Turkmenistan
One of Turkmenistan’s most unusual sights, the Darvaza Gas Craters are the result of Soviet-era gas exploration in the 1970s. The three craters are…
Must-see attractions in Central Asia
Kabul
This is a museum that only a country like Afghanistan could host. Run by the Organisation for Mine clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation (OMAR), it acts as…
Tashkent
The primary attraction of Khast Imom square is this library museum, which houses the 7th-century Osman Quran (Uthman Quran), said to be the world’s oldest…
Uzbekistan
The Termiz Archaeological Museum is reason enough to visit Termiz. Unveiled in 2001, the museum is a treasure trove of Buddhist and Bactrian artefacts…
Kabul
King Nadir Shah was assassinated in 1933, the time-honoured way that most Afghan leaders meet their fate. His monumental tomb sits overlooking east Kabul…
Tajikistan
Shaded by ancient chinar (plane) trees, a pair of small but ornately stucco-fronted 17th-century tombs are set beside a fine old mosque with tapering…
Samarkand
On the northern side of the Registan is the Tilla-Kari (Gold-Covered) Medressa, completed in 1660, with a pleasant, gardenlike courtyard. The highlight…
Kyrgyzstan
Though the full Unesco Biosphere Reserve includes seven mountain lakes and numerous rare flora and fauna, the star attraction for most visitors is the…
Samarkand
The Ulugbek Medressa, on the western side of the Registan, is the square's original medressa, finished in 1420 under Ulugbek who is said to have taught…
Kyrgyzstan
Burana is a popular side-trip when driving between Issyk-Köl and Bishkek. In the fields south of Tokmok, the Burana Tower is the 24m-high stump of a huge…
Samarkand
The entrance portal of the Registan's Sher Dor (Lion) Medressa, opposite the Ulugbek Medressa and finished in 1636, is decorated with roaring felines that…
Almaty
This large and attractive rectangle of greenery is one of central Almaty's most popular strolling and hangout places for all ages. At its heart stands the…
Tajikistan
On a terrace above the banks of River Zerafshan, 1.5km southeast of today's Penjikent, the ruins of a major Sogdian town slowly bake to dust. Looking…
Dushanbe
Beneath an impressive arc of blue mosaic stars, the nation's most revered poet, Rudaki, is honoured here at the heart of the central park named after him…
Bishkek
This modest museum forms a concrete shell around the thatched cottage that was allegedly the birthplace of Mikhail Vasilievich Frunze (1885–1925), for…
Bishkek
Surveyed by a triumphant statue of Айкол Манас (Mighty Manas), Bishkek's nominal centre is architecturally neobrutalist in style but has a photogenic…
Almaty
Candy-coloured Zenkov Cathedral is Kazakhstan's nearest (albeit distant) relative to St Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow and one of Almaty’s few surviving…
Uzbekistan
Impressive mud-walled Ayaz-Qala, located 23km north of Boston (Bustan), is actually a complex of three forts. Its heyday was the 6th and 7th centuries…
Tajikistan
This 12th-century fort is the most impressive of the Wakhan Valley's many tumbledown castle ruins, complete with multiple walls and round watchtowers. The…
Tashkent
The striking new Minor Mosque, also known as the white mosque for the colour of its marble, is proof that Uzbekistan still knows how to create sublime…
Bishkek
Bishkek's most central bazaar has a certain compulsive interest and is an important city landmark. For traditional Kyrgyz clothes, including white…
Tashkent
It's impossible to miss the handsome gold onion domes, pastel blue walls and 50m bell tower of the impressive Assumption Cathedral. Built in 1958 and…
Tajikistan
In the northwest of the country, 30km east of Penjikent, the Fannsky Gory or Fan Mountains are a beautiful range of sharp-peaked mountains, many snow…
Khiva
At the back right corner of the throne room in the Kuhna Ark, a door in the wall leads to a flight of steps up to the watchtower, the original part of the…
Tashkent
Tashkent's main streets radiate from Amir Timur Maydoni, where this statue of Timur (Tamerlane) takes pride of place.
Tajikistan
Measuring around 4km in length, this stunning lake (2195m), high in the Fan Mountains, is a spectacle not to be missed. Willows, feathery tamarisk and…
Kabul
This cemetery was built in 1879 by the British army for the dead of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. The cemetery contains around 150 graves. Most are from…
Afghanistan
These gardens 40km from Jalalabad were laid out in 1610 by the Mughal emperor Jehangir. They follow the quartered Chahar Bagh –style of classical Mughal…
Khiva
Khiva's Ichon-Qala is one of the great highlights of Uzbekistan. The perfectly preserved medieval walled town is home to dozens of mosques, medressas and…
Almaty
This broad, Soviet-created ceremonial square provides a panoramic view of the snowcapped mountains on a clear morning and is surrounded by several…
Bishkek
Originally built as the St Nicholas Cathedral, the steeple was removed and this space converted to an art museum during the Soviet period. The building…
Kabul
Entering Kabul’s bird market is like stepping back in time a hundred years, to a corner of the city untouched by war or modernisation. Also known as the…
Kyrgyzstan
This small stone caravanserai is sunk into the hillside of a photogenic narrow shepherds' valley that's given definition by occasional rocky outcrops…
Bishkek
Well-curated irregular exhibitions on a wide variety of themes and a grungy hipster-chic space make this a great stop for art seekers. Go through the gate…
Tajikistan
Rock faces on the steep slopes above Langar are inscribed with over 6000 ancient petroglyphs. Climbing to see them is hard work in the high altitude and…
Bishkek
This one-room gallery hosts rotating thematic exhibitions of works primarily by local artists. Much of it is for sale, and there is a handful of applied…
Khiva
One highlight for which no ticket is needed is the walk along the northwestern section of the Ichon-Qala wall. The stairs can be accessed at the North…
Uzbekistan
This fort about 10km west of Boston was the main temple complex of the Khorezm kings who ruled this area in the 3rd and 4th centuries. The many rooms of…
Tashkent
Souvenir shops occupy the student rooms of this 16th-century medressa located on the western side of Khast Imom square, making this one of the best places…
Bishkek
Run by the son of the legend himself, this was once the working studio of Kyrgyz National Artist Gapar Aitiev. It will be of interest to visitors with a…
