Pakistan bridges the gaps between western, southern and eastern Asia, a fairly new country but in a region with a long and fascinating culture. Once the capital and still the most exciting and vibrant city in the country is Karachi, found to the south of the country on the Arabian Sea.

The biggest and most important events in Pakistan include the Pakistan Day and Independence Day whilst the city of Karachi plays host to a huge number of arts festivals and events throughout the year including the world famous Hamara Karcahi month-long cultural festival. Pakistan cuisine blends the best of North Indian cooking with Middle-Eastern cuisine and nearly all Pakistani main meals feature halal meat and is cooking with rich, fragrant spices.

Karachi goes by many names including the ‘City that Never Sleeps’ and the ‘City of Lights’. It’s one of the fastest growing cities in the world and enjoys its own unique culture that is both faster paced, more cosmopolitan and more liberal than the rest of Pakistan. Karachi is a vast city, although most of the best places to visit in Pakistan are found in Downtown Karachi in the south of the city. The port and harbour areas are home to some of the best restaurants in Karachi and are ideal for stopping for a meal or a coffee whilst nearby Dolmen City is a shopper’s paradise, home to the best and biggest Karachi shopping mall.

The serene Bagh-e-Ibn-e-Qasim is one of the nicest places to visit in Karachi and is a great place to stop and people watch. Any Karachi travel guide will recommend a visit to the Mohatta Palace Museum of Regional History to find out more about this city’s fascinating past too. When it comes to eating, Karachi is a melting pot of flavours with a wide choice of local, regional, Indian, Chinese, Thai and western cuisine on offer.