How to visit Multan and Bahawalpur?
Hi there! How’s your quarantine going during this Coronavirus outbreak? I hope you all in good health condition while you stay at home. In this post, I am going to share with all of you about my trip lately during my winter break, and how I explore Bahawalpur and Multan. I should share them earlier actually, but due to some reason, I couldn’t make it on time. I had to catch up on a few classes that I missed in the early spring semester. So here we are!
Pakistan is a unique country. It has a mountainous area in the north and a wide desert in the south. So, I decided to explore the southern area of this country during winter because it’s too hot when you went there in summer or even when spring comes.
The destination that we are going to talk about is Multan and Bahawalpur. These two cities located in Punjab Province. I bet you have heard about Punjab previously. It’s part of the province which separated into two countries. India and Pakistan. The capital of Punjab in Pakistan known as Lahore, and in India it’s called Amritsar.
Bahawalpur city well known as city of palaces. It has so many palaces to visit, hence it’s a smaller city compared to its neighbor, Multan. Founded by Nawab Bahawal Khan back to 1758 with a long history. It was a separate state in beginning of establishment and subsequently acceded to Pakistan on 7 October 1947.
How to get there?
If you stay in Islamabad. You could go to Bahawalpur or Multan by train or bus. These two options are the only way you could go there if you don’t want to rent a car. In my case, I went to Bahawalpur in the first place, then to Multan afterward. It will cost you Rs. 1,400 (9 USD) for 5 hours trip from Islamabad Bus Stand at G-9 Sector, Karachi Company.
G-9 Bus stand is here
It’s difficult for foreigners to get hostel in this area, so me and my friends decided to look for a host using Couchsurfing app. That’s how we meet Faisal family in Bahawalpur. Faisal is also a biker and love traveling like we did. I was surprised when he tells me about his biking trip from Bahawalpur all the way to Khunjerab Pass China-Pak border in Hunza. My first Impression of this city was Bahawalpur is very clean! Compared to any other area in Pakistan.
I went to Bahawalpur and Multan with two of my friends, we planned to stay three days and nights here in Bahawalpur and continue our trip to Multan.
Bahawalpur
I am going to share you all our itinerary in Bahawalpur below
Day One
Quick tip for your first day in Bahawalpur, you could visit Bahawalpur Library in the first place which near to The Museum. Having lunch in Fareed Gate Street Food area, and visit Jamia Masjid Al-Sadiq. Later on, we had Dinner in Fareed Gate too. You should try it Fried Fish if you planned to visit Bahawalpur.
Day Two
Day two is the most awaited moment. We visited Derawar Fort in Cholistan. Unfortunately, it was far from Bahawalpur which takes two hours drive approximately, and need a rental car to reach there. There are two other destinations in the same direction to Derawar Fort including Uch Sharif Shrine and Al Sadiq Palace. The details of Rental cost and expenses will be mentioned below.
Day Three
It was our last day in Bahawalpur, so we planned to Visit Noor Mahal. Actually, Bahawalpur has a lot of Palaces but most of them are guarded by Pakistan Army, so we need to get Military References to get Inside and we don’t have it anyway. There are many Palaces such as Darbar Mahal, Gulzar Mahal, and many more. and Noor Mahal is the only Palaces which allowed to be visited by civilians without any specific references.
Multan
We stay with Ayaz in Multan and had connected with him previously by Couchsurfing too. One day is enough to explore Multan which known as Land of Shrines. It has a unique architecture and sacred by its own people. Ayaz welcoming us very nicely and drove us around the city Including Universities, Shrines, and many other places.
Day Four
This is our fourth day Itinerary exploring Multan.
Travel Expenses
A quick recap of our expenses within four days visiting Bahawalpur and Multan. You could use it to estimating the Budget or planning your visit.
| DAY ONE | ||
| Group Cost | Personal Cost | |
| Bus ISB – BHWP | Rs 1,400.00 | |
| Uber to Faisal | Rs 200.00 | |
| Lunch | Rs 100.00 | |
| SS World Ticket | Rs 40.00 | |
| Rickshaw to | ||
| Museum and Library | Rs 150.00 | |
| Noor Mahal | Rs 100.00 | Rs 150.00 |
| SUB TOTAL | Rs 1,690.00 | |
| DAY TWO | ||
| Group Cost | Personal Cost | |
| Breakfast | Rs 150.00 | |
| Car Rental | Rs 1,000.00 | |
| Gas | Rs 2,200.00 | |
| Snack | Rs 400.00 | |
| Per 3 Person | Rs 3,600.00 | Rs 1,200.00 |
| SUB TOTAL | Rs 1,350.00 | |
| DAY THREE | ||
| Group Cost | Personal Cost | |
| Rickshaw to | ||
| Fareed Gate | Rs 100.00 | |
| Host | Rs 150.00 | |
| Noor Mahal | Rs 150.00 | Rs 140.00 |
| Lunch | Rs 250.00 | |
| Juice | Rs 100.00 | |
| SUB TOTAL | Rs 490.00 | |
| DAY FOUR | ||
| Group Cost | Personal Cost | |
| Bus BHWP – MLT | Rs 300.00 | |
| Uber to BZ Shrine | Rs 200.00 | |
| Per 3 Person | Rs 70.00 | |
| Dinner | Rs 300.00 | |
| Rs 250.00 | ||
| SUB TOTAL | Rs 920.00 | |
| DAY FIVE | ||
| Bus MLT – ISB | Rs 1,350.00 | |
| SUB TOTAL | Rs 1,350.00 | |
| TOTAL | Rs 5,800.00 |
And that’s it. Pakistan is a wide and unique country which never end to be explored from the north to the east. I hope this post would be helpful for you and you could share it, if you found it’s useful. See ya in the next post!