Central Asia Tour: A Four-Country Journey through the Stans

A Central Asia tour that takes in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in one journey is, more than anything, a lesson in water. It begins beside the shrunken Aral Sea, follows the Amu Darya to Khorezm, then crosses the Karakum to the oasis capitals of Parthia and the Seljuks, passes through the brick and tile of Bukhara and Samarkand, and ends among the mountain lakes and canyons of the Tian Shan. Our 28-day small group tour of the Stans from Tashkent to Almaty follows that sequence from desert to high pasture. This guide explains why the route is built the way it is, and what each country adds to the whole.

Why this Central Asia tour runs from the Aral Sea to the Tian Shan

Central Asia makes most sense when you see it as a contest between desert and mountain. In the west lie the Karakum and Kyzylkum deserts and the long, slow rivers that cross them; in the east rise the high ranges of the Tian Shan and Pamir, where those rivers begin. People settled where the water allowed it, in river deltas and at the foot of the mountains, and the region’s great cities grew up as oases strung between them.

The itinerary follows that logic. The first fifteen days are spent in the deserts and oases of the west: Tashkent, Karakalpakstan and the Aral Sea, the old Khorezm oasis around Khiva, a loop through Turkmenistan, and then Bukhara and Samarkand. On Day 16 the group flies from Tashkent to Bishkek, and the second half of the journey climbs into the mountains of Kyrgyzstan before crossing into Kazakhstan for Almaty, Altyn-Emel, Charyn Canyon and the Kolsai Lakes. The tour ends in Almaty after breakfast on Day 28.

For the wider story of how these routes linked China, Persia and the Mediterranean, our overview of the history and legacy of the Silk Road sets out the background; this article stays with the route itself. It is also a different journey from our history-led Silk Road journey from Xi’an to Tashkent, which comes into Central Asia overland from western China. This route starts in Tashkent instead, and continues through Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan as well.

Tashkent and Karakalpakstan: starting with water (Days 1–4)

The group meets in Tashkent on Day 1. Day 2 is a full day in the Uzbek capital, with the Museum of History, Mustakillik Square, the Navoi Theatre, Chorsu Bazaar, the sixteenth-century Kukeldash Madrassah, a selection of Tashkent’s metro stations and Amir Temur Square. After dinner the group flies west to Nukus, the capital of Karakalpakstan, an autonomous republic within Uzbekistan. If you want the country-level practicalities first, our answers to common questions about travelling in Uzbekistan cover them.

Day 3 is one of the longest of the tour: a drive of around 500 kilometres from Nukus to the shore of the Aral Sea, with stops at Kungrad and across the stony Ustyurt Plateau, where the tour page notes the remains of old caravan stops on the route between Khiva and the Volga. The group arrives at the sea, has dinner outside and sleeps in a tented camp. The Aral Sea is fed by the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, which rise in the mountains of eastern Central Asia. Britannica dates its shrinking to the second half of the twentieth century, when the region was part of the Soviet Union, and attributes it mainly to the diversion of those two rivers for irrigation. Our guide to the Aral Sea’s environmental history and the changing landscape of Karakalpakstan follows that story in detail.

On Day 4 the return journey runs by way of Muynak, about an hour and a half’s drive from the camp. Muynak was a fishing port on the Aral shore; the water is now far away, and the group visits the “cemetery of ships”, the fishing vessels left on the old seabed, before lunch in the town and the drive back to Nukus. Our article on Muynak’s port memory and the Aral Sea’s receding shoreline looks at what the town’s fishing life was like and what remains of it. Seeing the sea and the port on consecutive days frames everything that follows: in Central Asia, water decides where cities rise and how long they last.

Khorezm: desert fortresses and the walled city of Khiva (Days 5–6)

Day 5 begins with a short visit to the State Museum of Art in Nukus, named after Igor Savitsky, whose story we tell in our article on the Savitsky Museum and its collection of Soviet-era avant-garde art. The group then travels by road to Khiva, a journey the tour page gives as 180 kilometres and four hours, stopping on the way at two of the ancient fortresses of Khorezm, Toprak Kala and Ayaz Kala.

Khorezm is the old name for the lower Amu Darya and its delta, an irrigated oasis that supported states long before Islam reached the region. The ruined strongholds that still stand on its desert edges were submitted by Uzbekistan to UNESCO’s Tentative List in 2008 as the “Desert Castles of Ancient Khorezm”. That submission describes Toprak Kala as a planned town of the first to fourth centuries AD, and records that one of the Ayaz Kala castles was built in the Kushan period and modernised in the fifth to seventh centuries. Our article on the desert archaeology of the Khorezm fortresses explains how these sites were built, and why they stand where they do.

Day 6 is spent in Khiva, whose walled inner town, Itchan Kala, was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1990. The group visits the Kalta Minor Minaret, the Kunya Ark fortress with its administrative buildings and law courts, the Juma Mosque, the Islam Khodja Minaret and the Pakhlavan Makhmud complex, and has lunch in a local home with a traditional Khorezmian meal. Our guide to Khiva’s place on the Silk Road tells the story of the city and its khans.

Turkmenistan: Konye-Urgench, Nisa and Ashgabat (Days 7–9)

On Day 7 the group drives from Khiva into Turkmenistan by way of Dashoguz and stops at Konye-Urgench, the old capital of the Khorezmshahs, inscribed by UNESCO in 2005. The tour’s visit takes in a caravanserai portal, the Mamun Minaret, the mausoleums of Il-Arslan, Sultan Tekesh and Turabek Khanum, and the Kutlug Timur Minaret. Konye-Urgench was sacked by the Mongols in 1221 and rebuilt; its surviving minarets and mausoleums date mainly from the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries. That evening the group flies from Dashoguz to Ashgabat.

Day 8 combines the Turkmen capital with a royal site of the Parthian era. In Ashgabat the group visits the Halk Hakydasy memorial complex, and then drives out to Nisa, the Parthian fortress that UNESCO inscribed in 2007. UNESCO’s description places the Parthian Empire’s rule over this part of Central Asia between the mid-third century BCE and the early third century CE. At Nisa, the earthen walls of the Parthian royal fortresses rise from the foothills of the Kopet Dag, a reminder that this corner of Turkmenistan once lay at the heart of an empire that faced Rome across its western frontier for centuries. The rest of the day includes the Turkmenbashy Ruhy Mosque at Kipchak, a horse show of Akhal-Teke horses at the state hippodrome, and an evening drive along the city’s main avenues.

Ashgabat itself is a modern city with an old name. Britannica records that Russia founded it as a military fort in 1881, that an earthquake virtually destroyed it in October 1948, and that it was rebuilt on the same regular plan. Today’s white marble avenues, monuments and parks are largely the product of building since Turkmenistan’s independence in 1991, and our article on Ashgabat’s white marble urbanism and the making of a modern capital looks at how the city took its present shape. For a broader introduction to the country, our guide to Turkmenistan for curious travellers covers the essentials.

Day 9 opens at the Museum of Turkmen Carpets, whose collection runs from the medieval period to the twentieth century. Turkmen carpets, with their deep reds and repeated medallions known as guls, have long been read as emblems of individual tribes, and the museum is the place on this route to see that weaving tradition up close. It is related to, but distinct from, the tradition traced in our history of Persian carpets. In the afternoon the group takes the cable way to the Asma Ýoly observation centre in the Kopet Dag, sees the Monument of Constitution, the Alem centre, the Arch of Neutrality and the Independence Park, and then flies to Mary.

Merv: an oasis city across the centuries (Days 10–11)

Day 10 begins at Ancient Merv, inscribed by UNESCO in 1999 as a State Historical and Cultural Park. UNESCO’s summary notes that the oasis has supported a series of urban centres since the third millennium BC, and the walled cities that survive sit side by side across the plain: Erk Kala, Gyaur Kala, and the medieval Sultan Kala, which was walled in the eleventh century. Britannica describes Merv reaching its height as the capital of the Seljuk sultan Sanjar, who reigned from 1118 to 1157, before it was destroyed by the Mongols in 1221.

The tour page lists the monuments visited: Gyz Kala and Oglan Kala, the Askhab complex, Gyaur Kala, a Buddhist stupa and monastery, the Beni Makhan Mosque, Erk Kala, Sultan Kala and the mausoleums of Sultan Sanjar and Ibn Zeid. Back in Mary, the afternoon brings the regional museum of history and ethnography and a walking tour of the town centre. On Day 11 the group drives from Mary to the border with Uzbekistan at Farab, stopping at Turkmenabat on the way, and continues to Bukhara in time for dinner.

How does the tour move between countries and cities?

Mostly by road, with five internal flights and one train journey. The flights are Tashkent to Nukus on Day 2, Dashoguz to Ashgabat on Day 7, Ashgabat to Mary on Day 9, Tashkent to Bishkek on Day 16 and Bishkek to Almaty on Day 22, and the tour page lists all internal flights and taxes as included. The group crosses between Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan by road at Dashoguz on Day 7 and at Farab on Day 11, and returns from Samarkand to Tashkent on the high-speed Afrosiab train on Day 15. The longest distances the tour page gives are the 500-kilometre drive to the Aral Sea on Day 3 and the 300-kilometre journey from Bukhara to Samarkand on Day 13.

Bukhara and Samarkand: the Silk Road cities (Days 12–15)

After the earthen ruins of Khorezm and Turkmenistan, the tiled cities of central Uzbekistan come as a change of register. Bukhara’s historic centre was inscribed by UNESCO in 1993. Day 12 is a morning in the Poi-Kalyan ensemble, with the Kalyan Mosque, the Mir-i-Arab Madrassah and the Kalyan Minaret, followed by the trading domes, the Magoki Attori and the Nadir Divan-Begi Madrassah; the afternoon is at leisure. On Day 13 the group visits the Samanid Mausoleum of the ninth and tenth centuries, the Chashma Ayub Mausoleum, the Bolo Hauz Mosque and the Ark Fortress, then drives to Samarkand. Our guide to Bukhara on the Silk Road explains how these buildings fit together.

Samarkand, inscribed by UNESCO in 2001 as “Samarkand – Crossroad of Cultures”, fills Days 14 and 15. The group visits the excavated Ulugbek Observatory, the hill fort of Afrasiab and its museum, the Bibi Khanum Mosque, the Shah-i-Zinda necropolis and Siab Bazaar, with a plov master class at dinner. Day 15 brings the Gur-e-Amir, the Timurid dynastic mausoleum, and the Registan, lined on three sides by the Ulugbek, Sher Dor and Tillya Kari madrassahs. After lunch the group visits the Konigil Meros water mill and paper workshop, where paper is still made from mulberry bark, and the Hudjum silk carpet factory, before taking the train back to Tashkent. Our article on Samarkand and the Silk Road tells the story of the city’s Timurid monuments.

How physically demanding is this Central Asia tour?

The tour is rated Level 3, Moderate to Challenging. The tour page describes this level as needing travellers in excellent health, extremely mobile and living an active lifestyle, with up to six hours a day of continuous strenuous, moderate to fast-paced activity over varied terrain, and it asks that participants can carry their own luggage and climb and descend stairs. The itinerary also includes long road days, a tented camp, two nights in yurts and a half-day walking excursion at the Kolsai Lakes. If you are unsure how this matches your own fitness, talk it through with a Tour Specialist before booking.

Kyrgyzstan: Issyk-Kul, rock art and the pastures of Son-Kul (Days 16–21)

The group flies from Tashkent to Bishkek on Day 16 and meets its Kyrgyz guide. Day 17 begins at the Burana tower-museum, on the site of the ancient town of Balasagun; our article on the Burana Tower and the Karakhanid city around it explains what survives there. Lunch is with a Kyrgyz family living near the tower, and the afternoon drive runs through the Boom Pass to Issyk-Kul, the mountain lake ringed by the Terskey and Kungey Ala-Too ranges.

Day 18 circles the northern and eastern shores of the lake towards Karakol, stopping first at the open-air Petroglyphs Gallery of Cholpon-Ata, where figures pecked into boulders above the northern shore of Issyk-Kul show ibex with curving horns and other animals in profile; the tour page notes that the site may once have served as an open-air sanctuary. In Karakol the group sees the mosque built in 1907 for the Dungan community, the Orthodox cathedral and the memorial to the explorer Nikolai Przhevalsky, before returning to Cholpon-Ata.

On Day 19 the road leads up to Son-Kul, with lunch in Kochkor village, a felt carpet making display and a visit to a local needlewoman on the way. On the high pastures around Son-Kul, shepherds still graze their flocks in summer and live in yurts, and two nights in a yurt camp on the shore show how closely Kyrgyz life is tied to that pastoral round. Day 20 includes a visit to the shepherds’ yurts, a climb to a nearby hill for the view over the lake, and the chance to go horse riding. On Day 21 the group returns to Bishkek by way of the Kalmak-Ashuu Pass. Our answers to common questions about Kyrgyzstan cover the country-level detail.

What are the overnight stays at the Aral Sea and Son-Kul like?

Both are simple. On Day 3 the group sleeps in a tented camp by the Aral Sea, with dinner outside. At Son-Kul, on Days 19 and 20, the group stays in yurts, which the tour page describes as relatively basic: there are no showers, though there is water and a private area for washing, and the toilets are outhouse-style at a distance from the yurts, so a torch is useful. Each yurt takes three to four people, so solo travellers and couples share for those two nights, and there is no single room option there.

Kazakhstan: Almaty, Altyn-Emel, Charyn Canyon and the Kolsai Lakes (Days 22–28)

Day 22 is a morning in Bishkek, with the National Museum, the White House, Panfilov Park and Freedom Avenue, followed by a traditional bazaar and an evening flight to Almaty. Day 23 is a full day in Almaty, which the tour page notes was Kazakhstan’s capital until 1997: the 28 Panfilov Guardsmen park, the Cathedral Church of St Nicholas, the Museum of National Musical Instruments, the National Museum and Republic Square, then the drive up to the Medeo skating rink in a gorge outside the city and dinner with a traditional Kazakh menu. For background on the country, our guide to exploring Kazakhstan and our answers to common questions about Kazakhstan are good places to start.

Day 24 leads by way of Kapchagay to Altyn-Emel National Park, on the north bank of the Ili River, which brings together desert mountains, Bronze Age petroglyphs and an old branch of the Silk Road in a single protected landscape; the tour page gives its founding as 1996. The group also visits the stone columns of Oshaktas near the Kalkan Mountains and the park’s singing dunes, crescent-shaped barchans that the tour page describes as singing with the wind.

On Day 25 the group stops at Aulie-Agash, the tree the tour page describes as 700 years old, in the settlement of Kieli-Agash, and continues to Charyn Canyon, cut by the Charyn River into the flat steppe, where layered rock has weathered into columns and walls of red and ochre. From the canyon the road runs on to the Kolsai Lakes, a chain of clear mountain lakes among spruce forest in the northern Tian Shan, where the group stays in a local guesthouse.

Day 26 is a half-day walking excursion along part of the lake system. The tour page gives the lowest lake as 1,818 metres above sea level and the middle lake, about five kilometres further on, as 2,252 metres, and notes that the highest lake is not reached on this tour. Day 27 brings some free time and the transfer back to Almaty, and the tour ends after breakfast on Day 28.

Is there an extension to Tajikistan?

The tour page mentions an optional seven-day extension to Tajikistan, with mountain scenery and alpine lakes. Travellers taking it have a free day in Almaty on Day 28, join the rest of the extension group for a welcome dinner that evening, and fly to Dushanbe the following day. A Tour Specialist can explain how the extension fits with the main itinerary.

What connects the four countries on this route

Taken as a whole, the route makes three arguments. The first is about water: the Aral Sea, the Amu Darya oases and the mountain lakes of the Tian Shan show both how much the region depends on its rivers and how fragile that dependence can be. The second is about empire: Parthian Nisa, Seljuk Merv, Khorezmian Konye-Urgench and Timurid Samarkand were each, in their time, capitals of states that reached far beyond today’s borders. The third is about movement: caravans, herders and armies all crossed this country, and the yurts of Son-Kul and the petroglyphs of Cholpon-Ata and Altyn-Emel are as much a part of its history as the tiled madrassahs.

Travelling as a small group of up to 16 travellers with an Odyssey Tour Leader and local guides, mature travellers see those three threads come together over 28 days, from the edge of a vanishing sea to the lakes of the Tian Shan. It is a long and active journey, and it rewards the time it takes.