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.