Sunday Atlas

Central Asia

Kyrgyzstan tours: Issyk-Kul, Karakol and Tash-Rabat

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Each of our three tours includes a Kyrgyzstan tour through the mountains. Around Lake Issyk-Kul we see Karakol with its wooden Dungan Mosque and Holy Trinity Cathedral, the red cliffs of Jety-Oguz Gorge and Skazka (Fairytale) Canyon, and meet eagle hunters in Bokonbaevo. In Kochkor, felt makers show how shyrdak carpets are made. Bishkek has the Manas monument and the Changing of the Guard on Ala-Too Square. The Long Road Through the 5 Stans goes further: Ala-Archa Gorge, the Burana Tower, a Kok-Boru demonstration, Naryn and the 15th-century Tash-Rabat caravanserai, and a yurt camp at Tamga.

Issyk-Kul, Karakol, Skazka Canyon, eagle hunters and felt makers, and the Tash-Rabat caravanserai: the mountain heart of our Central Asia tours.

Best time to visit Kyrgyzstan

  • Late spring to early autumn is the usual season for the high valleys, Naryn and Tash-Rabat
  • Bishkek and Issyk-Kul can be visited more of the year, but mountain roads are best in summer

Kyrgyzstan highlights on our tours

  • Karakol: Dungan Mosque, Holy Trinity Cathedral and the Przhevalsky museum
  • Jety-Oguz Gorge and Skazka Canyon on Issyk-Kul
  • Eagle hunters in Bokonbaevo and a felt master class in Kochkor
  • Bishkek: Ala-Too Square, Manas monument and Osh Bazaar
  • Tash-Rabat caravanserai, the Burana Tower and a yurt camp at Tamga (5 Stans tour)

Kyrgyzstan travel: common questions

Which tours include Kyrgyzstan?

All three. The 3 Stans Discovery and the Four Stans Odyssey spend four nights here between Karakol, Kochkor and Bishkek. The Long Road Through the 5 Stans starts in Bishkek and adds Naryn, Tash-Rabat and a yurt camp at Tamga.

Do we sleep in a yurt?

On the Long Road Through the 5 Stans, yes: one night at the Oymo Tash yurt camp in Tamga, in twin yurts with private en-suite bathrooms. The other tours use hotels in Kyrgyzstan.

What are the eagle hunters and felt master class?

In Bokonbaevo village we watch a traditional falconry demonstration with eagle hunters. In Kochkor, artisans show how shyrdaks (felt carpets) are made, and we join in.

Kyrgyzstan tours

Charyn Canyon in Kazakhstan, red sandstone cliffs and the canyon floor under a blue sky

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan

3 Stans Discovery: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan & Uzbekistan

14 days / 13 nightsSilk Road & mountains

A 14-day 3 Stans tour from Almaty’s canyons and mountain lakes through Kyrgyzstan’s Issyk-Kul region to Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva on the Silk Road.

from $2643 per person (10–11 travellers, 3*)

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Visitors gathered at Registan Square in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, illuminated at night

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan

Four Stans Odyssey

18 days / 17 nightsSilk Road & mountains

An 18-day 4 Stans tour of Central Asia through Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan: canyons and mountain lakes, Khujand and Penjikent, the Seven Lakes, then Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva.

from $3145 per person (10–11 travellers, 3*)

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Tash-Rabat, the 15th-century stone caravanserai in Naryn region, Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan

The Long Road Through the 5 Stans

22 days / 21 nightsSilk Road & desert

A 22-day 5 Stans tour from Bishkek to Ashgabat: Tash-Rabat and Issyk-Kul, Charyn Canyon and Almaty, Dushanbe and Iskanderkul, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, then the Darwaza Gas Crater.

from $3490 per person (10–11 travellers, 3*)

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