The area has become more peaceful and safer than some other parts of the country and is among the safest areas in terms of law and order statistics. In some cities, there are minor incidents that cannot be used as a negation of the real situation. The Pakistan Army has set up checkpoints at all entry points and generally, the situation in the valley is now calm for tourism
Visitors are advised to carry passports/National Identity Cards (NIC) to avoid inconvenience at routine security checkpoints set up by Pakistan Army and Police Departments en route. Likewise, foreign tourists should carry their passports and security clearance documents.
See
Mingora and Saidu Sharif: Important sights are Akhunda Shrine of Swat, Residence of former Wali of Swat, Swat Museum, Swat Serena Hotel, Butkar Archaeological Remains.
Malam Jabba: is a Hill Station in the Karakoram Mountains nearly 40 km from Saidu Sharif in the Swat Valley, Peshawar, Pakistan. It is 314 km from Islamabad and 51 km from Saidu Sharif Airport. Malam Jabba is home to the largest ski resort in Pakistan. The Malam Jabba Ski Resort, owned by the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation, had a ski run about 800 m long with the highest point of the slope 2,804 m (9,200 ft) above sea level. The Malam Jabba ski resort was established as a joint effort of the Pakistani government with its Austrian counterpart. The resort was equipped with modern facilities including an ice rink, chairlifts, ski platforms, telephones and snow removal equipment.
Swat Museum The Swat Museum is located on the east side of the street, halfway between the towns of Mingora and Saidu. Japanese aid has given a facelift to its seven galleries, which now contain an excellent collection of Gandhara sculptures taken from some Buddhist sites in Swat, rearranged and labeled to illustrate the Buddha’s life story. Terracotta figurines and utensils, beads, precious stones, coins, weapons, and various metal objects illustrate daily life in Gandhara. The ethnographic section displays the best examples of local embroidery, carved wood, and tribal jewelry. The museum has been occupied by the Pakistan Army for the past three years and it is not known when they will leave it.
Miandam is a small summer resort ten kilometers (six miles) up a steep side valley and 56 kilometers (35 miles) from Saidu Sharif, an hour’s drive. The metal road passes small villages stacked on the hillside, the roofs of one row of houses forming a street for the row of houses above them. Tiny terraced fields march up the slope directly to the top. Miandam is a good place for walking. Paths lead around a stream, past houses with features set into the walls and good luck charms whitewashed around the doors. In the cemeteries, there are carved wooden tombstones with floral designs, as used by Buddhists 1000 years ago.
Madyan When you reach this town at an altitude of 1320 m and about 60 km from Mingora, the mountains have closed in and the valley is almost tight. Here one feels why Swat is so popular among tourists. There are lots of embroidered shawls in Madyan bazaars. At 1,321 meters (4,335 ft) above sea level, it is a larger town and has many hotels in all price ranges and some good tourist shopping. Antique and modern shawls, traditional embroidery, tribal jewelry, carved wood, and antique or reproduction coins are sold along the main street. Madyan’s central mosque has carved wooden columns with elegant scroll capitals, and its mud-plastered west wall is covered in relief patterns with floral motifs.
Bahrain: Bahrain is ten kilometers north of Madyan and only slightly higher, about 1,400 meters (4,500 ft). It is another popular riverside tourist resort with bazaars worth exploring for their handicrafts. Some houses have carved wooden doors, columns, and balconies. These show a remarkable variety of decorative motifs, including floral scrolls and bands of decorative diaper patterns almost identical to those seen on Buddhist shrines and quite different from the usual Muslim designs.
Kalam, Swat Valley 2070 m high and 100 km from Mingora, was the center of an independent state in the 19th century. It was later taken by Chitral and then handed over to Swat after the partition. Kalam, 29 kilometers (18 mi) from Bahrain and about 2,000 meters (6,800 ft) above sea level, the valley opens up to give way to a small but fertile plateau above sea level. river. At Kalam, the Ushu and Utrot rivers merge to form the Swat River. Here the metalled road ends and a gravel road leads to the valley of Ushu and Utrot. From Matiltan, there is a breathtaking view of the 5,918-meter (19,415 ft) snow-capped Falaksir mountain and another unnamed peak of 6,096 meters (20,000 ft).
Usho, Swat Valley Usho 3 km from Kalam Valley and 117 km from Saidu Sharif
Usho, Swat Valley Utror 16 km from Kalam Valley and 120 km from Saidu Sharif. The Utror Valley is located between 35° 20′ to 35° 48′ N and 72° 12′ and 72° 32′ E. The population of Utror is 6888 and the area of the valley is about 47400 hectares. Utror valley is surrounded by Gabral and Bhan valleys in the east, upper Dir district in the west, Kalam valley in the south, and Gabral valley in the north. It is 15 km from Kalam, the center of Swat Kohistan. The altitude of the valley at Utror itself is 2300 meters and at Lake Kandol it reaches up to 2900 meters.
Ghabral, Swat Valley Gabral Valley lies between 35° 20′ to 35° 48′ N and 72° 12′ and 72° 32′ E in an area of about 38733 hectares. The population of Gabral is 3238. The valley is surrounded by Chitral District in the north, Utror valley in the south and southwest, upper Dir district in the west, and Bhan and Mahodand valleys in the east. It is 5 km from Utror itself and 20 km from Kalam. The elevation of the valley ranges from 2580 meters at Baila to 5160 meters at the top of Karkaray Lake. 44 medicinal plants are collected in Utror and Gabral during the months of May, June, July, and August. Only 14 of them are traded in national and international markets, while the rest are used locally. A survey by the Pakistan Forestry Institute concluded that 75 crude herbal drugs are widely exported and more than 200 are traded locally in Pakistan. Indigenous people with no training in sustainable harvesting, post-harvest care, and storage of medicinal plants collect 85 percent of these raw herbs from the wild.
Mahodand Lake is a lake located in the upper Usho valley at a distance of about 35 kilometers (22 mi) from Kalam in the Swat district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The lake is accessible by four-wheel drive and is often used for fishing and boating.
