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…
Must-see attractions in Central Asia
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…
Khiva
It's possible to climb this 57m tall minaret, Uzbekistan's highest, for fine views over the old city. Morning light offers the best views. With bands of…
Uzbekistan
The town of Urgut, 40km south of Samarkand, is best known for its bazaar. This is one of the best places in the country to buy jewellery, suzani and…
Fergana Valley
Andijon’s Jahon Bazaar is the biggest bazaar on the Uzbek side of the Fergana Valley. There are silk stalls here, in case you miss Kumtepa Bazaar in…
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…
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…
Bishkek
Surveyed by a triumphant statue of Айкол Манас (Mighty Manas), Bishkek's nominal centre is architecturally neobrutalist in style but has a photogenic…
Bishkek
Bishkek's most central bazaar has a certain compulsive interest and is an important city landmark. For traditional Kyrgyz clothes, including white…
Tashkent
Tashkent's main streets radiate from Amir Timur Maydoni, where this statue of Timur (Tamerlane) takes pride of place.
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…
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…
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…
Nukus
On a hill 20km west of Nukus, near Hojeli, are the remains of ancient Mizdakhan, once the second-largest city in Khorezm. Inhabited from the 4th century…
Kazakhstan
Lovers of mysterious, remote ruins should venture out to Akyrtas – Kazakhstan's Stonehenge – on the steppe 6km south of Aksholak village. What you'll find…
Khiva
Walk south from the Abdulla Khan Medressa to the Islom Hoja Medressa and minaret – Khiva’s newest Islamic monuments, both built in 1910. You can climb the…
Kazakhstan
Around 22km northwest of the town of Shetpe, this awe-inspiring, 332m-high, 1km-long chalk outcrop that resembles a lion's head looms over the desert. To…
Dushanbe
Tajikistan's national museum is housed in an impressive modern building with an elliptical roof and giant atrium. The collection encompasses three main…
Kazakhstan
The World Heritage–listed Tamgaly Petroglyphs are the most impressive of many petroglyph groups in southeastern Kazakhstan. Set in a lushly vegetated…
Samarkand
The Afrosiab Museum was built around one of Samarkand’s more important archaeological finds, a chipped 7th-century fresco of the Sogdian King Varkhuman (r…
Regional Museum of Southern Kazakhstan
Shymkent
In its shiny new quarters on the northern outskirts of the city, this regional museum has well-presented, trilingual displays on local geology, Iron Age…
National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan
Dushanbe
Looking almost as aged as some of the exhibits it houses, this dusty old museum, with its threadbare carpets and uneven floors, has a certain charm about…
Kyrgyzstan
Koshoy Korgan (Koshoy's fortress) is a 250m square of muddy wall remnants from what is thought to have been a powerful 12th-century Karakhanid citadel,…
Mausoleum of Al-Hakim al-Termizi
Uzbekistan
Termiz's holiest sight is dedicated to a 9th-century Sufi philosopher, known locally as Al-Hakim, the city’s patron saint. In a triumph for…
Almaty
This large, two-level market has a true flavour of Central Asia, and is worth putting on your itinerary even if you're not really food shopping. It's been…
Ploshchad Poyushchykh Fontanov
Nur-Sultan (Astana)
The eastern half of Nurzhol bulvar starts with this plaza, which springs to life with music-and-water shows at 9pm on summer evenings. Further east stand…
Kyrgyzstan
From Tash Rabat, roughly six hours on foot or by plodding horse should get you to a broad ridge overlooking massive Chatyr-Köl (Чатыр-көл) – 23km long and…
Bukhara
This wealthy merchant's house, built in 1892, was once home to one of Bukhara’s many infamous personalities, the man who plotted with the Bolsheviks to…
Kyrgyzstan
Long a favourite of local day-trippers, Kyrgyz-Ata National Park is slowly becoming popular with international travellers as well. Though just under 12 sq…
Samarkand
The remains of Ulugbek’s 15th-century observatory is one of the great archaeological finds of the 20th century. Ulugbek was probably more famous as an…
Kazakhstan
This well laid-out museum incorporates the wooden house where the exiled writer lived from 1857 to 1859 with his wife and baby. The displays range over…
Tajikistan
Some 500m off the main road in Yamg (Ямг) is the reconstructed house museum of Sufi mystic, astronomer and musician Mubarak Kadam Wakhani (1843–1903). One…
Kyrgyzstan
A collection of petroglyphs believed to be from the Bronze and Middle Ages stand just off the road up a valley about 32km east of the village of Köpurö…
Bukhara
This peaceful and little-visited burial complex a few kilometres west of Bukhara is a good place to escape the tour bus crowds and has partially managed…
Bukhara
The peculiar Chashma Ayub (Spring of Job) mausoleum dates from the 12th century and has a tent-like Karakhanid-style roof. Legend has it that the prophet…
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