City · Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in South Asia, with settlement traced back at least 2,000 years. It sits at about 331 metres on the Peshawar valley near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, and its walled city, Qissa Khwani bazaar and Mahabat Khan Mosque are its best-known landmarks.
Peshawar was the winter capital of the Kushan empire under Kanishka in the 2nd century CE, when the city held a great stupa recorded by Chinese pilgrims. Later phases included Mughal, Durrani, Sikh and British rule; Bala Hisar Fort in its present form dates from the Sikh period. The Peshawar Museum holds one of the world's largest collections of Gandhara Buddhist sculpture.
The 'street of storytellers', the old caravan trading heart.
Mughal-era mosque of the 1670s in the walled city.
Fort above the city, rebuilt under Sikh rule in the 1830s.
Gandhara galleries built around the 1907 Victoria Memorial Hall.
19th-century merchant houses with Central Asian woodwork.
Kalam, Ushu forest and Malam Jabba, the country's main ski resort.
Tirich Mir, 7,708 m, the highest peak outside the Karakoram–Himalaya.
A 155 km valley rising to Babusar Pass at 4,173 m.
Trout water from Kalam down to Mingora.
Glacial lake above Naran at 3,224 m, frozen much of the year.
Runs the length of Kaghan into the Jhelum.
Flat minced-beef kebab fried in tallow, a Peshawar original.
Lamb cooked with only salt, tomato and fat.
Green tea in the Storytellers' Bazaar.
Built in the 1660s in the heart of the walled city.
One of the world's largest Gandhara sculpture collections.
19th-century merchant houses with Bukhara-style woodwork.
The old caravan market, named for its storytellers.
Ring Road yards where trucks are painted by hand.
Chitral Gol National Park holds one of the strongest populations.
High ridges above Chitral and upper Swat.
Recorded in Chitral's high side valleys.
October to March; summers regularly exceed 40°C.
About 2 hours by motorway from Islamabad, or by air to Bacha Khan International Airport.
Peshawar has been continuously inhabited for at least 2,000 years and is among the oldest cities in South Asia.
It holds one of the largest collections of Gandhara Buddhist sculpture in the world.
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