Ashgabat Tours and Trips

Overall, this was an excellent trip and one of the best I have done with Explore over very many years. It was certainly helped by having a good, small group and two superb leaders (one in each country), who were extremely knowledgeable and very personable. The local guides were also outstanding. The sights were extraordinary (the Islamic architecture is simply breath-taking), the people were lovely and I did not mind the long drives (on spacious air conditioned coaches) or the 9.5 hour train journey. to Samarkand As expected, the trip’s pace was full-on. As a group we took advantage of the optional extras offered and I would recommend that others seriously consider those too, especially the spectacular Uzbek music and dance show at the Grand Hall in Samarkand. Hotel accommodation was better than I had expected and generally pretty good. If I have a criticism it is that the trip should perhaps be a day longer. It would have been nice to have spent more time in Khiva and the last day in Tashkent was too long, tiring and rushed. Thankfully, I had booked an extra day in the city, although others had early morning flights. While Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are very different, I much preferred the time we spent in the latter.

An exciting and fascinating Adventure Tour through a mix of amazing Central Asian countries. Each of the Five Stans was unique, as were the caring and very knowledgeable guides. The meals were great; accommodation was good to amazing.

Fascinating, varied, inspiring from historical, cultural, scenic perspectives. This journey challenged my geopolitical biases and introduced me to some truly extraordinary people- both fellow travellers and guides. For me- just a bit more time in beautiful mountainous Kyrgyzstan please. In any event I will be returning

An excellent trip, full on and varied. Each country has its own unique features; ancient architecture, futuristic buildings, wild mountainous scenery. Rifa, our guide was great, knowledgeable and helpful and did all he could to accommodate everyone in the group. Visiting 5 countries in 3 weeks makes for a busy schedule but experiencing the contrast between them is so worthwhile.

Excellent tour with plenty of variety - fascinating cities, wild mountains, and intriguing culture and history. Rifa, our guide, was efficient and knowledgeable, taking care that everyone got the best experience. Transport arrangement throughout were first rate: clean and with generous seating which provided window seats for all. The inclusion of Turkmenistan in this tour is questionable: Costly entry requirements, yet we were unable to see much beyond the superficial show of Ashgabat.

This trip was the best group tour I’ve ever taken in 25 years. It wasn’t perfect, but the combination of Itinerary, sites visited, transportation and guides/ground staff made it an excellent trip. (Victoria, Muftuna and Slava) Look the Accommodation wasn’t consistent, it was either magnificent like The Elements in Tashkent or poor like Hotel Maroqanda in Samakand but the local guides had passion for the their towns, the sites we saw over the 13 days were mind blowing and the local people we met were so friendly. A big thank you to Andrew in your UK office for keeping this trip running despite it having to run in reverse order because of the sudden change on the Turkmenistan side. Some days were very long, the pace was full on despite ‚free afternoons‘ but there was so much to see and do. The border crossing was a 4 hour challenge but we made it through. I would 100% recommend this trip and suggest you personally add a few days before and after the trip for more exploring.