Kotli is a small district town in Azad Kashmir, tucked into the hills roughly 135 kilometres from Islamabad along a winding road through Sensa and Holar. Its reputation rests on its mosques — locals call it Madina-tul-Masajid, the city of mosques — and on the shrine at nearby Gulhar Sharif, which draws pilgrims from across Pakistan.
The draw for travellers is the surrounding landscape rather than the town itself. Teenda, a short drive out, is a viewpoint over the Poonch river valley with a government rest house. Tattapani, about 26 kilometres north on the banks of the Poonch, has sulphur hot springs that fill up with visitors in winter looking for a hot soak and, according to local belief, a cure for what ails them. The shrine at Gulhar Sharif draws pilgrims from across Pakistan, especially on the annual urs. The road on to Rawalakot via Hijira passes through some of the prettier country in Azad Kashmir.
Kotli has the basics — bazaars, banks, a hospital, a couple of middling hotels — but it is a functional place, not a tourist town. Most locals have family working abroad, and the money shows in the newer houses rising out of the hillsides. Come for the drive and the springs, not for the town.