Murree

Murree was founded in 1851 as a summer retreat for British colonial administrators — Anglican churches, the Mall Road, and clipped-hedge bungalows are still here. Now it is where families from Islamabad and Punjab come for a weekend in cool air. The Mall is closed to cars on weekends; chair lifts run up Patriata; a chairlift to Ayubia connects to the Pipeline Trail walk through Himalayan pine forest. Do not come expecting wilderness — Murree is busy, and the appeal is partly the lively pedestrian Mall. Go further into the Galyat (Nathiagali, Thandiani) if you want the quieter pine-forest version.