What to See in Karachi - Top Sights and Attractions

Zoo in Karachi, Pakistan. The Karachi Zoo, also known as Karachi Zoological and Botanical Gardens, formerly known as Gandhi Garden, is located in Garden West, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. It is the largest zoo of Pakistan and second oldest zoo in the country after Lahore Zoo.^[2]

Historical place museum in Karachi, Pakistan. Mazar-e-Quaid, also known as Jinnah Mausoleum or the National Mausoleum, is the final resting place of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. Designed in a 1960s modernist style, it was completed in 1971, and is an iconic symbol of Karachi as well as one of the most popular tourist sites in the city. The mausoleum complex also contains the tomb of Jinnah's sister, Māder-e Millat Fatima Jinnah, as well as those of Liaquat Ali Khan and Nurul Amin, the first and eighth Prime Ministers of Pakistan respectively. The tomb of Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar, a stalwart of the Muslim League from Peshawar, is also located there.^[4]

Aquarium in Karachi, Pakistan. The Clifton Fish Aquarium was an aquarium located in Clifton, Karachi, Pakistan, near to Abdullah Shah Ghazi's shrine. It was in operation from 1965 to 1998. It was Karachi's largest public aquarium.

Several unsuccessful attempts were made to reopen the aquarium after it closed, including one in 2012.^[5]

Market in Karachi, Pakistan. The Empress Market is a marketplace situated in the Saddar Town locality of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. The market traces its origins to the British Raj era, when it was first constructed. Today, it is amongst the most popular and busy places for shopping in Karachi. Commodities sold in the Empress Market range from condiments, fruit, vegetables and meat to stationery material, textiles and pets. A recreational park called Jahangir Park also is located nearby.^[6]

Sailing, Marina

Museum in Karachi, Pakistan. Pakistan Maritime Museum is a naval museum and park situated near PNS Karsaz on Habib Ibrahim Rehmatullah Road in Karachi, Pakistan.

The main museum building is located inside the park of 28 acres. The museum also displays Daphne Class Submarine PNS Hangor (S131), the minesweeper, PNS Mujahid (M164), Breguet Atlantic aircraft and a wooden barge that was given to the Naval Chief by the Queen in the 1960s.^[7]

Cemetery in Karachi, Pakistan. The Gora Qabaristan, or Gora Cemetery, literally transliterated as White graveyard is Karachi's only operational Christian cemetery.^[8]

Ratneshwar Mahadev Temple is a historic underground Hindu temple in Karachi, Pakistan. It is located near the Clifton Beach in Clifton. The temple is famous for its annual Shivratri celebration, and during religious celebrations, around 25,000 pilgrims visit the temple.^[9]

Museum in Karachi, Pakistan. The Mohatta Palace is a museum located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Designed by Muhammad komail Hussain, the palace was built in 1927 in the posh seaside locale of Clifton as the summer home of Shivratan Mohatta, a Hindu Marwari businessman from what is now the modern-day Indian state of Rajasthan. The palace was built in the tradition of stone palaces of Rajasthan, using pink Jodhpur stone in combination with the local yellow stone from nearby Gizri. Mohatta could enjoy this building for only about two decades before the partition of India, after which he left Karachi for the new state of India.^[10]

Dolmen City is a mixed-use complex, situated on the waterfront of Clifton, in Karachi, Pakistan. It is made up of four towers: Tower A, Tower B, Harbour Front, and Executive Tower. At the base of the complex is the Dolmen Mall, a three-level shopping mall built in 2011 with an area of 600,000 sq ft, and 130 stores - including several international brands. The total area of the entire Dolmen City complex is 3,441,340 sq ft.^[11]

State Bank of Pakistan Museum & Art Gallery is a museum on Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar Road in Karachi, established in 2004 to introduce the first Monetary Museum of Pakistan. The current State Bank of Pakistan Museum & Art Gallery building, previously the Imperial Bank of India, is a Greco Roman building in Jodhpuri Red Sandstone constructed in the 1920s by the British government. In 2004, the State Bank of Pakistan decided to adapt the building as a museum; work on the projects started in 2006 and was devoted to conservation of the building and acquisition of the collection.^[12]

Building in Karachi, Pakistan. Frere Hall is a building in Karachi, Pakistan that dates from the early British colonial era in Sindh. Completed in 1865, Frere Hall was originally intended to serve as Karachi's town hall, and now serves as an exhibition space and library.^[13]

Masjid in Karachi, Pakistan. The New Memon Masjid known as the Memon Masjid of Karachi, Pakistan, is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the city located on M.A Jinnah Road.

The first committee of the Memon Masjid was formed on 17 September 1948, The First Adhan, also known as Azan or Azaan was given on 15 July 1949. The Foundation-Stone was laid on 24 August 1949 By the Governor General Khuwaja Nazim UD Din.^[14]

Park in Karachi, Pakistan. The Jheel Park or Society Jheel Park, is situated near Tariq Road in P.E.C.H Society, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.

The park is constructed on 25 acres (100,000 m2) of land.^[15]

Darya Lal Mandir or Darya Lal Sankat Mochan Mandir is a Hindu temple in Karachi, Pakistan. It is located near Custom House, Saddar Town in the Sindh Province of Pakistan. It is a 300 year old temple. The temple is dedicated to Darya Lal,who is considered as incarnation of Varuna Deva^[16]

Cemetery. The Karachi War Cemetery was created to receive World War II dead from cemeteries scattered across the country, as it was felt that their proper maintenance could not be assured.

In 2016, British Deputy High Commissioner Ms Belinda Lewis, Defence Adviser Brigadier Murray Whiteside and British Naval and Air Adviser Group Captain John Alexander attended the Remembrance Service at the Karachi War Cemetery.^[17]

Building complex in Karachi, Pakistan. Jehangir Kothari Parade is a promenade built on land donated by Seth Jehangir Hormusji Kothari to the city of Karachi in 1919.

It is situated on a hilltop on the Arabian Sea, in the Clifton Beach area of Karachi. Jehangir Kothari was built in 1919 and opened to Karachi public in 1920. There are two structures in the complex: the Promenade Pavilion and Lady Lloyd Pier (an elevated sandstone public walkway) which is named after Lady Lloyd, wife of then Governor of Bombay Sir George Lloyd. This is evident in the marble plaque embedded in the pier wall that reads, "Lady Lloyd Pier".^[18]

Cathedral in Karachi, Pakistan. Holy Trinity Cathedral is the seat of the Church of Pakistan, Diocese of Karachi, situated on Fatima Jinnah Road, near Zainab Market, in Karachi, Pakistan.^[19]

Mosque. Baitul Mukarram Mosque is a mosque in Karachi, Pakistan. It is located in Block 8 Gulshan e Iqbal, Karachi. It is near Urdu University and Expo Center Karachi.

Baitul Mukarram Masjid has an Islamic educational institute within the mosque, where students can get Islamic education. The mosque and its associated area covers about five acres. Mosque having library, dispensary and hostel.^[20]

Safari park in Karachi, Pakistan. Karachi Safari Park, opened in 1970, is a public funded 'family-only' safari park covering an area of 148 acres, located in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. It has a zoo, geared with viewing facilities like a chairlift and safari tracks, as well as two natural lakes. A privately funded amusement park, Go Aish, is located in the Safari Park's vicinity.^[21]

Dome-shaped mosque of white marble. Masjid-e-Tooba or Tooba Mosque also known as Gol Masjid, is located in the city of Karachi, Sindh the province of Pakistan. It is situated in the phase 2 of DHA, Karachi.

The construction of the mosque began in 1966 and completed in 1969. The mosque was designed by Pakistani architect Babar Hamid Chauhan and the engineer was Zaheer Haider Naqvi. This mosque has the capacity to hold up to 5,000 people. It has one dome without any pillars/columns with the area of 67 meters (213 ft). It has a total area of 4657m².^[22]

Catholic cathedral in Karachi, Pakistan. St. Patrick's Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi, and is located near the Empress Market in the Saddar locality in central Karachi. The church was completed in 1881, and can accommodate 1,500 worshipers. At the front of the cathedral, there is the Monument to Christ the King, built between 1926 and 1931 to commemorate the Jesuit mission in Sindh.^[23]

Museum of Pakistani culture and heritage. The National Museum of Pakistan is located in Karachi, Pakistan.^[24]

Amusement park in Karachi, Pakistan. Hill Park is situated on a hilltop surrounded by a residential area known as PECHS neighborhood of Jamshed Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. The park is spread over 62 acres and of this only 25% area has been developed as park.^[25]

Planetarium in Karachi, Pakistan. PIA Planetarium is a Pakistani planetarium located in Karachi. Planetarium contains a Sky-Dome and a Boeing 720 AP-AXL standing in a park. It provides the education to students of science. It was established in 1985 firstly in Karachi and then in Lahore. This planetarium is working under Pakistan International Airlines.^[26]

Museum in Karachi, Pakistan. The Quaid-e-Azam House, also known as Flagstaff House, is a museum dedicated to the personal life of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. Located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, it was designed by British architect Moses Somake.

The is the former residence of Jinnah, who lived there from 1944 until his death in 1948. His sister, Fatima Jinnah lived there until 1964. It was bought by Jinnah in 1943 at the cost of 150,000 Pakistani Rupees. The building was later acquired in 1985 by the Pakistani government and converted to a museum.^[28]

Edulji Dinshaw Dispensary, officially the Eduljee Dinshaw Charitable Dispensary, is a building in the Saddar neighborhood of central Karachi, Pakistan. It was built in 1882, and served as a charitable dispensary for Karachi's citizens. It was named after Karachi-based Parsi philanthropist Seth Edulji Dinshaw, who donated 5,500 rupees towards construction - half of the building's cost. Dinshaw had risen from poverty and became the largest landowner in Karachi at the time. It was designed James Strachan, and was Karachi's first Italianate building.^[29]

Road in Karachi, Pakistan. Muhammad Ali Jinnah Road, frequently abbreviated as MA Jinnah Road, is a major thoroughfare in central Karachi, Pakistan. The road was originally named Bandar Road, owing to the fact that it linked the city to the Port of Karachi, but was later renamed in honour of Pakistan's founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. MA Jinnah Road stretches 6.1 kilometres from Jinnah Bridge in the south, near the Port of Karachi, to Gurumandir Chowk, north of Mazar-e-Quaid. It is one of the city's oldest roads, and passes through much of the colonial era historic core of Karachi, with numerous landmarks along its route.^[30]

Hindu temple in Karachi, Pakistan. Shri Laxmi Narayan Mandir is a Hindu temple located in Karachi, Pakistan. According to the Pakistan Hindu Council, the temple was constructed around 200 years ago and is an important worshiping site for the Hindus of the local community. The Mandir is one of the oldest operating temples and the only one situated at the banks of a creek in Karachi.^[31]

Park in Karachi, Pakistan. Bagh Ibne Qasim is a 130-acre beachside park in Karachi, Pakistan.^[32]

Tower in Karachi, Pakistan. Merewether Clock Tower or Merewether Tower is a neo-Gothic clocktower built during the Victorian era in Karachi, Pakistan. The tower is a landmark in central Karachi, and is at the termini of two of the most important roads in central Karachi: Muhammad Ali Jinnah Road and I. I. Chundrigar Road. The tower used to mark the boundary of the city when arriving from the port at Kiamari, and marked the dividing line between Karachi's Old Town and its newer European quarters to the east. It currently is the westernmost point of the Serai Quarter.^[33]

Museum in Karachi, Pakistan. Wazir Mansion known officially as Quaid-i-Azam Birthplace Museum is a former family home in the Kharadar district of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan which is considered the birthplace of the country's founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

"It was built during 1860-1870 with stone masonry in lime and jute mortar to suit the volatile weather of Karachi."^[34]