Khyber Pakhtunkhwa · 980 – 2,100 m
Green, forested, and full of Gandharan stupas.
The place
Swat is closer to Islamabad than anywhere else in this list — five hours on a motorway — and looks nothing like the rest of it. Forest, rivers, and the archaeology of a Buddhist kingdom that lasted a thousand years.
Mingora and Saidu Sharif hold the museum and the main sites. Upstream, Bahrain, Kalam and Ushu are alpine and busy in July. The Butkara stupa and the seated Buddha at Jehanabad are both 2nd century.
What people do here
01
Gandharan sculpture, well displayed, in Saidu Sharif.
02
The only functioning ski resort in the country.
Journeys
Kumrat · Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Five days of deodar forest, a cold river and the climb to Katora Lake — the least developed valley within a day of Islamabad.
$430 per person
Next 28 Aug · 7 places left
Before you go