Kazakhstan Tour Companies

In June 2023 I took TourRadar’s 5 day Golden ring of Zhetysu tour with my husband, our guide was Vladimer. Our days in Kazakhstan were exceptional – the sites were unique and interesting but our trip was mainly so good because Vladimer is an exceptional guide. We visited all the sites as advertised (can’t even rank them – they were all great) and each day was an immense pleasure – mainly because Vladimer is so genuine, acutely customer-focused, and was always providing more. We expected a knowledgeable guide who would transport us safely to each site, but we didn’t anticipate a guide so dedicated to our comfort and enjoyment – for as long as we were awake and interested in doing more. Vladimer is attentive, a good listener, and was sensitive to our specific needs. We’re vegetarian (not easy in Kazakhstan), we were celebrating our 37th anniversary during our tour, we are both naturalists that want to see not only local fauna but also native flora. Vladimir was genuinely excited when he could surprise us with a new plant/animal sighting, create a spectacular and memorable anniversary (the entire day was filled with special moments) and immerse us in the culture of Kazakhstan (food, history, customs, and of course, the people). This tour and Vladimir, ‘hit it out of the park’. We’ve traveled to >70 countries and have experienced adventure in many places – we never expected such a fun undertaking on this trip. We’ll book with Tour Radar again (and request Vladimir) when we schedule our next ‘stans’ trip (or elsewhere). Thanks for a very special time in Kazakhastan!

The trip itself and the places are WOW - I can recommend this to everyone. Unfortunately our guide was definitely not a professional guide. If you are somewhere in the middle of nowhere, this is very inconvenient, his English is not sufficient for such a tour. Disappointingly, he also had a different tour plan than we had from the platform. We often arrived too late at beautiful places, so that the time was then not enough to look at everything. On the third day he even yelled at us why we were late! Yelling at a customer? Every day we were allowed to discuss and plan the next day, we just wanted him to stick to the plan we downloaded here. That's what we booked and that's what we invested money in. The best local information we got from other guide - each place has a magical spell and we captured that over all. Book the trip but look for a professional guide and not a hobby guide - who knows tips and tricks - who wants to give inside a breathtaking trip and beautiful moments.

Wonderful trip through Central Asia, perfectly organized 21 days through Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan in August 2024 Since we, 3 Germans and Austrians, wanted to get to know all 5 Stan countries in Central Asia, we decided to book directly with Steppe Journeys (Tashkent). We did exactly the right thing! When we booked, we received immediate answers to our questions and everything went very smoothly in the 21 days on site (communication in English). Tour guides and drivers were ready on time in all countries/cities according to the program. They were all professional and very nice. The hotels were good/very good and mostly centrally or well located. At this point we would particularly like to mention the hotels in the old towns of Bukhara (Komil, in a historic building with a sensational dining room) and in Khiva (Zukhro, roof terrace with a great view over the old town of Khiva). An example of the excellent service: During the difficult entry into Turkmenistan, the Turkmen tour guide waited for us already before the whole procedure and accompanied us confidently through the various stations (customs declaration, visa, cashdesk, entry, customs, etc.). In advance, the tour guide / caravan steppe in Bukhara (Uzbekistan) considered our first aid kit to be too voluminous for Turkmenistan. Medications in particular pose a problem when entering the country as if they could be drugs (it is best to carry medication in the original packaging and with an information leaflet). In order to avoid any difficulties in advance, we had the opportunity to give a large part of our unneeded first aid kit to a driver from Bukhara to Tashkent. After re-entering Uzbekistan, we picked up the bag at the hotel in Tashkent on our last day. Based on our consistently positive experiences, we can highly recommend Steppe Journeys (taschenknt). We would like to thank Odil, Bobur and the entire team. Astrid F., Germany

Our operator Steppe Journeys delivered each and every item exactly as they were supposed to. The trip went off without a hitch. Most of the guides were excellent in both knowledge and communication skills. Very enjoyable trip,

This trip is not for those who love 5 star accom. However if you really want to see the country followed by those trading on the Silk Road this is a fantastic opportunity. Lots of train travel and opportunities to have home stays with genuine local home cooked food. A wonderful experience

The people were friendly and interesting and very keen to meet travellers. Though there were some beautiful landscapes (especially in Kyrgyzstan) the people from each of the 5 countries we visited made the trip for me - a real eye opener!