Last Updated on: 24th February 2026, 11:31 am
Islamabad is Pakistan’s capital, though it ranks only tenth in population with just over a million residents. Unlike most South Asian cities, it’s a planned city built from scratch in the 1960s. Foreign visitors typically land in Islamabad before heading further north to Gilgit-Baltistan. But despite being so new and largely residential, there are enough things to do in Islamabad to warrant at least a full day of sightseeing.
The city was designed by Greek architect Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis. And much like India’s Chandigarh, which was planned and built around the same time, Islamabad is divided into ‘superblocks,’ each intended to function as a self-contained neighborhood.
But in actual practice, you’ll find yourself spending quite a bit of time on the road as you go from place to place. In any case, Islamabad has certainly earned its ‘Green City’ moniker.
Though it feels very new, Islamabad falls within the ancient Gandhara region – long one of Asia’s most important and influential crossroads of civilizations. Just 35 km northwest of the capital is Taxila, and you should absolutely set an extra day aside to make it out there.
Following this guide to Islamabad, you can learn more about transportation and accommodation options at the end of the article.
The Shakarparian Hills
Shakarparian National Park is a vast green area that’s also home to some important landmarks. The Lok Virsa Heritage Museum and the Pakistan Monument are both located in its northwest corner. But no transport goes there.
Using the InDriver app, I visited the Pakistan Monument first, and then walked to the Lok Virsa Heritage Museum. But when finished, I had a very difficult time finding a way out of the park (more on that below).
As such, I’d recommend first getting dropped off at the Lok Virsa Heritage Museum. When finished, walk up to the Pakistan Monument, outside of which you should be able to find a few motorbike drivers looking for passengers.
The Lok Virsa Heritage Museum
Opened in 1974, the Lok Virsa Heritage Museum is Islamabad’s premier museum. It’s largely an ethnology and anthropology museum, focusing on Pakistan’s diverse ethnic groups, religions, and regional cultures.
The museum can be tricky to find. As mentioned, it’s located in the northwest portion of the Shakarparian Hills. But the museum building is tucked within a larger complex and surrounded by various other structures, some of which appear abandoned.
I entered through a gate where a guard confirmed the place was indeed open, but I still had to search a while for the main building. In any case, there are some interesting monuments scattered around the grounds.
At the time of writing, the museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00-19:00. Entry costs 1,500 PKR for foreigners.
Unfortunately, photography with proper cameras isn’t allowed, but cellphone pics are permitted.
The museum starts with exhibits on the Indus Valley Civilization and ancient Gandhara, then moves through various cultural and religious traditions.
One room is entirely dedicated to Sufism (Islamic mysticism). Pakistan has been home to many prominent Sufi saints throughout its history, and certain saints’ mausoleums remain important pilgrimage spots for the faithful.
Other exhibits cover regional cultures, from the Baloch to the Kalash.
Some exhibits even feature more recent phenomena, such as Pakistan’s colorful truck art.
Notably, the museum doesn’t focus solely on Pakistan. Some exhibits are dedicated to Pakistan’s allies, including China, Iran, and various Central Asian republics (plus a small room for Turkey).
Despite being the capital’s primary museum, the Lok Virsa Heritage Museum only features a handful of original artifacts. This contrasts sharply with the Lahore Museum, Pakistan’s flagship museum known for its large original collections.
And much closer to Islamabad is the Taxila Museum, which is home to an excellent collection of original Gandhara Buddhist art.
The Pakistan Monument
Inaugurated in 2007, the Pakistan Monument was designed by Arif Masoud, winner of a national architecture competition.
The design fuses modern elements with traditional Mughal muqarnas (ornamental vaulting) and is constructed primarily from granite imported from Brazil, of all places.
The monument consists of seven granite petals arranged to resemble a blooming flower. And when viewed from the sky, it sort of resembles the crescent seen on Pakistan’s flag.
The four large petals represent the country’s main ethnic groups: Punjabi, Baloch, Sindhi, and Pashtun. The three smaller petals, meanwhile, represent Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Pakistan’s religious minorities.
Inside, murals depict key figures and landmarks from Pakistani history. These include Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, Fatima Jinnah, his sister, the ‘Mother of the Nation,’ and Allama Iqbal, a national poet and philosopher.
Various important landmarks from around the country are also featured, including the Badshahi Mosque and Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore, and Islamabad’s own Faisal Mosque.
Speaking of Faisal Mosque, you can actually see it clearly from the Pakistan Monument’s viewing platform, despite it being situated on the opposite side of the city. It really is that big.
Entry to the monument is free, though there is an on-site museum which charges 300 PKR. As they don’t allow photography, I decided to skip it.
The Shakarparian View Point
Another area of interest in the Shakarparian Hills is the Shakarparian View Point, where you’ll find a peaceful and well-manicured park. There are a couple of restaurants in the area, making this a good place to stop for lunch.
Leaving Shakarparian
As mentioned above, I’d recommend visitors without their own car save the Pakistan Monument for last, as you should find some motorbike taxis waiting outside.
In my case, I visited the Shakarparian View Point last and wasn’t quite sure what to do next, as no drivers from the apps would come out that far.
And so I walked down a secluded forest trail, forgetting for a moment that I was in the heart of a capital city.
Eventually, I made it to a building called the Pakistan-China Friendship Center. But even here, after multiple attempts and a lot of waiting around, no drivers would come out to me.
And so I ended up having to walk along the highway to make it to the nearest residential area. Only then could I finally hail a driver. The whole ordeal took up so much time that I had to cancel my other sightseeing plans for the day.
You can learn more about getting around Islamabad below, but this goes to show that being the ‘Green City’ does come with some drawbacks. Trying to get around here without a car is similar to doing so in American suburbia.
With all that said, I do quite like Islamabad overall.
Saidpur Village
Nestled in the foothills of the Margalla Hills, Saidpur Village dates back to the Mughal era. It was founded in 1530, and then later gifted by Emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605) to Said Khan Gakhar. It was a reward for his family’s efforts in the fight against Afghan general Sher Shah Suri.
And later, Gakhar’s daughter even married Akbar’s son, the future Emperor Janhangir! And Jahangir was believed to have stayed here once on the way to Kabul.
But according to some legends, Saidpur Village was inhabited long before the Mughal era.
Some Hindus believe that this is one of the places where Rama, his wife Sita, and his brother Lakshmana stayed during their fourteen-year exile.
As described in the Ramayana, despite being next in line to rule Ayutthaya, Rama’s stepmother Kaikeyi urged King Dasharatha to let her own son, Baratha, be declared the official heir instead. And Kaikeyi also forced the king to banish Rama to the forest for fourteen years!
And it’s during these years of exile that many of the important events of the epic unfold. (Another supposed exile location I visited was Nashik, Maharashtra.)
In the 16th century, numerous ponds were built here in dedicated to characters from the epic, along with Ram Kund Temple.
This was thanks to Raja Man Singh I of the Kingdom of Amber (later Kingdom of Jaipur) who visited Saidpur in 1580. (Many Hindu Rajput kingdoms had pledged allegiance to the Mughal Empire.)
And later in the 20th century, a Sikh gurudwara was constructed nearby. Before the Partition of 1947, this region was home to a large population of both Sikhs and Hindus.
Hiking in the Margalla Hills is often touted as one of the best things to do in Islamabad. And there are various hikes to choose from beginning at different starting points, some of which are listed on the AllTrails app.
But as I would be doing plenty of hiking further north in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, I chose not to do any long hikes here.
Still, I wanted to walk a bit into the mountains near Saidpur Village to get a sense of the area.
On the way, I met some friendly local teenagers who wanted to come with me and chat. We walked together for a bit and I wanted to keep going, but they were adamant that the trail we were walking on was a dead end.
Walking back through Saidpur Village to get to the main road, it’s clear that officials are trying to develop this into a trendy area, complete with cafes and art galleries. But much of what I passed by seemed closed.
Faisal Mosque
The planned city of Islamabad was completed without a main mosque. So at the suggestion of the Saudi King Faisal, officials decided to build one near the Margalla Hills.
And it was also Faisal who largely funded the mosque’s construction, contributing $28 million dollars to the project. But the king was assassinated before being able to see its completion.
Construction began in 1978, with the first prayer taking place a decade later. The monumental project was designed by Turkish architect Vedat Dalokayn, who beat out 16 other architects in a design competition.
Unlike typical mosques, it lacks any domes. But the sleek and modern design did indeed take inspiration from ancient tradition – namely Bedouin tents.
Furthermore, the overall design, complete with its towering minarets, is said to be an abstract representation of the Kaaba.
Speaking of the minarets, they were built in the Ottoman style, and each one reaches up to a staggering 90 m high.
Faisal Mosque, in fact, was the world’s largest mosque upon in its completion, and remained so until 1986. It now ranks sixth at the time of writing.
Unfortunately, the interior was closed at the time of my visit. But it’s said to be able to host as many as 10,000 worshippers at once.
Unable to go inside, I walked around the outer marble courtyard. But under the midday sun, the ground was scorching on my bare feet!
Faisal Mosque is also surrounded by a pleasant garden compound from which you can enjoy a view of the mosque with the scenic Margalla Hills in the background.
Additional Info
Islamabad is a massive, sprawling city, so you’re going to do a lot of moving around regardless of where you stay.
As mentioned above, it’s divided into ‘superblocks,’ each of which is supposed to have everything you need – at least in theory. You’ll still find yourself needing to travel for certain tasks or shopping, not to mention sightseeing.
Islamabad doesn’t have a proper center, but the closest thing is the so-called ‘Blue Area,’ a strip of shops between the F and G sectors. A good midrange option here is The Avenue Hotel.
F7, meanwhile, is one of the city’s most modern and convenient districts and is often recommended to tourists. A highly-rated choice is Grand Peace House II.
In my case, I ended up staying in the district of G9/4, which ended up to be a really memorable experience. I simply chose Oriole Guest House because it seemed to be the cheapest private room in Islamabad that had mostly positive reviews (but wow – they seem to have gotten review bombed and the score’s gone way down).
It wasn’t until arriving that I realized it was right in the heart of Islamabad’s Afghan district. And since I already had plans to visit Afghanistan next, it served as a nice little introduction to Afghan cuisine. (Many people here also told me they came from Kashmir.)
I stayed here for an extended period both before and after visiting Gilgit-Baltistan (and the hotel kindly looked after my luggage during the two weeks I was away) and I ended up becoming friendly with numerous shopkeepers, almost feeling part of the little community.
G9/4 is probably not for everyone, though, as it’s both a bit out of the way and not at all modern.
For a planned city divided into neat squares, you’d think the streets would follow a simple grid system. making it easy to get from one district to the next.
On the contrary, each massive superblock almost functions as its own little island, with often only two or three direct roads connecting it with the neighboring district. So two places that may appear really close on the map may actually be a pain to reach – even with a vehicle.
Also because of this, public transport in the city is abysmal, as the road layout makes normal bus routes impossible.
Islamabad, however, does have a Metro Bus system. But in contrast to Lahore’s, which can take you to some of the city’s major tourist attractions, the Metro Bus system doesn’t seem to go anywhere tourists would want to go.
Therefore, the best way to get around is ridesharing apps. Careem, which is similar to Uber, works fine here. But most drivers seem to be on InDriver, an app that has the rider set a price, after which various drivers will respond with an offer.
I didn’t like the system at first, but gradually got the hang of it over time. The main problem with InDriver is that sometimes the app completely glitches out, telling you that the driver has already arrived when he’s actually nowhere close. They will even end up charging you a penalty if you don’t reach the car soon enough (which is impossible when it’s kilometers away). Customer support, at least, will refund the money when those issues occur.
BY BUS
For those traveling domestically, most people will be coming by bus. Major companies in Pakistan include Faisal Movers and Daewoo, which offer modern and comfortable buses.
Depending on the company, you can sometimes book tickets through their apps, but other times you might have to call if you can’t make it to the bus terminal in person.
A lot of buses will come in and out of Rawalpindi, a bustling city of around 5 million situated just south of Islamabad. To get to and from Rawalpindi from the capital area, using a ridesharing app is ideal. (But I’ve also found to taxi drivers to be quite honest here.)
When I arrived in Islamabad, I came on a Faisal Movers bus from Lahore, and I got dropped off at the Faizabad Bus Station situated in between Islamabad and Rawalpindi. But it’s not always clear where you’re going to arrive.
When traveling between Islamabad and the Gilgit-Baltistan region (Skardu, Gilgit or Karimabad), most foreigners are going to use the NATCO bus company which departs from Rawalpindi. For various reasons, a lot of other companies refuse to take foreign passengers.
BY PLANE
Internationally, Islamabad can be reached directly from cities like London, Dubai, Istanbul, Bangkok, Tashkent, Kabul, Beijing, and even Urumqi.
To avoid a grueling 15-20 hour bus ride (and that’s if no major problems occur) to the Gilgit-Baltistan region, many opt to fly. Flights exist between Islamabad and Gilgit and Skardu, but cancellations are frequent, so it would be wise to anticipate a bus ride as Plan B. (I did it twice and survived!)
What if you’re mainly coming to Pakistan to explore the north and only have one full day in Islamabad? Given its major importance to world history, art, and religion, visiting Taxila should take top priority.
Fortunately, tours like this one can take you to the main sites of Taxila combined with some of the top things to do in Islamabad described above.