.
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National Museum of Pakistan
In Burns Garden, a short drive from Saddar.
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PAF Museum
On the edge of PAF Base Faisal by the Karsaz flyover, the Pakistan Air Force Museum has more than 50 aircraft, radars and missiles, many displayed outdoors…
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Pakistan Maritime Museum
Off Karsaz Road, run by the Navy.
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Port Grand
Port Grand is a food and entertainment complex along the 19th-century Native Jetty Bridge at the port, with restaurants, stalls and views over the harbour.
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Wazir Mansion
At the western end of M.A. Jinnah Road stands the Merewether Tower, a Gothic clock tower opened in 1892 and built from local Gizri sandstone, which once marked…
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Gadani
Gadani is the nearest beach, a long flat shoreline on the Arabian Sea with a fishing community and a ship-breaking yard beside it.
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Hanna Lake
Ten kilometres out, a reservoir ringed by hills, and the standard afternoon trip.
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Hazarganji-Chiltan National Park
South-west of the city, and the home of the Chiltan wild goat.
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Urak Valley
Orchards and a stream, and the best of the fruit country in blossom season.
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Bukkur island
The old fortified island between the banks, called the Gate of Sindh.
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Sadh Belo
A Hindu temple complex on an island in the middle of the Indus, reached by boat, and still in use.
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Sukkur Barrage
Best seen from the bank in the late afternoon, when the light is off the water and the gates are open.
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Keenjhar Lake
North of the town, and one of the largest freshwater lakes in the country.
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Makli Necropolis
A UNESCO World Heritage Site covering several square kilometres, with monumental tombs from the fourteenth to eighteenth centuries.
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Shah Jahan Mosque
Finished 1659, and covered in blue and turquoise tile.
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Quaid-e-Azam Residency
The wooden colonial house where Jinnah spent his final weeks, now a national monument.
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The juniper forest
The largest in Pakistan and considered the second largest of its kind anywhere.