Stand on the mound at Qilla Kohna Qasim Bagh and the old city opens out below you: the white dome of Shah Rukn-e-Alam's mausoleum on its hillock, the packed lanes of the bazaars beyond, and the flat plain where the Ravi once ran. Multan rewards travellers who like their cities layered — ruins, shrines, gates and workshops stacked within walking distance of one another.
It suits slow walkers, people interested in Sufi architecture and craft, and anyone breaking a journey through Punjab for a day or two. The Wikivoyage summary is blunt about the scale: Multan has enough to keep you interested for one or two days, with the old fort and tombs and the blue pottery institute as the highlights.
1. Ruins of Multan Fort
The fort sits on a high mound of earth that once separated it from the old branch of the Ravi, in the middle of the city near Multan Cricket Club and next to Shah Rukn-e-Alam's mausoleum. Only remnants survive — the British garrison destroyed the fort during the Raj — but it was considered one of the best defensive forts built in the subcontinent, with walls almost 1.6 km long at its height.
Within the complex is Fort Qasim Park, which holds memorials from the Raj era as well as electric rides. On the western side, a spot called Damdama gives a fine viewpoint over the city. As you walk towards the Damdama entrance, look on the left for an art shop called Nigar Khana, which sits underground and carries a large collection of traditional Multan handicrafts. Plans were underway to renovate or rebuild the Damdama.
2. Mausoleum of Shah Rukn-e-Alam
On top of a small hillock behind the old fort ruins, this mausoleum and its dome are the first landmark visible when you enter proper Multan. Shah Rukn-e-Alam (1251–1335) was a Sufi saint revered by his followers, and pilgrims from across Pakistan still come to pay homage.
He was the grandson and successor of Shaikh Baha-Ud-Din Zakariya, whose mausoleum stands near this one, so the two are naturally seen together. Remember to take your shoes off when you enter.
3. Bahauddin Zakaria
This tomb sits on top of the old city hillock, behind Shah Rukn-e-Alam's mausoleum, and belongs to the Sufi saint whose name was given to South Punjab's largest university. Pair it with the Shah Rukn-e-Alam mausoleum in a single visit to the hillock.
As with all the shrines here, remove your shoes before entering.
4. Institute of Blue Pottery
The Wikivoyage overview names the Institute of Blue Pottery among Multan's highlights alongside the fort and tombs. It is the place to see the craft the city is known for being made rather than just sold.
Combine it with a walk through Hussain Agahi Bazar, where handicrafts are also on offer, if you want to compare workshop work with what reaches the shops.
5. Hussain Agahi Bazar
This is an all-in-one bazaar. Near a shop at its entrance you can sample local sweets, and for handicrafts walk up the stairs to the first arcade on the right, where there is a good handicraft shop on the first floor.
Further in, the first street down the left is particularly interesting: shops there sell oils from about a hundred plant and animal sources and will mix an "oil cocktail" to suit your purpose — ask for oil for falling hair and you will see three oils blended in exact proportions. Continue on the same road to reach the spice bazaar, where you can try some nuts, and then Kalay Manddi, known for cut-piece cloth and fabric. Separate sub-bazars include Sarafa Bazar and Choorian bazar, the bangles street.
6. Clock Tower
Called Ghanta Ghar in Urdu, the clock tower is the landmark of the old city, built during colonial times. The clock tower square has been renovated and is set to become the major landmark of Multan.
It makes a natural orientation point before or after a bazaar walk, since the old city's lanes spread out from this area.
7. Historical gates
Several of the old city gates survive or are remembered by name. Pak Gate takes its name not from Pakistan but from the saint Hazrat Musa Pak Shaheed: the gate was used to bring his body into Multan, and 90 m inside it you will find his mazar. Haram Gate is the gate used to bring his "haram". Delhi Gate faces towards Delhi, and during the Mughal period kings and state guests entered Multan through it.
Bohar Gate faced the Ravi when Multan was a busy river port, and served as the main entrance for food supply and communication; it was named for the bohar trees outside it, now gone as the river changed course. Lohari Gate takes its name from the lohari, or ironsmiths, who lived and kept their workshops outside it. Doulat Gate has vanished, leaving only the name and the mazar of Pir Doulat Shah, whose green tomb now sits between two busy roads.
8. Sawi mosque
Sawi Mosque is described as the oldest mosque of Multan, situated in Mohalla Kotla Tolay Khan outside Lohari Gate. It still exists but has no roof now, and most of its decoration has been damaged, though glazed blue tiles were used profusely for ornamentation and parts are still intact.
Visit it as part of a walk that takes in Lohari Gate, since it lies just outside.
9. Hindu temples in Multan
The most important place of the Hindu period was the Sun Mandir, or Mulasthana in Sanskrit, once the most important place of worship throughout South Asia and situated on one of the old fort sites. No trace of it remains. Suraj Kund, the pool of sun, is about 8 km to the south of Multan on the Bahawalpur Road; it was a pond 40 m in diameter and 3 m deep when full, and Sawn Mal the Sikh Diwan surrounded it with an octagonal wall.
It was a place of pilgrimage until 1947, with two fairs held annually — one on the 7th of the vanishing moon of Bhadon and the other on the 7th of the rising moon of Magh.
10. Eidgah
The historic Eidgah near LMQ Road was built in 1735 and spreads over five acres. Its architectural distinction is that it is the only building with a bulbous dome in the southern part of Punjab.
It is worth a look for that dome alone if you are already crossing this part of the city.
11. Multan Museum
The museum holds a fine collection of coins, medals and postage stamps of the former State of Bahawalpur, along with manuscripts, documented inscriptions, wood carvings, camel-skin paintings, historical models and stone carvings from the Islamic and pre-Islamic periods.
It is a good rainy-afternoon or midday-heat stop, and pairs well with the fort ruins nearby.
12. Cantonment Park
Near Multan Garrison, this boutique park is divided into theme gardens — a Japanese garden, palm garden, rose garden, cactus garden and more. It also has an artist corner, a theatre performance area and a small library, plus separate open-air gyms for men and women and a 3-km clay jogging track with soft music playing along it.
It opens 06:00–21:00 and the entry charge is Rs5, so it works well as an early-morning or late-afternoon break from the old city.
13. Chaman Zar Askari Lake Park
On Sher Shah Road, this is a large park with an artificial lake, paddle boats and some electric rides. If you are lucky, a carnival is on with artists from different parts of the world performing.
It opens 10:00–20:00 and entry is Rs10. It suits families or anyone wanting a slower hour between shrine visits.
14. Myrters Memorial
Yadgar-e-Shuhada is a landscaped garden with a memorial commemorating recipients of Nishan-e-Haider, Pakistan's top military award, along Shershah Road in the cantonment area. It has a nice sitting place and a popular Fort Bakers nearby.
Combine it with Chaman Zar Askari Lake Park, which is also on Sher Shah Road.
15. Nishtar Medical College
The college campus is an old and traditional building symbolising Islamic architecture, with a central quadrangle. It is a short architectural stop rather than a full sight, best folded into a cantonment-area wander.
If you only have one day
Morning: Start at the Ruins of Multan Fort, walking the mound and Fort Qasim Park and looking for Nigar Khana on the way to the Damdama viewpoint. Then climb the hillock for the Mausoleum of Shah Rukn-e-Alam and Bahauddin Zakaria, removing your shoes at each.
Afternoon: Head to the Institute of Blue Pottery, then walk into Hussain Agahi Bazar for sweets at the entrance, handicrafts on the first-floor arcade, the oil shops down the first street on the left and the spice bazaar further along. Finish the afternoon at the Clock Tower, the landmark of the old city.
Evening: Take a slow hour at Cantonment Park on its clay jogging track, or at Chaman Zar Askari Lake Park on Sher Shah Road, before dinner — Fort Bakers near Myrters Memorial is a convenient stop if you are in the cantonment area.
What should you wear or do when visiting the shrines?
Remember to take your shoes off when you enter any of the shrines, including the Mausoleum of Shah Rukn-e-Alam and Bahauddin Zakaria.
Where can you buy handicrafts in Multan?
Two options named in the source: Nigar Khana, an underground art shop on the left as you walk towards the Damdama entrance at the fort, with a large collection of traditional Multan handicrafts; and the handicraft shop on the first floor of the first arcade on the right in Hussain Agahi Bazar.
Is there anything left of the Sun Mandir?
No trace of the Sun Mandir remains. Suraj Kund, the pool of sun, is about 8 km south of Multan on the Bahawalpur Road and was a pilgrimage site until 1947.
With the fort mound, the shrines on the hillock and the bazaars between them all within reach of each other, Multan is easy to plan around a single unhurried day — start mapping your route from the Clock Tower outwards.