Newcomer GuideNext upFood & water safety
Topic 9 of 14
Ramadan & the religious calendar
What changes, what's illegal, and the Iftar magic
During Ramadan (dates shift ~11 days earlier each year, lunar calendar), the rhythm of the country inverts: quiet, slow days; alive, festive nights. Most restaurants close in daylight and reopen at Iftar (sunset).
Eating, drinking or smoking in public during daylight hours in Ramadan is against the law, this applies to visitors too. Eat inside your hotel room or screened hotel restaurants.
- 1Plan sightseeing for mornings; offices and everything else run reduced hours.
- 2Hotel restaurants usually serve guests behind screens, ask at reception.
- 3Say yes to any Iftar invitation. Breaking fast with a family or at a mosque is one of the most moving experiences Pakistan offers a visitor.
- 4The two Eids that follow are multi-day national holidays: banks and most businesses close, transport books out, plan around them.
SafePak's Festivals page flags which dates are lunar-approximate, because they genuinely shift with moon-sighting, sometimes by a day, the night before.