What’s your recommended 5 day itinerary for Islamabad

[waheed.arshad0]

Will be in Islamabad in February insha’Allah. Could stay between 2-5 days depending on what there is to do.

Certainly not enough time to do any justice with visiting even the nearest parts of Northern area.

So, for an overseas Pakistani, what would you recommend itinerary or places to visit in Islamabad and surrounding areas over 2-5 days?

Recommend to stay in one hotel as a base or move around?

[dayrider]

Depends on the purpose of the trip and your interests

[capsat]

@asifcae @rehankillbill @nagar1
nearest location is Kashmir, can cover Muzaffarabad, Hatyan Bala, Neelum valley, in 4 days tops.

[chinyoti]

Day 1
Monal,
Daman e koh

Day2
Khanpur Dam.
Mabali island

Day3
Roam around
Faisal masjid,
Pakistan monument if you are into that stuff.

Else go off too.

Bhurban,
NathiaGali.

Alot of good places to stay in NathiaGali and Bhurban
Murree isn't worth in my personal opinion.

In Islamabad you can roam around f6 and f7 markets good entries and chai in night and evening hours.

[asifcae]

i think neelum is out coz it will coveredin snow... in feb.. lower kashmir valley is good... chakoti chinari rawalakot etc...........even bajosa lake can be visited in snow........

[waheed.arshad0]

Thank you, this is very helpful.

So for those that are asking, my destination is Faislabad but I’m arriving in Islamabad and don’t mind stopping there a few days.

I won’t have family with me so it gives me more options to roam around.

Im not interested in Murree at all as snow etc is the least of my fascinations.

It would be good to see the main sights-seeing places in Islamabad just for the appreciation. I like to do things on foot too, like a bit of light-trekking. If Nathia-gali is doable in winter within a day then of course إن شاء الله‎

[dayrider]

If you like trekking, do trail 5 Islamabad, trail 7 Islamabad, and then go to nathia for a night, and do muskpuri, though it would be snow trekking so get gear accordingly

[waheed.arshad0]

thanks, travelling light so want to avoid any specific gear. Layering-up is fine as well as trekking shoes.

The easy option is to tag along with a tour group but sometimes easiest option can sometimes mean least enjoyed as you end up going places you might not be interested in and spend less time where you actually might like to. The obvious advantage is it's all managed for you and you get to see more places.

What are your thoughts on self-arranging transport and hotel and then finding way round treks?

[dayrider]

If you have the budget for it, rent a car, book a hotel, go wherever you want, tours aren't something that one suggests to a local, unless you can't speak urdu and have never been to Pakistan before, that's an entirely different scenario

[waheed.arshad0]

when you say rent a car, you mean self drive or with driver?

I wouldn't be wanting to drive in Pakistani towns & cities. Most of Islamabad is ok but venture away at peril.

Still always risk of being ripped off too
One way taxi via Careem/OnRide etc is easy but usually it's when you're out in the sticks and want a taxi back. You're at their mercy. Wouldn't mind a shared bus service such as bus/wagon

What websites do people use for finding/booking hotels?

[dayrider]

Booking.com, airbnb, roomy.com, most of the big hotels have their own websites. Depends on your budget.
As for Careem, taxi or in driver, they are good for usual times but stuck somewhere with bad weather or at odd hours, becomes slightly frustrating as they love to capitalize on the situation. Rent a car with driver is good enough.

[waheed.arshad0]

thanks, had never heard of roomy. Will check it out. Have already been using Booking/Agoda and in fact booked a guest house stay in Islamabad last year with Airbnb

I see a lot of car rental firms advertise a car around te 4000Rs/day mark. Presumably that excludes fuel?
How does one agree on fuel consumed?

I think taxis/careem have their place in point to point travel when it's just a to b and possibly c... any more than that and having car for full day is better

[chinyoti]

You can easily rent a good toyota Corolla with driver around rs.3500 + Petrol

The driver can take you places.

Roomy is a local hotel chain with hotels in north and islamabad with decent prices and very good locations. The roomy islamabad is located in f6 all food eateries/Groceries/Medical are by walk.

[waheed.arshad0]

thank you. How do you agree how petrol will be worked out?
Agree a price per km driven?

haggling is one of least enjoyable parts of any holiday as is being taken advantage of

[chinyoti]

you get a car with a tank full, You return it with a tank full. some exeptions are acceptable by both the parties.

[dayrider]

Remember that the driver is usually your headache, so best to clarify that first, because finding him a place to stay and eat is hectic when the car is to stay 24 hours.
As for rentals, it's a wee bit annoying usually as there is no accountability in this country, so best to go for tried and tested things, if you don't know any, then the expensive avis rentals is the way to go

[waheed.arshad0]

yes, so i think if i plan my itinerary first then I will know what transport options to use. Hence my preference was careem as it's very similar to what we use in UK and my experience of using it last year was mostly good.

Last year I tried booking Avis for 2 weeks but apparently it was unavailable. Booked with car owner through reference but then he let me down on the day.

B2C relationship in pakistan is very poor, in my limited experience. Huge opportunities if it was improved. But that's a discussion for another forum section.

[dayrider]

You could also just find someone you know and a car driver from them for the entire trip, airport to airport