From
$2,345 USD
Uzbekistan to Kyrgyzstan
Tour overview
Cross the valley into the mountains — silk road to nomad country
- Trip code
- PT-UZKG7
- Days
- 7
- From
- Tashkent
- To
- Bishkek
- Countries visited
- Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan
- Group size
- 2–12
- Min age
- 12+
- Physical
- Guide languages
- 18 languages
Seven days from the Fergana valley over the Dostuk border into Kyrgyzstan: sacred Sulaiman-Too, Lake Issyk-Kul, the Skazka canyon and two nights in yurts and a village guest house.
Uzbekistan is a country of cities; Kyrgyzstan is a country of everything between them. Crossing from one to the other in a single trip is the clearest way to understand what the Silk Road actually connected — settled traders on one side of the mountains, herders on the other.
The crossing itself is at Dostuk, on the eastern edge of the Fergana valley. You walk across, meet a new guide and a new vehicle, and within an hour you are climbing Sulaiman-Too in Osh, a mountain people have been praying on for three thousand years.
After that it is lakes and canyons: Issyk-Kul’s south shore, where the villages still make yurts for a living; Skazka canyon; Jeti-Ögüz; and two nights that are not hotels — one in a yurt on the water at Tamga, one in a family guest house in the Chon Kemin valley.
Inclusions & activities
What’s included
Destinations
Tashkent · Fergana · Osh · Tamga · Karakol · Chon Kemin · Bishkek
Meals
Breakfast · Lunch · Dinner
Transport
High-speed train · Private vehicle · Domestic flight
Accommodation
Hotel in Fergana · Hotel in Osh · Yurt camp on the shore of Issyk-Kul, 4 beds per yurt · Hotel in Karakol · Village guest house in Chon Kemin · Hotel in Bishkek
Included in the price14
- Hotel accommodation on a twin/double sharing basis
- Breakfast every morning at the hotel
- Air-conditioned private vehicle with a professional driver
- Licensed English-speaking guide for all sightseeing
- Entrance fees to every monument named in the itinerary
- 1 litre of bottled water per person per day
- Hotel and city tourist taxes
- Arrival and departure transfers
- 24/7 support from our Samarkand office during the trip
- Six lunches and one dinner
- Economy-class train Tashkent–Kokand
- Domestic flight Osh–Bishkek, economy class
- Separate licensed guides in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan
- One yurt night at Tamga and one village guest house night in Chon Kemin
Not included11
- International flights to and from Uzbekistan
- Visa fees where a visa is required
- Travel and medical insurance
- Lunches and dinners unless listed as included
- Drinks, including bottled water at restaurants
- Photo and video permits at monuments
- Tips for the guide and driver
- Porterage at airports, stations and hotels
- Personal expenses and anything not listed as included
- Private yurt for two instead of a shared four-bed yurt — about $22 per person
- Porterage at Kyrgyz hotels, about $15 per person
Optional, at local prices2
- Golden eagle hunting demonstration near Bokonbaevo — 440,000 UZS (~$35) · Meet a berkutchi and his bird
- Horse riding in the Chon Kemin valley — 250,000 UZS (~$20) · About two hours, paid locally
Your contact for this trip
Muzaffar Shermamatov
Founder
“Write to me with any question. I reply within 24 hours and will adjust the route to you.”
Route & itinerary
Tashkent → Fergana → Osh → Tamga → Karakol → Chon Kemin → Bishkek
Fergana
Day 1 of 7
Train
Day 1 Tashkent to Kokand, Rishtan and Fergana
The 08:05 train east through the Kamchik tunnel to Kokand. Khudayar Khan’s palace, the royal tombs at Dakhma-i-Shokhon, the Modari Khan mausoleum, the Norbutabek madrasah and the Juma mosque. Lunch, then Rishtan for the ceramics and on to Fergana.
Moderate
- Khudayar Khan palace
- Norbutabek madrasah
- Rishtan ceramics workshop
Stay
Hotel in Fergana
Getting around
Train · Train 4h15, then about 2 hours driving
Breakfast, Lunch included
Road
Day 2 Across the border to Osh
An early breakfast and the short drive to the Dostuk crossing, where you walk across and meet the Kyrgyz team. Into Osh: the central square, the nineteenth-century Orthodox church, and Sulaiman-Too — the most complete example of a sacred mountain in Central Asia, on the UNESCO list for exactly that reason, and still climbed by pilgrims every day.
Moderate
- Sulaiman-Too sacred mountain
- Osh city tour
Stay
Hotel in Osh
Getting around
Road · 110 km, plus 2–3 hours at the border
Breakfast, Lunch included
Flight
Day 3 Fly to Bishkek, drive to Lake Issyk-Kul
A morning flight north to Bishkek, then east through the Chuy valley and the Boom gorge to Issyk-Kul. Along the south shore: Kyzyl-Tuu, the village where eighty per cent of households make yurt frames for a living, and Skazka canyon, red sandstone eroded into shapes that earned it the name “fairytale”. Arrive at the yurt camp at Tamga for dinner.
Moderate
- Kyzyl-Tuu yurt-making village
- Skazka canyon
Stay
Yurt camp on the shore of Issyk-Kul, 4 beds per yurt
Getting around
Flight · Flight 1 hour, then about 300 km by road
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner included
Optional, at local prices
Golden eagle hunting demonstration near Bokonbaevo · Meet a berkutchi and his bird440,000 UZS (~$35)
Road
Day 4 Tamga to Jeti-Ögüz and Karakol
North along the lake to the Jeti-Ögüz canyon — the Seven Bulls, red sandstone walls above conifer forest and alpine meadow — with a walk through it before continuing to Karakol. Lunch in a local house. In town, the Dungan mosque, built in 1910 by Chinese Muslim craftsmen in pure Chinese temple style without a single nail, and the wooden Holy Trinity cathedral of 1876.
Moderate
- Jeti-Ögüz canyon walk
- Dungan mosque
- Holy Trinity cathedral
Stay
Hotel in Karakol
Getting around
Road · 120 km, 3–4 hours with stops
Breakfast, Lunch included
Road
Day 5 Karakol to Cholpon-Ata and Chon Kemin
West along the north shore. The Przhevalsky museum, for the Russian explorer who mapped the Tian Shan and died here. Lunch in a local house. At Cholpon-Ata, an open-air field of petroglyphs — Scythian and Turkic carvings from the seventh century BC onwards. On to the Chon Kemin valley for a night with a family.
Moderate
- Przhevalsky museum
- Cholpon-Ata petroglyph field
Stay
Village guest house in Chon Kemin
Getting around
Road · About 350 km
Breakfast, Lunch included
Road
Day 6 Chon Kemin to Bishkek
A walk around the village in the morning — there are horses if you want them. Then west to Bishkek, stopping at the Burana tower, all that is left of Balasagun, capital of the eastern Karakhanid state in the tenth and eleventh centuries. In the capital: Ala-Too square and the changing of the guard, the Lenin statue behind the museum, Oak park and Victory square.
Moderate
- Burana tower
- Ala-Too square
- Bishkek city tour
Stay
Hotel in Bishkek
Getting around
Road · About 150 km
Breakfast, Lunch included
Optional, at local prices
Horse riding in the Chon Kemin valley · About two hours, paid locally250,000 UZS (~$20)
Flight
Day 7 Depart Bishkek
Breakfast, then a transfer to Manas airport for your onward flight.
Moderate
Getting around
Flight · Airport transfer, about 40 minutes
Breakfast included
Fergana
Day 1 of 7
Read this first
Before you book
Most European, British and Latin American nationals enter both Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan visa-free for 30 days. The Dostuk border is crossed on foot with your own luggage.
Yurt camps are shared: 3–4 people per yurt with washrooms and showers in a separate block, and men and women accommodated separately unless you book the whole yurt. Camps operate roughly from 15 April to 30 October and can close at short notice in bad weather.
Passport copies for the train and the domestic flight are needed 45 days ahead — send them with your booking if you can.
Before you book
Questions about this trip
How hard is the border crossing?
Straightforward but slow. You leave your Uzbek vehicle, walk a few hundred metres through two sets of formalities with your own bags, and meet the Kyrgyz driver and guide on the other side. Budget two to three hours. There are no porters and no trolleys, so a wheeled bag is much easier than a duffel.
When can this trip run?
May to September. The yurt camp at Tamga and the mountain roads are seasonal, and Issyk-Kul at 1,600 metres is cold outside those months. July and August are the warmest and the busiest.
How big is the group?
Never more than twelve travellers. Group departures run from two people; if a date sells beyond twelve, we open a second group with its own guide rather than enlarge the first. On a private tour the group is just your own party.
Do I need a visa for Uzbekistan?
Citizens of most of Europe, the UK, Japan, South Korea, Israel, Turkey and much of Latin America enter visa-free for 30 days. Everyone else can apply online at e-visa.gov.uz, which takes two to three working days. Your passport must be valid for six months beyond the date you arrive. We will confirm what applies to your nationality when you book.
Can I join as a solo traveller?
Yes. Solo travellers pay a single supplement for their own room, which we quote with the trip. On group departures we do not pair strangers in a room unless both of you ask us to.
What if I am vegetarian or have allergies?
Tell us when you book. Uzbek cooking is meat-heavy but every restaurant we use can produce good vegetarian food — the salads, breads, pumpkin manti and vegetable stews are excellent — and we brief each restaurant ahead of your arrival. Gluten-free is harder because bread is central, but it is workable with notice.
Payment, date changes and cancellation
- Nothing to pay until 60 days before the start — the booking holds without a card.
- Change your dates free of charge up to 60 days ahead; from day 59, 20% of what you have paid.
- Cancel 60 days or more ahead and nothing is kept.
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