Karachi being the biggest city of Pakistan has a lot of things to do and honestly speaking, I myself have not seen the complete city of Karachi while staying here for more than my age. But yes, I definitely knows the famous and hot spots of Karachi and can play an important role as a guide for any guest who will be coming to Karachi on a vacation. It would be nothing new for me because I recently did this job when my Bro and Sister-in-Law came to Karachi couple of months ago.
I myself like outings, picnic and looking out for some new and awesome places but first thing first, it also depends who is going to bear the expense. If its on me, then I try to find some promotions and deals before going out to any place but when its upon the guest, wowow its tension-free. There is nothing to do with season or any specific month, the places which I am going to take my guest are the same all over the year. However, we do have festivals and concerts which usually takes place in January. Still, we have a lot of places to enjoy and have fun.
First place would be an iconic symbol of Karachi that is Mazar-e-Quaid aka Jinnah Mausoleum, the final resting place of the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. It is one of the most popular touristic site in Karachi. Wonderful massive park with lots of different plants and flowers all around, fountains and sitting area and a good space for the kids to play and enjoy their time with their families. It is situated in the center of the city. The monument is wonderfully designed and it is worth a watch.
Second spot would be a beach as Karachi is situated on the Arabian Sea, it has many beaches. I would prefer Manora beach or Do Darya. Manora beach has been changed a lot in a good way, its been wonderfully looked after by Government, keeping it clean and providing other services to the visitors with reasonable prices. A person coming to Karachi and not going to the Sea side is a crime. There are lots of activities around the sea side. We can take a boat from Keemari to Manora beach, it can be a private boat or public one, depending on the budget. I prefer taking a private boat and having diner/lunch on it. It would be a nice and new experience as its not the same all over the world. The taste of the fish and prawns is awesome out there. The other sophisticated option is having a dinner at Do Darya, a place at coastline of the sea, chain of restaurants providing a wonderful experience of dining by the sea. Well, these restaurants are a bit expensive but most of them have a delicious and tasty food to offer along with a wonderful experience of enjoying sea waves and sea breeze below the restaurant. Most of these restaurants have wooden huts and do offer customized and occasional decorations to have a lovely evening with the loved ones.
Then we have a lot of food streets in Karachi. My favorite is Hussainabad because they have attractive stalls, a narrow street with lots of transport moving around and a crowded place. A variety of meals and different kind of foods available to try and enjoy. One will definitely find something of his/her choice to eat at this place. Also its reasonable, not so expensive as other food streets like Boat Basin or Burns Road. Majority of people like Burns Road but for me, Hussainabad rocks.
Zoo is one of my favorite places so I will definitely take my guest to this place. The old Zoo of Karachi don’t have much animals plus its not that clean however, my last visit was a good one but still i would say it is not upto the mark or a good place for tourist however, we have a fantastic Zoo called DanZoo at Bahria Town, Karachi. It has many things to offer for a true Zoo fan like me. I have not seen it yet but I would be waiting to experience the fun with my guest :P
A guest on vacation would surely want shopping to buy souvenirs or gifts for his/her family so for that, we have lots and lots of malls and they are just damn good. I mean, all of them truly shows a wonderful shopping experience. One of them is Lucky One Mall, which is huge and have many shops. It’s a kind of luxurious shopping out there. We do have Empress Market and Saddar where we can find anything, I mean anything in cheap price. A tourist or a person on vacation will definitely love to walk around this local market for hours.
We do have many other places like Mohatta Palace, Ferere Hall and House of Jinnah and other national museums but it all depends on the interest of the guest too. These places do have their own charm and uniqueness and I am sure no one will get bored while visiting these places. Weekend will be kept for Port Grand. They do have concerts and festivals on Weekends and have variety of popular celebrities making the show hit and giving out wonderful performances for the audience. This place is situated by the sea and also offers a variety of food through its chain of restaurants.
One thing which would be famous in the month of December, the only thing due to the cold weather, is Seafood. Yes, seafood plays an important part in this month and the hot spot for seafood is Rashid. It’s the name of a person but it gets so popular that people say lets go to Rashid for seafood, means they made it the name of that area where there are many other shops for seafood. Fresh fishes were sold out there too. Rashid has the best taste in seafood as per majority of people. you will never find it empty in the month of December.
Well, it would be enough for a guest to visit these places and there is a lot more waiting for his/her next visit. That is not all. There are many places which I only heard of or seen on social media but cannot take a guest to unknown place which I have not experienced yet, it would be risky so I will be waiting for my Bro and Sister-in-law to visit us once again so we can explore more of Karachi.
All above pictures belongs to me (copyright).