Murree
British Era Hill Station Founded In 1851, The Most Visited Mountain Resort In Pakistan · Murree, Punjab
Murree is Pakistan's best-known hill station, a British summer retreat founded in 1851 on a pine-covered ridge at about 2,300 metres, an hour or so above Islamabad. For generations it has been where families from the hot plains of Punjab and beyond escape the summer, and in winter it is where many Pakistanis see snow for the first time. The centre is the Mall Road, a pedestrian street of shops, cafes and colonial buildings, with Christ Church, built in 1857, at one end. Around it are viewpoints - Kashmir Point and Pindi Point, where a chairlift runs - and at Patriata a chairlift and cable car ride over the forest. Beyond Murree, the Galyat hill stations of Nathia Gali and Ayubia are quieter and greener, with the easy Pipeline Track through the forest. Murree has a reputation among Pakistanis for crowding and price-gouging, and it earned a grim one in January 2022, when a snowstorm trapped thousands of cars and people died in them. Now vehicle numbers are capped in heavy snow. Come midweek, or go on to the Galyat.
Mall Road, Murree, Rawalpindi District, Murree, Punjab, Pakistan
Murree is a town and open at all times. Chairlifts at Pindi Point and Patriata run in daytime and close in bad weather or for maintenance. In heavy snow, the authorities restrict the number of vehicles allowed up; check before driving in winter. Murree is about an hour or so from Islamabad by the expressway.