Asia >> South Asia >> Pakistan >> Punjab >> Taxila

Taxila is an ancient city in Pakistan, 30km north of Islamabad. 18 of its sites are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The city dates back to the Ancient Gandhāran city of Takshashila (also Takkasila or Taxila) an important Vedic/Hindu and Buddhist center of learning from the 6th century BC to the 5th century CE. Today, Taxila is the center of Pakistan's Engineering Industry.

Travel to Taxila - Visa Requirements

By Air

From Islamabad International Airport

By Road

It is located 30kms north of Islamabad. You can hire a Taxi or a Car.

Tours and Getting around Taxila

Via Taxi or Car

Taxila tourist attractions and sightseeing

  • Ancient Ruins - consist of many different parts of the buildings and buddhistic stupas. The main ruins of taxila are divided into three major cities, each belonging to a distinct time period. The oldest of these is Bhir Mound which is as old as sixth century. The second city of Taxila is located at Sirkap and was built by Greco-Bactrian kings in the second century. The third and last city of Taxila is at Sirsukh and it relates to the Kushan kings.
  • Buddhistic monasteries and stupas include the ruins of the stupa at Dharmarajika, the monastery at Jaulian, the monastery at Mohra Muradu in addition to a number of stupas.
  • Taxila Museum dedicated mainly to the remains of Gandhara civilization.
  • Mughal Garden

Taxila city tours

  • Discover the place.

Taxila Restaurants: cheap, moderate and expensive

  • Gandhara Restaurant

Taxila nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs

Taxila cheap and luxurious hotels, youth hostels and lodging

No separate accommodation is needed for Taxila, one can easily stay in Islamabad and visit Taxila. But If you still need accommodation in Taxila then there is PTDC motel which is located in front of Museum and certain other rest houses in Taxila.

  • PTDC Motel
    • Though the rooms are basic and can use some extra cleaning, it's an acceptable lodging.
    • Across from the museum.
    • 738 Rs + Tax for a double room with shower. (2007)
  • Gandhara Motel
    • This hotel offers much better value than the near by PTDC hotel.
    • On Khanpur Road a few hundred meters south of the museum.
    • Tel: +92 (0)51 432 9072
    • mailto:gandhararest@gmail.com
    • This place has 4 new rooms (as of October 2007.)
    • 700/800 Rs for single/double.
    • AC and TV will be added (at an extra cost of around 300 Rs)

Get out

This page was last edited by Wikitravel user Sal. Based on work by Evan Prodromou, Wikitravel user(s) Cacahuate and Morph and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. - Content on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 license

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