Multan is called the city of saints, and the name is literal rather than decorative: it holds the shrines of a great many Sufi masters, and the two largest, Bahauddin Zakariya and his great-grandson Shah Rukn-e-Alam, are among the most important religious buildings in South Asia. The city is also one of the oldest continuously inhabited places on earth, taken by Alexander in 326 BC, and a local couplet lists its four gifts as dust, heat, beggars and graveyards, which is affectionate and reasonably accurate.
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The pigeons at the top of this page are at the Bahauddin Zakariya shrine, and that is the right image to lead with, because the shrines are the whole reason to come. If Sufi architecture, blue tilework and living devotional practice interest you, Multan is the best city in Pakistan for all three and it receives almost no foreign visitors.
What Is Here
The Shrine of Shah Rukn-e-Alam, built around 1320, sits on the old fort mound and is visible from most of the city: an octagonal brick and timber tomb with a white dome, covered in blue and turquoise tilework, and it is one of the great buildings of the subcontinent. The Shrine of Bahauddin Zakariya, 1267, is nearby on the same mound and is the older and more actively devotional of the two, with qawwali music on Thursday evenings.
Other shrines worth the time: Shah Shams Sabzwari, Hazrat Musa Pak Shaheed and Shah Ali Akbar. The Multan Fort is mostly gone, demolished by the British after the 1848 siege, but the mound, the Qasim Bagh gardens and the Damdama remain. The Eidgah Mosque, 1735, has superb tilework. The Hussain Agahi bazaar in the old city is where the blue pottery, the camel-skin lamps and the khussa slippers are made and sold.
Multan's crafts are a genuine reason to come: the blue and white kashi pottery, the naqshi camel-skin lamp work which is done nowhere else, and the embroidery. And the mangoes, if you are here in June and July, are the best in Pakistan, which in context is close to saying the best anywhere.
The Heat, Which Decides When You Come
Multan is one of the hottest cities in Pakistan and the figures are not rhetorical. May and June regularly reach forty-five degrees and have gone above fifty. The air is dry, there is dust, and the afternoon in those months is genuinely dangerous rather than merely unpleasant: heatstroke here kills people every year.
November to February is the season, with daytime highs of twenty to twenty-five, cool nights down to five, and clear air. March and October are warm and manageable. The monsoon in July and August brings some rain, high humidity and no real relief.
If you can only come in summer, restructure the day completely: shrines and bazaar from six to ten in the morning, indoors from eleven to five, out again in the evening. That is what the city itself does, and the shrines are busiest and best after dark in the hot months anyway.
Visiting the Shrines
These are working places of worship with large numbers of pilgrims, not monuments, and a few specifics make the difference between being welcome and being a nuisance.
Women are admitted to both major shrines. There are generally separate areas or entrances for women, and the inner chamber at some shrines is restricted to men, which is worth knowing before you are turned back and read it as hostility. Shoes come off at the gate, where there is an attendant for a small tip. Head covering is expected for women and scarves are usually available if you have none.
Thursday evening is the main night, with qawwali at Bahauddin Zakariya and a large crowd. It is extraordinary and it is a crowd, which the terrorism section below bears on: shrines in Pakistan have been attacked, and the response is to go with someone local who knows the arrangements rather than to stay away. Photography inside the chambers is often not permitted and asking is the rule. Do not photograph women praying.
Getting There
Multan is about five hours south of Lahore and nine or ten north of Karachi, which makes it the natural overland stop between the two. The train is comfortable and cheap, with the Karachi to Lahore lines all stopping here, and the air-conditioned classes are worth booking a few days ahead. There are flights from Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad to Multan International Airport, which is twenty minutes from the centre. The motorway from Lahore is good and fast by road.
In the city, ride-hailing works and is the straightforward option, and rickshaws cover everything else for very little once a fare is agreed. The old city around the shrines is best walked, and the mound is a climb in the heat.
Is Multan Safe for Women Travelers
What is NOT advised against, which is the half most summaries leave out. LAHORE, ISLAMABAD, RAWALPINDI, KARACHI, MULTAN and the rest of PUNJAB and SOUTHERN SINDH carry no advise-against at all, and neither does GILGIT-BALTISTAN, which is the mountain region most visitors actually come for. The FCDO has specific advice for several of these and specific advice is not a prohibition: for Lahore it notes a widespread police presence alongside recent terrorist attacks on public places and security forces, and says to avoid religious events, public events and large crowds; for Islamabad it says to exercise caution in the outlying districts I-8, I-9, I-10 and I-11 and areas further west, and names the Red Mosque, Aabpara Market in G-6 and the Islamabad Press Club as protest focal points; for Karachi it records that criminal and political violence is common including armed carjacking, robbery, kidnap and murder, that major hotels and the financial district are GENERALLY SEEN AS MORE STABLE, and that eight areas carry a greater risk based on past activity: Lyari, Malir, Quaidabad, Orangi Town, Baldia Town, New Karachi Town, Surjani Town and Gulistan-e-Jouhar. In southern Punjab the advice is to take local security advice in advance.
UK FCDO: Pakistan carries both grades of warning over substantial parts of the country, and the lists are specific enough to plan around rather than vague enough to frighten. ALL TRAVEL is advised against to twenty-one districts of KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA, which the FCDO names individually: Bajaur, Bannu, Buner, Charsadda, Dera Ismail Khan, Hangu, Karak, Khyber, Kohat, Kurram, Lakki Marwat, Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Mohmand, Orakzai, PESHAWAR INCLUDING THE CITY, SWAT, Tank, North Waziristan, and Upper and Lower South Waziristan. Also to the whole of BALOCHISTAN PROVINCE; to the N45 HIGHWAY from the north of the Mardan ring road to the edge of Chitral; to the KARAKORAM HIGHWAY between Mansehra and Chilas; and to within 10 miles of the Line of Control in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. ALL BUT ESSENTIAL TRAVEL is advised against to Malakand, Mardan, Nowshera, Shangla and Swabi in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; to AZAD JAMMU AND KASHMIR as a whole; to ALL OF SINDH PROVINCE NORTH OF AND INCLUDING THE CITY OF NAWABSHAH; to Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab; and to within 5 miles of the border with India except at official crossings. TWO CONSEQUENCES THAT CATCH PEOPLE OUT. PESHAWAR AND SWAT ARE BOTH IN THE ALL-TRAVEL LIST, so the Khyber Pass and the Swat valley are not available whatever a tour operator says. AND MOHENJO-DARO IS INSIDE THE SINDH ZONE: Pakistan's most famous archaeological site and a UNESCO World Heritage Site sits in Larkana district, roughly 300km north of Nawabshah, so it falls under the all-but-essential advice even though the advisory never names it. That determination is geographic and it is not close.
Multan is named in the list of places that carry no advise-against, and the rest of Punjab is in the same position, with the single exception of the ten-mile strip along the Indian border, which is well east of here. So the trip is unrestricted.
On terrorism the wording is the strong form and the geography is specific. The FCDO states that terrorists are VERY LIKELY to try to carry out attacks and that there is a HIGH THREAT of terrorism and sectarian violence THROUGHOUT Pakistan. It names the groups operating: Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan, Tehreek-e Jihad Pakistan, Balochistan separatists, Islamic State Khorasan Province and al-Qaida. It records that they MAINLY TARGET GOVERNMENT SECURITY FORCES, that areas of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Peshawar, and Quetta, suffer regular attacks, and that attacks have also taken place in KARACHI, ISLAMABAD AND LAHORE and other major cities. A number of attacks have targeted CHINESE NATIONALS specifically, and some have targeted people of East Asian appearance more generally. ON KIDNAP it is equally direct: there is a threat throughout the country, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan; terrorist groups are UNLIKELY TO PRIORITISE the kidnap of westerners and any such kidnap would likely be OPPORTUNISTIC; and British nationals including tourists are seen as legitimate targets. It also states that the British government does not make substantive concessions to hostage takers.
Sufi shrines are specifically relevant here, because they have been targeted in Pakistan by groups that regard the practice as heretical, including attacks at shrines in Sindh and Punjab. That is the reason the advisory matters on this particular post, and the proportionate response is to visit with a local guide or driver, to be aware of where the exits are in a large Thursday crowd, and to avoid the biggest annual urs festival gatherings if crowds concern you. The shrines are visited daily by very large numbers of Pakistanis and are not places to avoid.
What the advisory says and does not say about women travelling here. Pakistan has no dedicated sexual assault section of the kind the FCDO writes for Turkey, Egypt or Sri Lanka, which is an absence of published data rather than an absence of risk and should be read that way. What it does carry is a DRESS CODE instruction stated as a requirement rather than a suggestion: Pakistan is an Islamic country, both men and women should cover shoulders and legs in public, and women should cover their heads when entering mosques and holy places AND IN RURAL AREAS. That last clause is the one visitors miss, and it covers most of Gilgit-Baltistan and the Kaghan valley. A shalwar kameez bought locally is the most comfortable and least conspicuous solution and costs very little. TWO MORE LAWS WORTH KNOWING. It is illegal for unmarried couples to live together, although the FCDO notes the hotel-room rule does not generally apply to visiting foreign nationals, particularly in tourist areas. And ALWAYS CARRY PHOTO ID, because you may be asked for it and you might be detained until you can produce valid identification.
Multan is more conservative than Lahore and sees far fewer foreign visitors, so the attention is greater and the tolerance for unconventional dress is lower. A foreign woman here will be stared at continuously and will almost certainly be treated with considerable hospitality. What works: shalwar kameez with a dupatta over the head, which here is close to necessary rather than merely advisable; a driver or guide arranged through your hotel; and using the women's areas at the shrines, which are calmer as well as expected. Harassment in the crowded bazaars is reported, and the Hussain Agahi lanes are tight.
The photography rules here are enforced and British nationals have been arrested under them. Do not photograph military establishments, airports, or ANY infrastructure including BRIDGES AND DAMS, and do not photograph from an aircraft. The FCDO records that British nationals have been ARRESTED ON SUSPICION OF SPYING, and advises checking with officials if you are unsure. This is more restrictive than it sounds on a trip north, because the Karakoram Highway is a sequence of bridges and the region's most photographed features include reservoirs and dams. It also asks that you not photograph people without permission, which in practice matters most in conservative rural areas and with women.
The mountains and the monsoon are the two environmental facts. The monsoon runs from late June to early October and the FCDO records that flooding can affect ALL PROVINCES, with roads and bridges damaged or destroyed; the 2022 floods put roughly a third of the country under water. Landslides and road blockages are a particular risk in hilly and mountainous regions, the advice includes taking extreme care crossing swollen rivers, and the Pakistan Meteorological Department and the National Disaster Management Authority are the sources to watch. Pakistan is also seismically active: the 2005 Kashmir earthquake killed more than 70,000 people. AND THE PRACTICAL POINT FOR AN ITINERARY is that monsoon season and the Babusar Pass window overlap, so the one time the compliant road north is open is also the time landslides are most likely, which is the strongest argument for building slack into a northern trip.
British nationals of Pakistani origin face a specific and documented criminal risk. The FCDO records that they HAVE BEEN TARGETED BY CRIMINALS INCLUDING KIDNAPPERS, because they are often perceived as wealthier than locals. Given how much of the British Pakistani community traces its families to Mirpur in Azad Kashmir and to central Punjab, this affects a large share of the people most likely to make this trip, and it is a reason to be discreet about plans, itineraries and money with anyone outside the family rather than a reason not to go.
The Multan Packing List
Covered layers that work in dry extreme heat
Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, and a long sleeve merino wool base layer for women answers the question this city poses most sharply: how to stay covered wrist to ankle in a conservative place where the temperature reaches forty-five degrees. Counterintuitively, covered is cooler than bare in dry desert heat, because direct sun on skin is the problem, and wool specifically moves sweat to where it can evaporate rather than holding it. In the November to February season it is the warm layer for a five-degree night instead, in rooms with limited heating.
A dupatta, which is close to essential here
Larger and more necessary than in Lahore or Karachi. Head covering at every shrine, shoulders everywhere, and a face covering against dust, which Multan has in quantity. Buy one in Hussain Agahi bazaar for very little; the choice is enormous and the quality is good.
Shalwar kameez, bought locally
In Multan this is the practical as well as the respectful choice, and a tailor here will make one quickly and cheaply. It is cooler than western clothing in this heat, it ends most of the staring, and it is what every woman around you is wearing.
Shoes off, many times a day
Slip-ons rather than laces, because the shrines require bare feet at the gate and you will do this repeatedly. Socks in your bag for the hot stone and brick, which at midday is painful: a pair of Darn Tough merino socks serves for that and for a cold January night.
Serious sun protection
A wide brim UPF 50 sun hat, which comes off at the shrines, and sunglasses. The fort mound and the shrine courtyards are open brick with no shade at all, and that is where you will be standing.
Water, more than anywhere else in this library
An insulated water bottle, filled twice. At forty-five degrees in dry air you lose water without noticing because the sweat evaporates instantly, which is exactly why heatstroke here catches people out. Tap water is not drinkable; bottled is cheap and everywhere.
Rehydration salts, which belong in the bag before you need them
Oral rehydration sachets from any Pakistani pharmacy cost almost nothing. In Multan's summer they are not a stomach-upset item, they are a heat item, and the time to buy them is on arrival rather than when you are already unwell.
The small things
Rupees in cash in small notes, for the shoe attendants, the rickshaws and the bazaar, where cards are useless. Something to protect camera and phone from fine dust, which gets into everything here. A quick dry travel towel. And space in your luggage, because the blue pottery and the camel-skin lamps are the best craft buys in Pakistan and you will want some.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Essential Resources for Women in Multan
Emergency numbers: 15 for police, 1122 for the Rescue 1122 ambulance and emergency service, which works well across Punjab including Multan, and 16 for fire. Punjab operates a Women Helpline on 1043 and a Women Safety App, both of which cover this city. There is a Tourist Police presence in Punjab covering the main heritage sites. The Auqaf department administers the major shrines and has staff at both. A written police report is required for any insurance claim, and the document to ask for is a First Information Report.
US State Department travel advisory: the Pakistan advisory. Read the current level there directly rather than relying on a figure printed in any guide.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/pakistan, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits.
Main hospital: Nishtar Hospital is the large public teaching hospital and the main emergency facility for southern Punjab, and there are private options including Multan Institute of Cardiology for cardiac emergencies and several private hospitals in the Cantonment area. Rescue 1122 is genuinely effective here, which is not true in every province. For anything serious the answer is Lahore, five hours north by road or a short flight, where Shaukat Khanum and the large private hospitals are, and Karachi's Aga Khan University Hospital is the best facility in the country if you need the best rather than the nearest. Medical evacuation to Dubai should be named in your policy, and check that the policy covers travel to Pakistan at all, because many exclude it or exclude it by implication through the advised-against regions.
Official health authority: the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, Pakistan's federal health ministry. Heatstroke is the serious local health risk from May to July, when temperatures regularly exceed forty-five degrees and have passed fifty; treat a heat advisory for southern Punjab as a genuine warning rather than a weather note
US Embassy: the United States Embassy in Islamabad.
Official tourism authority: the Government of Gilgit-Baltistan, used here as a LABELLED SUBSTITUTE rather than as the national tourism board. Pakistan's national tourism bodies cannot be linked safely: every URL form of tourism.gov.pk fails certificate verification and the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation's domain does not resolve to a working site, so a link to either would give you a browser security warning or a dead page. Gilgit-Baltistan's own government is the authority that actually administers the registration and trekking permits this guide tells you about. The tourism row here points at the Government of Gilgit-Baltistan as a LABELLED SUBSTITUTE because Pakistan's national tourism bodies cannot be linked safely; for Multan the Punjab tourism department and the Auqaf department, which administers the shrines, are the practical sources for access and for the urs festival dates
Multan carries no advised-against, and nor does Punjab apart from the Indian border strip.
Come between November and February. May and June here are genuinely dangerous.
Solo women safety assessment: Multan is a rewarding destination for a woman travelling alone and is more demanding than Lahore, being considerably more conservative and seeing far fewer foreign visitors. The FCDO advises against ALL travel to twenty-one districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and to Balochistan outside Quetta city, and against ALL BUT ESSENTIAL travel to the rest of KP including Peshawar, to Quetta city and to within 10 miles of the Indian border: MULTAN IS NAMED AMONG THE PLACES CARRYING NO ADVISE-AGAINST, and so is the rest of Punjab apart from that border strip, which is well east of here. On terrorism the wording is the strong form, with terrorists VERY LIKELY to try to attack and a HIGH THREAT throughout Pakistan. THAT BEARS ON THIS POST SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE SUFI SHRINES HAVE BEEN TARGETED in Pakistan by groups that regard the practice as heretical, including attacks at shrines in Sindh and Punjab; the proportionate response is to visit with a local guide or driver, know where the exits are in a large Thursday qawwali crowd, and think twice about the biggest annual urs gatherings. These shrines are visited daily by enormous numbers of Pakistanis and are not places to avoid. Pakistan has no dedicated sexual assault section in its advisory, which is an absence of published data rather than of risk. In practice you will be stared at continuously and treated with great hospitality. Shalwar kameez with a dupatta over the head is close to necessary here rather than merely advisable; use a hotel-arranged driver, and use the women's areas and entrances at the shrines, which are calmer as well as expected. Note that the inner chamber at some shrines is restricted to men, which is not hostility. Harassment is reported in the tight Hussain Agahi bazaar lanes. PHOTOGRAPHY RULES ARE ENFORCED and British nationals have been arrested: no military sites, airports, bridges or dams, nothing from an aircraft, and ask before photographing inside a shrine and never photograph women praying. HEAT IS THE REAL DANGER: May and June regularly exceed forty-five degrees and have passed fifty, and heatstroke kills people here every year. Monsoon flooding can affect all provinces. British nationals of Pakistani origin have been specifically targeted by criminals including kidnappers. 15 for police, 1122 for a well-run ambulance service, 1043 for the Punjab Women Helpline, Nishtar Hospital locally and Lahore five hours north for anything serious.
Reading On
Multan sits between Pakistan's two largest cities and is the natural stop between them. The Lahore packing list covers the Mughal capital five hours north, and the Karachi packing list the port city and the country's best hospital nine or ten hours south. The Islamabad packing list covers the planned capital and the usual staging point for the mountains. For those mountains, read the Hunza packing list and the Skardu packing list in Gilgit-Baltistan, and the Naran packing list for the Kaghan valley and the compliant Babusar Pass route north, which is the one piece of route planning that genuinely matters in this country. Across the border, the Amritsar packing list and the Delhi packing list cover the Indian side of the same history. The Pakistan travel guide for women carries the country-level advice, with the advised-against zones mapped precisely and the permit and insurance implications set out. For why covered is cooler than bare in dry desert heat, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
