Disclaimer: we crossed the Wagah border from India into Pakistan in April 2025. I wrote this guide at the time. A few weeks later, the border was closed after a rise in political tensions between India and Pakistan. The diplomatic situation between the two countries is always fraught and can change quickly. I recommend checking the latest information online before attempting to make the crossing!

Despite the long border shared by India and Pakistan, the Attari-Wagah crossing, located about halfway between Amritsar in India and Lahore in Pakistan, is the only functioning land border crossing between the two countries. Even this border can be closed from time to time due to political tensions or border skirmishes between the two countries, but when it’s open it serves as the only viable way to cross overland between India and Pakistan.

Very few Indians and Pakistanis actually make the border crossing. It is very difficult for regular Indians to get visas for Pakistan, and vice-versa. The Wagah border is therefore mostly used by nationals from third countries. We were interested to see that there were a couple of locals making the crossing – the locals doing so require special permits.

The border is famous for its daily closing ceremony, which features over-the-top displays of pageantry from both sides in an effort at one-upmanship. This ceremony is a huge spectacle, with a modern grandstand on the Indian side accommodating several thousand spectators and a less-developed stand on the Pakistan side, which was partially under construction when we visited. During the day, this ceremonial area literally functions as the working border.

The Wagah border ceremony is great fun, featuring patriotic chanting and over-the-top displays from the Indian and Pakistani border guards

Attending the Wagah ceremony is a fun activity whether on the Indian or Pakistan side – we attended while in India and didn’t have time to make the journey back to see it from the Pakistan point of view. It’s recommended not to try to combine attending the ceremony with actually crossing the border, as it may not be possible to access the stadium for the ceremony while carrying luggage or bags.

Before making the border crossing, ensure you have the correct documentation with you to enter Pakistan. You must have a Pakistan visa to gain entry to Pakistan. Luckily, for UK citizens like ourselves this is now free to obtain using the Pakistan visa website. The website is blocked and inaccessible in India (very unhelpful for travellers) but you can use a VPN to access the website or apply for the visa in a different country such as Bangladesh or Sri Lanka (like we did), as the website is only blocked in India. As part of the visa process you need to book a hotel in Pakistan and have confirmation ready to show the border immigration clerks.

We struggled to get our photo accepted by the automated facial recognition software on the Pakistan website –  after trying numerous times, we discovered that if you crop your photo then it is more likely to succeed. Once you’ve received your Pakistan visa, it’s time to pack your belongings and head to the Attari-Wagah border. Flights between India and Pakistan can be patchy so crossing the land border is actually the most efficient way. 

In the tuk-tuk from Attari town to the border – there are plenty waiting around where the bus drops off

It’s fairly easy to get from Amritsar to Lahore in one day as they’re only located about 55 kilometres from each other. You need to cross the border before the border ceremony kicks off around 4PM – after this time you can forget it as you will be engulfed in the crowds and preparations for the ceremony. First you need to get transport to the border town of Attari. It is possible to take a taxi or tuktuk, but the easiest and cheapest way is to catch a bus to Attari from this bus station in Amritsar – head to bus stand number 23.

Buses are pretty regular, but as always with a border crossing try to depart as early as possible as immigration often takes longer than you expect. You will be dropped off at the border town of Attari – from there hail a tuktuk and tell them ‘Wagah border’’ or simply ‘Pakistan’ like we did. This cost us about 100 rupees for the short journey to the Indian immigration terminal.

You then need to pass through Indian immigration, ensuring you get the exit stamp before being loaded on a border bus which transports you to the border. The main ceremonial gate in the massive stadium which hosts the closing ceremony every afternoon is actually the legitimate border. You need to walk into the empty stadium and go through the ceremonial gate, passing checkpoints along the way, and continue onto the Pakistan immigration office.

Inside the courtesy bus from Indian immigration to the border – you may have to wait a while for the bus to fill up before it departs. Most of the other travellers on the bus with us were from Southeast Asia

As we had obtained the online Visa Prior to Arrival, we didn’t have any problems passing through Pakistan immigration and were only asked some very cursory questions.  We were able to show the downloaded PDF of our visa document on our phones – make sure you download this or print off a hard copy before heading across.

There are no currency exchanges and no way of getting hold of Pakistani currency on the Indian side of the border (it is illegal for Indians to carry it), but there were some money changer men loitering around immigration on the Pakistan side. The rate wasn’t perfect but wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, and we were able to exchange enough Indian rupees into Pakistani rupees to pay for our onward transport to Lahore.

Welcome to Pakistan! Walk a little way past the stadium and you will come to the immigration buildings, from there you can head towards Wagah town to get a ride

Once you’re clear of Pakistan Immigration, head outside the terminal to find a ride to Lahore. Unfortunately you’re at the mercy of the taxi drivers parked outside the terminal. It’s time to put your best poker face on and negotiate for a ride. The taxis right outside the immigration terminal will try to charge you a very high price but if you walk further away from the terminal towards the town of Wagah, where the road joins the main road to Lahore, there are other taxis waiting who may give you a better deal.

We got a taxi from right outside the immigration office and were definitely overcharged for the journey – in the end we paid about 6000 rupees for the trip to the centre of Lahore after bargaining it down from a stupidly high price. Another option to save money if your final destination in Lahore is near a metro station would be to take a taxi from the border to the nearest metro station in Lahore (Dera Gujran), and then take the metro on from there.

And that’s it! Welcome to Pakistan! For more Pakistan content, click here!