12 Best Pakistan Travel Guide Books of All Time

1: Pakistan Traveller

Budget version –  by Tim Blight

Dare to take the road less traveled with the world’s most comprehensive travel guidebook to Pakistan! Discover this intriguing and diverse country with the second edition of this fully researched, up-to-date travel guide. From the atmospheric streets of Lahore’s frenetic Walled City to the isolated forts of the Cholistan Desert and the glacier-carved peaks of the Hunza Valley. From the dancing Sufis at the evocative shrines in Sindh to the colorful and unique traditions of the Kalash.

This guidebook covers Pakistan in nine fascinating regions; – Lahore and Eastern Punjab – Islamabad and Northern Punjab – Faisalabad and Western Punjab – Multan and Southern Punjab – Karachi and surrounds – Sukkur and Interior Sindh – Abbottabad and the Kaghan Valley – The Chitral Valley – Gilgit-Baltistan There are listings of recommended sights, hotels, eating spots, transport information and health facilities in each location, from the big cities down to the smaller towns.

Featuring; – More than 50 cross-referenced maps – Cultural tips, history and a cuisine guide to help you get the most out of your experience – Planning section to assist you in designing the perfect adventure. – Practical information, including detailed safety information, and dedicated safety notes for each destination, to ease the way while you’re there. – Basic Urdu phrase guide to break down the language barrier. – Links to blog posts with real stories from the road.

2: Culture Shock! Pakistan – A Guide to Customs and Etiquette

By Zafar Ihsan & Karin Mittmann

Whether you travel for business, pleasure, or a combination of the two, the ever-popular “Culture Shock!” series belongs in your backpack or briefcase. Get the nuts-and-bolts information you need to survive and thrive wherever you go. “Culture Shock!” country guides are easy-to-read, accurate, and entertaining crash courses in local customs and etiquette. “Culture Shock!” practical guides offer the inside information you need whether you’re a student, a parent, a globetrotter, or a working traveler. “Culture Shock!” at your Door guides equip you for daily life in some of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities. And “Culture Shock!

“Success Secrets guides offer relevant, practical information with the real-life insights and cultural know-how that can make the difference between business success and failure.Each “Culture Shock!” title is written by someone who’s lived and worked in the country, and each book is packed with practical, accurate, and enjoyable information to help you find your way and feel at home (show less)

3: Insight Guide Pakistan

By Tony Holliday, Tony Halliday

Insight Guide: Pakistan provides everything you’ll ever need in a guidebook. It is an inspiring background read, an invaluable on-the-spot companion and a superior souvenir of your visit. Evocative photography-Insight Guides are renowned for their great pictures, which vividly convey a sense of everyday life. Illuminating text-Expert writers bring to life Pakistan’s history, culture, arts, politics and, above all, the variety of its people. Incisive evaluations-From Karachi to the Khyber Pass, Punjab to Peshawar, Sindh to Swat, and the Karakoram to the Hindu Kush, it’s all here.

Detailed maps-All major sites are highlighted on specially drawn maps. Full listings-All the travel details, hotels, eating places and phone numbers you’ll need.

4: Pakistan & the Karakoram Highway

Lonely Planet – Sarina Singh, Lindsay Brown, Paul Clammer, Rodney Cocks

Travel the Karakoram Highway along the route of the fabled Silk Road
Come face to face with ancient Indus Valley civilizations at Moenjodaro
Answer the call of a million-dollar mosque with rocketing minarets and tent-like design
Wind along narrow roads from Peshawar to the legendary Khyber Pass

In This Guide:

Six authors beating every possible path for over 70 weeks of research
Packed with detail, including history and culture analysis, safety advice and the best Himalayan treks. Comprehensive coverage of the entire country and beyond, from Karachi into China’s Kashgar.

5: Pakistan – Wink Travel Guide

Pakistan is a large country (1.5 times the size of France) in South Asia at the crossroads of Central Asia, East Asia and South Asia.

Located along the Arabian Sea, it is surrounded by Afghanistan to the west and northwest, although Tajikistan is separated by the Wakhan Corridor, Iran to the southwest and also shares a maritime boundary with Oman, The Republic of India is to the east, and China to the northeast.

It is strategically located astride the ancient trade routes of the Khyber and Bolan passes between the countries of South-Central Asia and rest of Southern Asia.

Wink Travel Guides introduce you to the best world travel destinations, in a clear and concise way, illustrated by photos.

6: Karachi – Wink Travel Guide

Karachi, the noisy, bustling, ever-growing troubled metropolis of Pakistan, lies on the eastern coast of the Arabian Sea, just northwest of the Indus river delta

It offers a remarkable variety of attractions and activities – from sunny, sandy beaches and scurf-infested old colonial buildings, still preserved and in some cases inhabited, to traditional bazaars and modern shopping malls

Upscale luxury hotels overlook modish restaurants with flavors from all over the nation and much of the world. They make the city a hotspot for local and tourist activity

Wink Travel Guides introduce you to the best world travel destinations, in a clear and concise way, illustrated by photos

7: Multan – Wink Travel Guide

Multan is one of the oldest cities in the Asian subcontinent. According to Hindu legends, it was the capital of the Trigarta Kingdom at the time of the Mahabharata war, ruled by the Katoch Dynasty

The city of Multan is in southern Punjab province at almost the exact centre of Pakistan. The area around the city is a flat, alluvial plain and is ideal for agriculture, with many citrus and mango farms

There are many canals that cut across the Multan District, providing water for nearby farms. This makes the land very fertile. However land close to the Chenab is usually flooded in the monsoon season

Wink Travel Guides introduce you to the best world travel destinations, in a clear and concise way, illustrated by photos

8: Peshawar – Wink Travel Guide

Peshawar is a relatively prosperous frontier city in Pakistan near the Pakistan-Afghan border, which gives it a distinct Afghan flavor. Peshawar is the capital and largest city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

It sits in a large valley near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, known as “City on the Frontier”, its strategic location on the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia has made it one of the most culturally vibrant and lively cities in the greater region. Peshawar is irrigated by various canals of the Kabul River and by its right tributary, the Bara River

The city is the major educational, political and business center of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Peshawar’s recorded history goes back as far as at least 539 BC, making it the oldest living city in South Asia

Wink Travel Guides introduce you to the best world travel destinations, in a clear and concise way, illustrated by photos

9: Lahore – Wink Travel Guide

Lahore is Pakistan’s second-largest city after Karachi and the capital of the north-eastern Punjab province

It is widely considered the country’s cultural capital. The heart of Lahore is the Walled or Inner City, a very densely populated area of about one square kilometer.

Founded in legendary times, and a cultural centre for over a thousand years, Lahore has many attractions for the tourist.

The Mughal and Sikh legacy survives in the Lahore Fort, Badshahi Mosque and Gurdwara, the Mall is lined with colonial-gothic buildings from the British Raj, and the suburbs of Gulberg and Defence feature palatial mansions and trendy shopping districts

Wink Travel Guides introduce you to the best world travel destinations, in a clear and concise way, illustrated by photos.

10: Islamabad – Wink Travel Guide

Islamabad has been the capital of Pakistan since 1960 when the capital city was moved from Karachi. Although it is only the ninth-largest city of Pakistan, together with its neighboring twin city of Rawalpindi, the greater Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area is the third-largest conurbation with a population of over 4.5 million inhabitants

It is known as a relatively clean, calm and green city by Pakistan standards. It hosts a large number of diplomats, politicians and government employees

The city is a modern, well planned, well maintained and well-organized international city on the Pothohar Plateau in the north-eastern part of Pakistan, within the Islamabad Capital Territory and regarded as the most developed city in Pakistan. It has the highest literacy rate in Pakistan and, like Canberra in Australia, is surrounded by hills

Wink Travel Guides introduce you to the best world travel destinations, in a clear and concise way, illustrated by photos.

11: Footprint Pakistan Handbook – The Travel Guide

Written by Dave Winter

The award-winning Footprint Handbooks series has been capturing worldwide attention and admiration for 75 years! Now this excellent series has been revamped to better serve world travelers. With its larger typeface, color sections and maps, bigger trim size, and travel-tough covers, Footprint Handbooks are more durable and easier to use. The series still is the best resource for comprehensive maps and vital information, making Footprint Handbooks indispensable tools for world travelers.

• Air and land transportation information
• Recommendations for restaurants and places to stay for any budget
• Highlights of virtually every site and town, including local history, culture, customs, and etiquette
• Money-saving tips and advice on staying healthy.

12: A hardened explores guide to Pakistan – Mystical Sindh

Written by Alexander MCcaan

“Why the hell would anyone think of travelling to a war-torn country full of Islamic extremism, suicide bombings and generally people just wanting to kill you, right? That’s what you’re thinking? If you’ve decided to read this book it’s either that your just curious or that your actually planning to visit Pakistan and don’t know what to expect.

As you have researched on Google and opened lonely planet you found written in italics it said “Pakistan is the difficult child of South Asia – blessed with abundant natural and historical riches, but plagued by political instability, which has kept the country off the radar for all but the most hardened explorers” and you thought twice about whether you should be visiting or not.

This is exactly what happened to me, I just didn’t know what to expect. Me being a “hardened explorer” asked myself, is it really so unstable that only the more adventurous of us can go? Or is it just the perception of a few western media outlets who try to portray Pakistan as a no-go country. I wanted to find out for myself………” This book reflects the authors’ personal experiences and accounts while travelling to Pakistan. This book is the first part in the series of ‘A hardened explores guide to Pakistan’. This book consists of two writing styles; writing in italics indicates the author’s personal memoir whilst normal font describes places factually.

This book consists of real-life experiences and the author has tried to keep the book neutral and free from all biased. This part is a travel guide/memoir of the province of Sindh, Pakistan. this includes Karachi, Sehwan/the tomb of laal shahbaz qalandar, Kot diji, Sukkur and mohenjo daro.