Five Stans Grand Tour — Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan & Turkmenistan — 22 Days

This isn’t a weekend trip. It’s built for travelers who don’t just want to “check off” Central Asia, but actually understand it: drive across five borders by land, watch the Tian Shan mountains give way to the Karakum desert, and Soviet architecture give way to white-marble futurism. Our most ambitious route, where the long driving days aren’t a downside — they’re part of the point.

A private 20-day version is also available — with Lake Son-Kul and the Kyzyl-Tuu yurt-making village instead of Naryn and Tash Rabat, plus a stop at Kunya-Urgench in Turkmenistan.

Route overview

Bishkek → Burana Tower → Kochkor → Naryn → Tash Rabat caravanserai → Issyk-Kul (Bokonbaevo, Skazka Canyon, Tamga yurt camp) → Jeti-Oguz gorge → Karakol → Charyn Canyon → Almaty → flight to Dushanbe → Lake Iskanderkul → Penjikent → Sarazm → Khujand → Tashkent → Samarkand → Bukhara → Khiva → Darvaza gas crater → Ashgabat.

Highlights

• Tash Rabat: a 15th-century stone caravanserai on the old Silk Road, near the Chinese border.
• A felt-making workshop in Kochkor and a falconry demonstration on the Issyk-Kul shore.
• Charyn Canyon, often compared to a smaller Grand Canyon.
• Sarazm, a Bronze Age settlement and one of the oldest sites in Central Asia.
• The full classic Uzbekistan route: Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva.
• A night camping near the Darvaza gas crater, burning continuously since 1971.
• Ashgabat’s white-marble government district and the Nisa archaeological site.

What’s included (placeholder — confirm before publishing)

• All ground transport with air-conditioned vehicles sized to the group
• One domestic flight (Almaty–Dushanbe)
• Guide in each country, entrance fees to the listed sites
• Hotel or yurt-camp accommodation with breakfast, plus a few lunches/dinners as noted in the itinerary
• Turkmenistan visa support

Not included

• International flights in/out of the region
• Turkmenistan visa and migration fees (paid at the border)
• Travel insurance, tips, personal expenses

Confirmed hotel names, guaranteed departure dates and the final per-person price are arranged with your travel consultant at booking.