Start with a guided tour at Bishkek, a city shaped by broad avenues, public squares and mountain views on clear days. See Ala-Too Square, the national flag, the Manas Statue and the Eternal Flame in Victory Square as your guide introduces Kyrgyzstan’s capital and its modern identity.
Continue to the National History Museum, where exhibits trace the cultural heritage of the Kyrgyz people through artefacts and sculpture. After free time in the afternoon, gather again for a hosted family dinner and learn more about local food, customs and daily life.
Leave Bishkek and travel toward Issyk-Kul, stopping first at Burana Tower, a minaret at the archaeological site of Balasagun, a medieval Silk Road city. Continue to Iskra Village for lunch with a Dungan family, learning about the community’s migration story and traditions.
In the afternoon, travel onward to Cholpon Ata on the northern shore of Issyk-Kul Lake. Visit the Cholpon Ata Petroglyphs, where Bronze Age rock carvings give a glimpse into early life around this high-altitude lake.
Travel time: Driving – approx. 4.5 hours
Travel from Issyk-Kul toward Karakol, stopping at Reina Kench Farm to learn about horse breeding and the role horses play in Kyrgyz nomadic culture. After lunch, continue east to Karakol, a regional centre close to the mountains and the lake.
On arrival, join a guided city tour including the Dungan Mosque, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Przhevalsky Museum. The evening is free, giving you time to rest or take a simple walk around town.
Travel time: Driving – approx. 3.5 hours
Begin with a visit to the Ak Orgo project in Barskoon Village, where you’ll learn the art of traditional felt-making and yurt assembly. Discover how these nomadic shelters are crafted from an interlaced lattice of lightweight wood, covered in felt and built without nails. These practical skills sit at the heart of nomadic culture, and the visit offers a hands-on look at how craft and daily life connect.
After lunch, continue to Jety-Oguz Gorge, known for its red rock formations and local legends. Return toward Karakol in the evening for dinner with a Cossack family.
Travel time: Driving – four hours
Cross from Kyrgyzstan into Kazakhstan, allowing time for border formalities and a full travel day. Continue through changing mountain and village scenery, with scenic stops and lunch included along the route to the Kolsay region.
From Saty Village, travel by 4WD to Kaindy Lake, known for the pale trunks of its submerged forest rising from the water. Return to Saty for a family visit and a hands-on dumpling-making dinner before settling in for the night.
Travel time: Driving – approx. six hours
Travel to Charyn Canyon, one of Kazakhstan’s most distinctive natural sites. Walk through the canyon landscape and take in the scale of its weathered rock formations before continuing across open country toward Almaty.
After a lunch stop, arrive in Kazakhstan’s largest city and join an orientation walk to get your bearings. The evening is free for you to choose dinner independently.
Travel time: Driving – approx. 5.5 hours
Spend the morning exploring Almaty with visits to Republic Square, Panfilov Park, Ascension Cathedral and the Green Bazaar. Together, these stops offer a practical introduction to the city’s public spaces, religious architecture and everyday market life.
The afternoon is free, with optional touring available if you’d like to see more. In the evening, regroup for an included dinner with traditional folklore.
Transfer to the airport and fly from Almaty to Dushanbe, Tajikistan’s capital. After arrival, transfer to the hotel for check-in before heading out to see some of the city’s key landmarks.
Your introductory sightseeing includes Somoni Square and the main mosque, giving you a first sense of Dushanbe’s civic and religious life. Finish the day with an included dinner at a traditional restaurant.
Travel time: Flight – approx. two hours
Continue exploring Dushanbe with a visit to the National Museum of Antiquities, where collections help place Tajikistan within Central Asia’s long history of settlement, trade and empire.
Later, travel to Hisor Fortress, a site with a history stretching back around 2,500 years. After learning about the fortress and its place in the region, enjoy lunch with a local family before returning to Dushanbe for time at leisure.
Fly from Dushanbe to Tashkent, crossing into Uzbekistan for the next stage of the journey. After arrival and lunch, begin exploring the capital with a focus on its Soviet-era design. After the devastating 1966 earthquake left Tashkent in ruins, Soviet planners rebuilt the city on a grand scale, carving out wide boulevards and lining them with bold modernist facades.
Visit the Tashkent Metro, known for its decorative stations, and see key city landmarks with your guide. The evening is free, giving you time to rest after the flight or explore nearby at your own pace.
Travel time: Flight – approx. 90 minutes
Set out to see more of Tashkent, beginning with the Museum of Applied Arts and continuing to the Hasti Imam Complex. These visits introduce Uzbekistan’s craft traditions, religious architecture and cultural heritage in the capital.
Continue to the blue-domed Chorsu Bazaar, the city’s most famous market that has served as a trading hub along the Silk Road for thousands of years, and visit a bakery to try Uzbek bread.
After lunch at a local restaurant, enjoy a free afternoon to relax or keep exploring independently.
Board the high-speed train to Samarkand, one of the great names of the Silk Road.
After the journey, begin exploring Samarkand with visits to the Ulugbek Observatory, built by the renowned medieval Islamic astronomer Ulugbek; the Afrasiab Museum, set within the ancient city; and Shah-i-Zinda, one of the world’s most beautifully tiled necropolises.
The afternoon is free to rest after the early start. This evening, join a home-hosted plov cooking experience and learn about one of Uzbekistan’s best-known dishes, enjoying the meal for dinner. Later, settle into your modern room for the first of three nights at the stylish Mövenpick Samarkand, perfectly located in the heart of the city.
Travel time: Train – approx. 2.5 hours
Spend the morning discovering Samarkand’s major landmarks, including Gur-e-Amir Mausoleum and Registan Square. Your guide will help unpack the history behind the tiled madrasahs, mausoleums and public spaces that made the city a centre of Silk Road life.
In the afternoon, drive to the outskirts of Samarkand to visit the Memorial Complex of Imam al-Bukhari. Return to the hotel with the evening free.
Enjoy a full free day in Samarkand, giving you space to slow the pace and choose how much you’d like to do. You might revisit a favourite part of the city, spend time around the hotel or join optional experiences if available.
Optional activities may include hands-on activities at Traditions Square, a silk paper-making workshop in Konigil Village, a visit to the Tomb of the Old Testament Prophet Daniel or an El Merosi historic theatre performance.
Take the high-speed train from Samarkand to Bukhara, another of Uzbekistan’s key Silk Road cities. After arrival, transfer toward the old town and continue to the hotel for check-in.
In the afternoon, join an orientation walk to see monuments such as the Ismail Samani Mausoleum, Ark Fortress and Kalyan Minaret.
This evening, visit a local restaurant for a manti-making experience (large, steamed dumplings) before sitting down to enjoy them for dinner.
Travel time: Train – approx. two hours
Begin with the Naqshbandi Mausoleum, where your guide introduces Sufism, the mystical branch of Islam focused on inner devotion and spiritual discipline, and explains how Bahauddin Naqshband helped shape one of Central Asia’s most influential Sufi orders.
Continue to the Summer Palace of the last Emir, a site that reflects Bukhara’s later royal life and decorative traditions.
The afternoon is free to explore Bukhara at your own pace. Optional activities may include a traditional hammam visit, similar in style to a Turkish bath.
Leave Bukhara and journey across the Kyzylkum Desert toward Khiva, watching the landscape unfold into vast sweeps of vivid yellow sand, scrub-dotted plains and the occasional sheep or camel moving across the horizon. Lunch is included en route on this long but atmospheric travel day.
After arrival and hotel check-in, join an orientation walk in Khiva’s old city. The evening is free, giving you time to take in the atmosphere of the walled city at a slower pace.
Travel time: Driving – approx. 6.5 hours
Spend the morning on a guided tour of Itchan Kala, Khiva’s living medieval city, home to 51 ancient monuments and 250 historic dwellings showcasing traditional Islamic architecture. Your guide will lead you through its beautifully preserved streets, city walls and landmarks while tracing Khiva’s place in the region’s trading history.
The afternoon is free to continue exploring independently or rest at the hotel. In the evening, enjoy an included dinner with traditional Khorezmian music and dance.
Check out early and cross into Turkmenistan, allowing time for border formalities before continuing by road toward the Darvaza Gas Crater.
This is a long travel day, but the journey is rewarded on arrival at one of Central Asia’s most surreal sights: a vast desert crater where fire has burned continuously for more than 40 years. After Soviet geologists tapped into a cavern of natural gas in 1971, the ground collapsed, leaving a fiery hole 60 metres wide and 30 metres deep.
Stay overnight at a traditional yurt camp near the crater. After dark, visit the firey ‘Door to Hell’ and see its glow against the desert night before returning to camp. Please note, the yurt camp has basic facilities.
Travel time: Driving – approx. 8 hours
After breakfast, drive to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan’s capital. On arrival, stop for lunch at a local restaurant, then check in to the hotel before continuing with late-afternoon sightseeing.
Visit Turkmenbashi Ruhy Mosque, Independence Park, Arch of Neutrality, the Wedding Palace panoramic viewpoint and the Halk Hakydasy Memorial Complex. The evening is free after a full day on the road and around the city.
Travel time: Driving – approx. 4.5 hours
Spend your final full day exploring Ashgabat and its surroundings. Begin with the ancient settlement of Nisa, then continue to the National Museum for more context on Turkmenistan’s history and culture.
Optional touring may include the Carpet Museum, where you can learn about Turkmenistan’s long carpet-making tradition and see weavers at work. This evening, gather with your group for an included farewell dinner.
Your journey through the Five Stans comes to a close in Ashgabat. After breakfast, meet your transfer at the hotel and travel to Ashgabat International Airport (ASB) for your onward journey.