Kandahar
Afghanistan · 1010 m
Description
Kandahar is the second city of Afghanistan and the Pashtun heartland, where Ahmad Shah Durrani founded the state in 1747 and lies buried under a blue-tiled dome in its middle. Beside his tomb is the Shrine of the Cloak, which holds a garment held to be the Prophet's and is shown almost never. Chilzina, forty steps cut into the rock west of the city, carries an inscription of the Mughal Babur. The old city was levelled in the eighteenth century and rebuilt on a grid. Pomegranates and grapes grow all around it. The airport south of the city was built by the Americans in the 1960s on a scale nothing needed.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 1 to 2 days (optimal 2 days)
Travel season
Best time to visit: March – April or October – November
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- Tomb of Ahmad Shah Durrani
- Shrine of Baba Wali in the orchards
- Shrine of the Cloak
- Chilzina steps and the Babur inscription
- Kandahar bazaar and the embroidery
- Pomegranates and grapes from the valley
- Old Kandahar mound west of the city
- Forty steps view over the plain
- Kandahari bread and green tea houses
Getting there
- Airports:
- KDH