3 days
Easy
Lahore Heritage: the Walled City, the Mughal Monuments and Wagah
Three days in Lahore: the Walled City, the fort, Badshahi and Wazir Khan mosques, Shalimar Gardens and the Wagah border ceremony.
Quoted in USD on request
View itineraryTour for international travellers
Pakistan Highlights: Islamabad, Taxila, Lahore and Multan
This circuit crosses Punjab from the modern capital to Multan, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Asia, and takes in three World Heritage Sites on the way: Taxila, Rohtas Fort and the fort and gardens of Lahore. It is a private tour by road, with a guide and driver from airport pickup to airport drop-off, and it stays out of the areas that the UK government advises against.
- Duration
- 10 days
- Starts and ends
- Islamabad to Multan or Lahore
- Best months
- October to March
- Effort
- Easy: city sightseeing, with three road days of 4 to 6 hours
- Highest point
- About 730 m at the Daman-e-Koh viewpoint above Islamabad
- Price
- Quoted in USD
The route
Day by day
- The Buddhist ruins and museum of Taxila, a World Heritage Site since 1980
- Rohtas Fort, with 4 km of walls built for Sher Shah Suri from 1541
- Lahore Fort, Badshahi Mosque, Wazir Khan Mosque and the Shalimar Gardens
- The flag-lowering ceremony at the Wagah border
- Harappa, a city of the Indus Valley Civilisation
- The tiled Sufi tombs of Multan and Uch Sharif
This is a private tour. Dates, pace and hotels are set for your group and confirmed in writing with your quote.
Travel advice, October 2026: As of October 2026 the UK Foreign Office (advice updated 22 September 2026) does not advise against travel to any place on this route: Islamabad, Taxila, the Grand Trunk Road through Punjab, Lahore, Harappa, Multan and Uch Sharif. It advises against all but essential travel within 5 miles of the Indian border, with the road to Wagah and the border ceremony as a named exception, and to Dera Ghazi Khan, west of Multan, which this tour does not enter; it also asks visitors to take advice on local security before travelling in southern Punjab and to avoid the railways, which is why we go by road. The same advice records recent attacks in Islamabad and Lahore, and the optional stop at Jaulian is just inside Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, so check your own government's advice and your insurance before booking. Check your own government's current advice before you book.
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Day 1
Arrive in Islamabad
We meet you at Islamabad International Airport and drive about 40 km to your hotel, 45 minutes to an hour. The rest of the day is free to recover from the flight. In the evening your guide goes through the route and answers questions.
Overnight: Islamabad
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Day 2
Islamabad
A day in the capital, with short drives between stops. We visit the Faisal Mosque, completed in 1986, the Pakistan Monument on the Shakarparian hills and the Lok Virsa heritage museum, which is closed on Mondays. Late in the afternoon we go up to the Daman-e-Koh viewpoint in the Margalla Hills and down to Saidpur, a village founded in 1530, for the evening.
Overnight: Islamabad
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Day 3
Taxila
Taxila is about 37 km from central Islamabad, 45 minutes to an hour by road. We see the Taxila Museum, opened in 1928, the Dharmarajika stupa and the Indo-Greek city of Sirkap, founded around 180 BCE. The monastery of Jaulian, 7 km further on and just inside Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, is added only if your government's advice allows it. We return to Islamabad for the night.
Overnight: Islamabad
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Day 4
Rohtas Fort and the Grand Trunk Road to Lahore
We leave Islamabad on the Grand Trunk Road and reach Rohtas Fort after about 110 km and 2 hours. The fort was begun in 1541 for Sher Shah Suri; its walls run for 4 km with 68 bastions and 12 gates, and a village still lives inside them. After about two hours at the fort we continue some 200 km to Lahore, crossing the Jhelum and Chenab rivers, which takes 3.5 to 4.5 hours with traffic.
Overnight: Lahore
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Day 5
Lahore: the Walled City, the fort and Badshahi Mosque
We enter the old city at Delhi Gate, see the Shahi Hammam of 1635 and walk the old Royal Passage through the bazaars to the Wazir Khan Mosque, completed in 1641, and on to Lahore Fort, about 1.5 km in all. In the fort we see the Sheesh Mahal, the Naulakha Pavilion and the 440 m Picture Wall, then cross the Hazuri Bagh to the Badshahi Mosque, built between 1671 and 1673. Dinner is on Fort Road Food Street, which faces the mosque.
Overnight: Lahore
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Day 6
Lahore Museum, Shalimar Gardens and Wagah
The morning is for the Lahore Museum, which holds the Fasting Buddha and other Gandhara sculpture and is closed on Fridays and the first Monday of each month, and for the Shalimar Gardens, laid out in 1641 and 1642. In mid afternoon we drive about 19 km on to Wagah for the flag-lowering ceremony at the border with India, held every evening before sunset. Central Lahore is about 26 km from Wagah, 45 minutes to an hour on the way back.
Overnight: Lahore
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Day 7
Lahore to Multan by way of Harappa
Today's drive is about 355 km, 5 to 5.5 hours on the road. After about 200 km we stop at Harappa, a city of the Indus Valley Civilisation that was at its largest between 2600 and 1900 BCE, to see the site museum and walk round the excavated mounds. Multan is a further 160 km, about 2.5 hours.
Overnight: Multan
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Day 8
Multan
Multan is known as the City of Saints. On the mound of the old fort, which was destroyed when the British took the city in 1848 and 1849, stand the tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam, built between 1320 and 1324, and the shrine of Bahauddin Zakariya, founded in 1262. In the afternoon we walk through the bazaars of the old walled city to the tomb of Shah Yousaf Gardezi inside Bohar Gate and, where it can be arranged, visit a workshop making the blue pottery for which the city is known.
Overnight: Multan
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Day 9
Uch Sharif
Uch Sharif lies about 135 km south of Multan, 2 to 2.5 hours each way. Between the 12th and 17th centuries it was a centre of Sufi learning, and 17 tiled tombs survive in the old town. The best known is the tomb of Bibi Jawindi, built in 1494; half of it was washed away by floods in 1817, which leaves the tiled interior open to view. We also see the tomb and mosque of Jalaluddin Bukhari before returning to Multan.
Overnight: Multan
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Day 10
Departure from Multan, or the drive back to Lahore
Multan International Airport is about 6 km from the city centre and is listed with flights to Dubai, Sharjah, Doha, Muscat and Jeddah, and domestic flights to Karachi and Islamabad, so many travellers fly home from here. If your flight leaves from Lahore we drive you back by motorway, about 340 km and 4 to 4.5 hours to the airport.
The detail
What your quote covers
What is included
- Airport pickup and drop-off in Pakistan
- Private vehicle with an experienced driver for the whole route
- English-speaking guide throughout
- Accommodation on a twin-share basis with breakfast
- Entry tickets, park fees and permits named in the itinerary
- Visa support letter for your Pakistan e-visa
- Guided walk through the Walled City of Lahore
- Transfer to Multan airport on the last day, or the drive back to Lahore airport
What is not
- International flights
- Pakistan visa fee
- Travel insurance, which every traveller must carry
- Lunches and dinners unless stated
- Domestic flights, quoted separately with your itinerary
- Tips and personal expenses
- Camera fees at museums and monuments, where they are charged
- Extra nights or transport caused by flight changes, fog or road closures
Good to know before you book
How do I get there and back?
You fly into Islamabad and out of Multan or Lahore, so ask your airline or agent for an open-jaw ticket. Islamabad is listed with direct flights from the Gulf, Istanbul and London; Multan with flights to Dubai, Sharjah, Doha, Muscat and Jeddah; Lahore with a wider choice. Routes change, so check before you book, and tell us which airport you are leaving from so that we plan Day 10 around it.
Why do you drive from Lahore to Multan when there is a train?
There is a railway between the two cities, but the UK government advises visitors to avoid Pakistan's rail network because of the risk of terrorist attacks and derailments, and Canadian advice notes frequent rail accidents. A journey against that advice could affect your insurance, so we use a private vehicle on the motorway and stop at Harappa on the way.
How fit do I need to be? Is altitude an issue?
This is a tour of cities and monuments at low altitude, never above about 730 m. The walking is on flat ground: about three hours in the lanes of old Lahore and an hour or two at a time elsewhere. The three road days are the tiring part, at 4 to 6 hours each with stops. Multan is one of the hottest cities in Pakistan, with heat approaching 50 degrees Celsius in May and June, which is why we recommend October to March.
What are the hotels and food like?
We use comfortable hotels in Islamabad, Lahore and Multan. Meals are Pakistani for the most part: grilled meat, rice dishes, lentils, vegetables and fresh bread, with Lahore the best city for food on the route. Vegetarian meals can be arranged if you tell us when you book. Drink bottled water only.
Do I need a visa or any permits?
Almost all foreign visitors need a visa before they travel, applied for online at visa.nadra.gov.pk. The free visa prior to arrival was suspended on 1 January 2026, so expect to pay a fee that depends on your nationality and to wait 7 to 10 working days; apply at least four weeks ahead. The UK government notes that your passport must be valid for at least six months after the date of your application. We send a visa support letter when you book. No permit is needed anywhere on this route. In southern Punjab the police sometimes accompany foreign visitors to shrines and on the road; this is a local security routine, and your guide deals with it.
What happens if fog, a protest or a closure disrupts the plan?
In December and January dense fog can settle on the Punjab plain for days, closing motorways in the early morning and delaying flights; on those days we start later and shorten stops. Protests can block city roads at short notice, and we then change the order of visits. If the Wagah ceremony is suspended, as it was for several days in May 2025, we visit the tomb of the emperor Jahangir instead.
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