Tashkent
The working 16th-century Kulkedash medressa has an unusual garden courtyard and sits beside Tashkent’s silver-domed Juma (Friday) Mosque on a hill…
Must-see attractions in Central Asia
Tashkent
Downtown Tashkent’s largest park has an eccentric mix of brutal Soviet-era, Uzbek government buildings and post-independence monuments, all set in a…
Tajikistan
Southeast of Kurgonteppa is 7th- to 8th-century Ajina Teppe, where in 1966 archaeologists unearthed a stupa, monastery and Central Asia’s largest…
Bukhara
The Moneychangers' Bazaar is a typically domed bazaar straddling one of Bukhara's main street junctions. It contains several souvenir stalls and a…
Kazakhstan
A pedestrian/cyclist promenade runs to the Strelka (Arrow), the point of land where the Irtysh and Ulba meet, marked by a large Heroes of the Soviet Union…
Uzbekistan
The unique fortification walls here are punctured by hundreds of arrow slits and once garrisoned 2000 soldiers. The site overlooks an old branch of the…
Kazakhstan
An appealing, forest-fringed bay 4km south of the town. Rowing boats are available for rent so that you can get yourself out to the rock formations in the…
Samarkand
The small, 19th-century Imon Mosque has an open porch, tall carved columns and a brightly restored ceiling. Respectfully dressed visitors are always…
Nur-Sultan (Astana)
This huge mosque, opened in 2012, boasts Kazakhstan's largest dome, as well as beautifully marbled interiors. Look out for a splendid old copy of the…
Ethnography Museum Korpus No 2
Kazakhstan
This branch of the ethnography museum is devoted to the many different ethnic groups in the region, with traditional embroidery, birch-bark craft and more.
Kazakhstan
This Socialist Realist statue of two proud coal miners raising a huge block of coal over their heads is the symbol of Karaganda, the town that coal built.
Kyrgyzstan
Painting and sculpture from a collection of Kyrgyz artists, primarily those who originate in Naryn. There's also a small gift shop off the lobby.
Tashkent
This huge mosque, built on ex-President Karimov's orders in 2007, is flanked by two 54m-tall minarets. Remove your shoes if you want to enter.
Bishkek
Packed with amusements and carnival rides, this city-centre park is particularly pleasant and popular with local families on summer weekends.
Tashkent
The animal-festooned brick facade of the Tsarist-era Romanov Palace is worth a quick look but the building itself is closed to the public.
Kyrgyzstan
Kochkor's town livestock market is open on Saturday mornings. Some will find the conditions here exotic, others distressing.
Nur-Sultan (Astana)
Grandiose building that houses the offices of the president of Kazakhstan. You can only admire it from the outside.
Nur-Sultan (Astana)
These three undulating, light-green apartment towers are a prominent feature of the western part of the boulevard.
Kazakhstan
The 13th-century Karashash-Ana Mausoleum is where Akhmed Yasaui’s mother lies beneath the central tombstone.
Nur-Sultan (Astana)
Striking office blocks whose tops splay outward like the pages of opening books.
Bishkek
This modest museum forms a concrete shell around the thatched cottage that was allegedly the birthplace of Mikhail Vasilievich Frunze (1885–1925), for…
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…
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…
Bishkek
Commemorating the 40th anniversary of the end of WWII, this monument is designed to evoke three symbolic yurt struts curving above an eternal flame. It…
Bishkek
The seat of government in Kyrgyzstan, the sidewalk out front of this Stalinist Modern construction is also the site of regular protests organised by local…
Bishkek
Dedicated to the 'Queen of the Alay', this 19th-century stateswoman and tribal leader was famous in Kyrgyzstan long before being featured in a 2014 film…
Kyrgyzstan
The 60m Belogorka Waterfall is one of the most impressive in the Bishkek area. The surrounding valley is dominated by a sharply pointed spike of mountain…
Tajikistan
This important shrine complex marks the spot where the remains of the great Persian poet Rudaki (858–941) were found in 1958. The modern complex, built in…
Kyrgyzstan
This memorial complex, the name of which means 'Grave of Our Fathers' in Kyrgyz, commemorates a mass grave in which the bodies of 137 local intelligentsia…
Bukhara
The student rooms at the 16th-century Abdul Aziz Khan Medressa are occupied, rather typically, by souvenir shops. This is an unrestored gem, built by its…
Sheikhantaur Mausoleum Complex
Tashkent
Just north of Navoi boulevard are three 15th-century mausoleums. The biggest, on the grounds of the Tashkent Islamic University, bears the name of Yunus…
Kyrgyzstan
A string of souvenir stalls leads to this 23m waterfall. Though the falls themselves are only worth a quick look, you can escape the summer crowds by…
Tajikistan
By some accounts, Mazor-i Sharif (meaning 'noble shrine') marks the ancient last resting place of an 8th-century missionary from Basra, Mohammad Bashoro…
State History Museum of the Timurids
Tashkent
Shaped like a Mexican sombrero, this museum was built to commemorate the 600th birthday of Timur. There are almost no genuine artefacts here, but there…
Kyrgyzstan
Dedicated to Kyrgyzstan's very own 'Queen of the Alay', Gulcha's ethnography and history museum is most notable for exhibits on the local female chieftain…
Kyrgyzstan
Though the current mausoleum is a 2012 rebuild, it marks the remains of an important religious figure from the Fergana region. Historically known as Shams…
Tajikistan
This religious complex comprises the 1394 brick mausoleum of Sheikh Massal ad-Din (1133–1223), covered porticoes with carved wooden pillars, a 20th…
Samarkand
The restored tomb of the Old Testament prophet Daniyar (Daniel) is a long, low structure topped with five domes, containing an 18m sarcophagus – legend…
Kazakhstan
Dedicated to Aktobe's most famous daughter, this museum pays tribute to Hero of the Soviet Union Aliya Moldagulova, a sniper who died in battle in 1943,…
Fergana Valley
Across from the Eski Bazaar is the handsome 19th-century Jome Mosque & Medressa, said to be the only building to survive the 1902 earthquake. It reopened…
- placement: fullWidth
- path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
- possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [300, 250], [320, 50], [1, 1],
- targeting:
{ "position": "superzone" }
