3 Days in Islamabad: Pakistan's Most Liveable Capital

Islamabad is unlike any other South Asian capital — a planned city built from scratch in the 1960s, with wide boulevards, forested hills, and an unhurried pace that startles visitors expecting chaos. It’s Pakistan’s most liveable city and, for international visitors, the safest and most accessible entry point for exploring the country.

Day 1 – Faisal Mosque, Margalla Hills & Pakistan Monument

Morning: The Faisal Mosque — named after the Saudi king who funded it, completed in 1986 — is Pakistan’s largest mosque and one of the largest in the world (300,000 worshippers). The design is extraordinary: instead of traditional domes, architect Vedat Dalokay designed a desert tent form in brilliant white marble, surrounded by four 90-metre minarets. The mosque sits against the Margalla Hills backdrop — the setting is one of the most dramatic of any mosque globally.

Visitors are welcome outside prayer times. Dress code: covered head (for women), remove shoes, modest clothing.

Afternoon: Hike into the Margalla Hills National Park — green forested hills directly behind the capital, with marked trails and extraordinary views over the city. Trail 3 (3km loop) is the most popular. Monkeys, wild boar, and peacocks are regularly spotted. The 4km drive up to Daman-e-Koh viewpoint gives a panoramic view over Islamabad’s grid and the surrounding plains.

Evening: Pakistan Monument — a remarkable flower-shaped marble monument opened in 2007, representing national unity through four petals representing the four provinces. The adjacent museum traces Pakistan’s history from independence in 1947. The monument is illuminated beautifully at night.

Dinner in F-7 Jinnah Super market area — Islamabad’s most cosmopolitan neighbourhood with excellent cafés, bakeries, and restaurants. Try Monal Restaurant on the Margalla Hills for Pakistani cuisine with a city panorama.

Day 2 – Rawalpindi: The Old City Next Door

Rawalpindi (Pindi) is Islamabad’s twin city — the historic city that Islamabad was built next to. It has all the atmosphere that Islamabad deliberately avoided.

Morning: Qissa Khwani Bazaar equivalent — Rawalpindi’s Raja Bazaar is one of South Asia’s most atmospheric old city markets. Walk the covered lanes of Ganj Mandi (food wholesale market), Moti Bazaar (pearls and gemstones), and the metalwork shops of the Kashmiri Bazaar. The 19th-century Maharaja Sikh-era buildings survive alongside Mughal-period mosques.

Liaquat Bagh — a public garden of historical significance (where Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan was assassinated in 1951, and Benazir Bhutto in 2007). Sobering and historically significant.

Afternoon: Rawalpindi Clock Tower and the colonial-era Mall Road — the British administrative spine of the old city. The Pakistan Army Museum (permission may be required) has extensive military history from the 1947 partition wars through to the present.

Evening: Peshawari food in Rawalpindi’s Karahi Gali — the lane of karahi specialists cooking over open flames. Peshawari karahi (different spice profile to Lahori), handi biryani, and seekh kebabs.

Day 3 – Taxila: UNESCO Heritage Site

Drive 40km northwest from Islamabad to Taxila — one of South Asia’s greatest archaeological sites, a UNESCO World Heritage Site containing the ruins of three successive cities spanning 1,000 years of history: the Bhir Mound (5th–3rd century BCE), Sirkap (2nd century BCE – 2nd century CE), and Sirsukh (1st–5th century CE).

Taxila was one of the ancient world’s greatest centres of learning — the original university city of South Asia (the Taxila university system preceded the European university concept by 1,000 years). The Taxila Museum has an outstanding collection of Gandharan sculpture.

Key sites (walk between them): Dharmarajika Stupa — one of the oldest stupas in South Asia (3rd century BCE); the excavated city of Sirkap — a Hellenistic-influenced city grid; and the Jaulian Buddhist Monastery (2nd–5th century CE) with remarkably intact stupa courts and monastery cells.

Return to Islamabad for evening.

Practical Tips

• F-7 and F-6 sectors: The best areas for restaurants, cafés, and walking. Safe and cosmopolitan.
• Dress conservatively — Islamabad is more relaxed than other Pakistani cities but still conservative by South Asian standards.
• Café culture: Islamabad has a surprisingly good café scene — Comsats Road, Super Market area. Good coffee and clean, comfortable settings.
• Transport: Hire a driver for the day (~€25–40) for comfort and reliability. Careem (Pakistan’s Uber equivalent) works in Islamabad/Rawalpindi.
• Safety: Islamabad is considered Pakistan’s safest city for tourists. Standard urban awareness applies.