Tours in Pakistan

Start in Lahore, because that is where most visitors to Pakistan start and where you will want to slow down. Walk in through Delhi Gate and the city closes around you. Lanes narrow, balconies lean in, and every doorway seems to sell something different: spices, bangles, brass, fried dough. Come in the morning, before the heat, and let the Walled City wake up around you.

Inside it, the big names sit close together. Wazir Khan Mosque is covered in tilework that stops you in the middle of a lane. Lahore Fort has courtyards and the mirrored halls of Sheesh Mahal. Badshahi Mosque opens onto a vast courtyard where you take your shoes off and just stand for a while. Hazuri Bagh, the garden beside it, is where you step back and get the picture. Then finish the way Lahoris do, with strong sweet chai and something fried on Food Street. Take socks for the mosque floors, and expect crowds.

Go north and the country changes shape. The Karakoram and the Hindu Kush rise above valleys like Hunza, Skardu and Swat, with orchards, rope bridges and roads that make every journey slow. Islamabad is calm and green, set against the Margalla Hills, and Rawalpindi next door is louder and older in feel. Peshawar's bazaars and Karachi's sea air and street food are another country again. Down the Indus, Multan and Sindh bring shrines, blue tile and long evenings.

We only sell one tour here for now, the Lahore walk, and it is a good place to begin. But Pakistan is far bigger than one city. If you want Mohenjo-daro, Taxila, Fairy Meadows or a day in Peshawar, ask. A local guide can take the request and shape it around you.