Dushanbe
This vast festival of modern architecture, based on traditional architectural design and encompassing some exquisite national motifs, is used for the…
Must-see attractions in Central Asia
Kazakhstan
This museum is dedicated to the 19th-century humanist poet Abay Kunanbaev, whose forward-looking vision of Kazakhstan is not necessarily shared by his…
Bukhara
Only hardcore fans of Islamic architecture will want to travel 2km east of the centre to this delicate little mausoleum, the resting place of a Mongol…
Tashkent
This 375m-tall, three-legged monster, the epitome of Soviet design, stands north of the city centre but can be seen from all over town. The price of…
Bishkek
All but disappeared now, this historic Кузнечная крепость (Blacksmith's fortress) site was the location of an early-1800s Kokhand fortification, built…
Uzbekistan
This reserve is a tugai (trees, shrubs and salt-resistant plants unique to Central Asia) forest that's home to 91 bird species and 21 mammal species. It's…
Tajikistan
Beside the main road in Namadgut village, this crumbling ruin commands a view of the Pyanj from two riverside knolls. The oldest sections date to the 3rd…
Kazakhstan
Housed inside a Tsarist-era building, this regional museum focuses on natural history, including the meteorite craters in the region, and the locally…
House-Museum of Manshuk Mametova
Kazakhstan
This museum chronicles the life of Hero of the Soviet Union Manshuk Mametova, who lived here with her adoptive parents between 1932 and 1934. Her father,…
Dushanbe
The extensive Botanical Gardens, with its Persepolis-inspired gateway, is home to a fine collection of mature deciduous trees (labelled in Latin) and…
Kazakhstan
Displays at this regional museum run the gamut from stuffed local wildlife and a model of an Iron Age kurgan (burial mound) to letters from Middle Horde…
Bukhara
Deep in the old town is the tiny and decrepit Turki Jandi mausoleum, favoured for getting one’s prayers answered. Turki Jandi’s tomb is accessed through…
Kazakhstan
This stately 1829 building stands on the site of the original wooden one where the revered Kazakh leader Ablai Khan lived in the 18th century under a…
Fergana Valley
This museum occupies the site of the royal apartments where Zahiruddin Babur (1483–1530) lived and studied as a boy within Ark-Ichy, the town’s long-gone…
Samarkand
If you prefer your ruins really ruined, it’s worth the slog out to the crumbling 15th-century Ishratkhana Mausoleum, newly topped by a tin roof. With a…
Dushanbe
This attractive Soviet-style building with a courtyard of fountains is closed to visitors but makes a useful reference point for navigating in the centre…
Samarkand
This brick mausoleum, dated 1380 and possibly the city’s oldest surviving monument, was renovated in 2015 and now serves as a souvenir and craft shop. The…
Kazakhstan
Roughly halfway along the R-174 from Semey to Kurchatov, a turnoff leads towards a former closed town, populated by military personnel until the collapse…
Tajikistan
Around 10km from Langar, on a promontory fortified for at least 2300 years, these minimal castle ruins are signposted off the main Wakhan road. A path of…
Kyrgyzstan
The man, the myth, the legend – Manas. This Manas-themed complex 12km east of Talas city celebrates the life and death of the great leader. Built in 1995,…
Fergana Valley
Walk five minutes down Muqimi ko'chasi from Khamza ko'chasi to the truncated remnants of the 19th-century Sahib Mian (Sohibzoda) Hazrat Medressa, where…
Kazakhstan
Displays trace the history of the region, from archaeological finds from the nearby Silk Road settlement of Syganak and the ecological devastation wreaked…
Almaty
This striking monument honours those killed and injured on Respublika alany on 17 December 1986 during the Zheltoksan (December) protests, the first…
Kyrgyzstan
Three restored mausoleums here date to the 11th and early-12th century Karakhanid dynasty, when Uzgen was one of four regional capitals of the empire that…
Burabay National Nature Park Visitor Centre & Nature Museum
Kazakhstan
This museum contains a diverse display of taxidermied wildlife from Kazakhstan’s national parks (including a demented-looking fox), two ATMs, and a…
Tajikistan
On cold Friday lunchtimes, dozens of older men with flowing white beards, turbans, upturned boots and swishing purple/green iridescent joma robes make…
Fergana Valley
The Bolsheviks closed the 1799 Narbutabey Medressa, but it opened after independence only to have Karimov shut it down again in 2008. Visitors can visit…
Tajikistan
A 22m-tall statue of Lenin was moved here from Moscow in 1974 when Khojand was called Leninabad. In 2011 Vlad was quietly removed from his central plinth…
Tajikistan
At Zong, 5km west of Langar, this fortress was built to guard a branch of the Silk Road from Chinese and Afghan invaders. The fortress ruins, while not…
Kyrgyzstan
This thin 89m ribbon of waterfall is not an especially memorable site, but there's a certain fascination watching the throngs of local summer tourists …
Kyrgyzstan
Following the rough road past the Tagai Guesthouse, an easy 30 minute walks winds past the local kok boru field and then up this hill with views out over…
Kazakhstan
This particularly striking WWII memorial comprises a wall, with the faces of various Heroes of the Soviet Union, including Uralsk's most famous daughter,…
Tajikistan
Making a striking contrast to the more usual choice of public monuments celebrating Somoni, Rudaki or Lenin, this sculpture in the centre of the…
Kazakhstan
Though there's no English labelling, this museum has moderately interesting exhibits focusing on regional history and ecology. These range from pickled…
Dushanbe
Language classes available in Russian and Persian are available at this cultural centre, together with concerts, art exhibitions and a showroom of…
Bishkek
Worth a quick look for the variety of sculptures (both working models and finished versions) of famous Kyrgyz and fabled legends, though it's a small…
Bukhara
A century ago there were at least seven synagogues in Bukhara, reduced after 1920 to two. This synagogue is located southwest of the old town – from the…
Tajikistan
Unesco-listed Sarazm is a 5500-year-old site 15km west of Penjikent. One of the oldest city-sites in Central Asia, finds here include a fire temple and…
Tajikistan
The ancient site of Kobadiyan (7th to 2nd centuries BC) in southern Tajikistan is famed for the nearby discovery in 1877 of the Oxus Treasure, a stunning…
Kazakhstan
From the MiG fighter plane memorial you can descend steps to the breezy seafront, a mixture of low cliffs, rocks and thin sandy strips, with assorted…
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