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Islamabad and Rawalpindi

 
 

Our expert Pakistan

Islamabad and Rawalpindi

Islamabad and Rawalpindi Islamabad and Rawalpindi The 'Thousand and One Nights' feel of the bazaars of Rawalpindi are far preferable to the proud modernism of Islamabad, which is still too dull for a country which is otherwise so rich in colour. © Bruno Morandi

Islamabad, the administrative capital city, and Rawalpindi, an old English garrison town, make a fairly large, rapidly growing coupled city. Built in 1961, Islamabad is a new, very modern city, with its well organized urban planning, endowed with numerous gardens and shaded avenues, noise- and pollutionless, but mortally boring. The flat and deadly landscape of residential districts as straight as dice are overlooked by the Shah Faysal mosque which, with its spindle-shaped minarets and concrete dome, looks like of a vast orbital platform. With its noisy bazaar maze, Rawalpindi offers more contrast and a much livelier atmosphere.

Towns

Other reasons to go

  1.   Landscapes

  2.   Monuments

  3.   Hikes