Karachi Travel Forum

I am planning a trip from karachi To Lahore in a few days. I have to travel by train. Is there any first class sleeper express train which goes from karachi to lahore nonstop or with one or two stops? I also want to known about good and inexpensive hotels in lahore which are comfortable?

u cant find any train with one or two stops. prepare urself for an 18 hour journey. I loved travelling on trains and also having a short walk on various railway stations along the way. I would recommend ac parlour at "shalimar express". this train plus others (karakoram express, karachi express, khyber mail) offer sleepers. for hotels in lahore, get a van number "9" or "14" from lahore railway station. Ask the driver to drop u at "lahore hotel stop" At this stop just walk around and u will find a lot of hotels to choose from. happy travel.

Shalimar leaves Karachi Cantt around 6 am early morning. It is nice train but it has 12 schedule stations between Karahci-Lahore. Evening Trains like Korakaram Express, Karachi Express & Buraq has relatively less more or less 4 scheduled stations. But since few months track signals are not working properly so they have to stop on UNSCHEULED STATION to allow other train to pass on. Over all journey is pleasant. These trains take almost 18-20 hours to reach Lahore. For detaisl see my Karachi Transportation tip on Karakoram Express:

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Asia/Pakistan/Sind/Karachi-1311845/Transportation-Karachi-By_Train-R-1.html

All trains have A/c sleepers which are now called Lower A/C Coupe. Ticket for Full Birth/seat is around 2200-2300.

I will recommend CLIFTON HOTEL, Australia Chawk, Near Railway Station.
Phone 042-6366740-43. Lahore Hotel and National Hotel are also fine.

If you are alone then you can stay at any hotel near station or Azadi Chawk at about 300-500 per night.

Salut mon ami,

Daewoo's started its service from Lahore to Karachi, a couple of days back, trains in Pakistan're always late & slow,I'd prefer daewoo.

Hotels in Lahore

Gilanis Hotel
Montgomery road,

Lahore Hotel
Mcloed road,


Queens hotel
Anarkali bazar,


Bon voyage,

Imran Schah

Photos of Pakistan
http://www.flickr.com/photos/imranthetrekker

I prefer Daewoo only for max. 4-5 hours journey like Karachi-Hyderabad, Lahore-Rawalpindi etc. For longer distances like Karachi-Lahore it is not convenient. It is a tiring job. Daewoo is a comfortable bus service but seats are almost same size as other air conditioned 2X2 bus. So where comfort is priority then go for Train not a bus.

If someone is used to travel by bus ALREADY like us, we go to Dera Ismail Khan by Bus as there is no train service for Dera. Similarly people going to Bannu, Kohat, Tribal Areas even Peshawar & Swat prefer going by bus from Karachi. For them Daewoo will be preferably more comfortable than ordinary bus.

But is someone is used to travel by train then they feel uncomfortable in bus as they have to sit tight, legs hanging, knees touching front seat for min. 18-20 hours. Worst of all is to SLEEP while sitting. Minimum 2 days are required to overcome the tiredness of Bus SUFFER.

Salut mes amis,

I'd not recommend to anybody to stay at the hotels, located close to railway station Lahore,pretty dodgy, there're many scams with foreign tourists as well as locals, so please beware of them.

Moreover, just open a Lonelyplanet travel guide, and you can see the scams & warnings in the hotels, at the railway station , Lahore.

For trains please look at their website

www.pakrail.com

I welcome the queries from all the travelers,

Bien venu et Bon voyage,

Imran Schah


The photos of my adevntures in Pakistan
http://www.flickr.com/photos/imranthetrekker/

Daewoo Bus now has 6 buses daily from Karachi to Lahore. It is a luxury bus company. It takes about 17 hours. It stops in Sukkur also.