Orientation
The districts that matter
Kabul sprawls, but for a visitor it collapses into a handful of areas. Learn these four and the city stops being confusing.
Shahr-e-NawThe centre of gravity — hotels, restaurants, rug dealers, and the shaded green of Shahr-e-Naw Park. Where most visitors base themselves.
Wazir Akbar KhanThe embassy and business quarter, on the hill north of the centre. Higher-end shopping, the hilltop shrine, and the widest view over the city.
MandawiThe great traditional bazaar, down by the river. Loud, dense, and the place to go for everything the modern shops don’t sell.
DarulamanSouth-west of the centre. The restored palace and the National Museum sit side by side out here — half a day, easily.
Stay in Shahr-e-Naw and you can walk to your dinner and your rug dealer. Everything else is a short taxi.
What to see
Gardens, palaces, and shrines
Kabul rewards a slow few days rather than a checklist. The essentials, roughly in the order most people do them:
Gardens of BaburTerraced Mughal gardens laid out for the empire’s founder, who is buried here. The calmest place in the city.
Darul Aman PalaceA neoclassical 1920s palace, wrecked by decades of war and fully restored by 2019.
National MuseumBuddhist, Islamic, and pre-Islamic collections, next door to the palace.
Wazir Akbar Khan MosqueA hilltop replica of Masjid al-Aqsa, with a striped dome and a chandelier-lit interior.
The bazaarsCarpets, lapis lazuli, dried fruit, copperware. Bargaining is expected and half the point.
A cricket matchThe national obsession. The international stadium draws enormous, good-humoured crowds.
The full list, province by province, is on Things to Do.
Practicalities
Getting around Kabul
The airport is only about 5km from the centre, but budget 45–60 minutes for the drive — checkpoints and traffic, not distance, set the clock. Arrange your transfer before you land rather than looking for a car on arrival.
In the city, taxis are everywhere and cheap. Agree the fare before you get in; there are no meters. There is no metro, no tourist bus, and no ride-hailing you should rely on. Traffic is heavy through the middle of the day and the city sits at 1,790 metres, so the light goes early and the evenings are cold even in summer.
Photography: shooting streets, gardens, and monuments is fine and widely done. Do not photograph checkpoints, security personnel, or government buildings, and always ask before photographing people — particularly women.
Full detail on flights, roads, money, and conduct is on Plan a Visit.
Beyond the city
Day trips from Kabul
Three escapes, all within an hour or two, and all what Kabulis themselves do at the weekend.
Qargha Lake~30 minutes. A reservoir ringed with cafes and picnic spots. Pedal boats, swimming, and lakeside walks.
Paghman~1 hour, and 700m higher, so noticeably cooler. The royal palace and triumphal arch, gardens from the 1920s, a lakeside park, and horses for hire along the main road.
Istalif~1 hour north. A hillside village of potters, famous for its turquoise-glazed ceramics, with views over the Shomali plain.
Paghman and Qargha are best on a Friday, when half of Kabul is out there too — which is rather the point.