Mega Sale:  Organized tours  Up to 60% OFF

New Deals: 31 Dec, 2024
From
US $7,999

Central Asia 5 Stans with Hell's Gate Derweze

21 days
From Almaty to Tashkent
4.8
4 traveler reviews
Central Asia 5 Stans with Hell's Gate Derweze - East Site Inc
From
US $7,999
Save and compare this adventure

Price based on per person in Twin for departure 25 May 2025

Best price guarantee Learn More

Plan your adventure:
Partially Guided
Independent travel, featuring selected guided excursions
Guided in English
Group Size 2 - 10
Age range 55 to 85
Image of a map showing the route of the tour

Highlights

  • Explore Almaty's historic sites and markets
  • Discover the majestic Issyk Kul Lake
  • Tour the ancient city of Samarkand
  • Experience the vibrant bazaars of Bukhara
  • Visit the flaming gas craters of Derweze

Itinerary

Expand All
  1. Day 1 Almaty
  2. Day 2 Almaty
  3. Day 3 Almaty – Bishkek
  4. Day 4 Bishkek – Issyk Kul
  5. Day 5 Issyk Kul – Chopon Ata – Grigorevka Gorge – Bishkek – Tashkent
  6. Day 6 Tashkent
  7. Day 7 Tashkent – Samarkand
  8. Day 8 Samarkand
  9. Day 9 Samarkand – Bukhara
  10. Day 10 Bukhara
  11. Day 11 Bukhara – Farab – Turkmenabat – Mary
  12. Day 12 Mary – Ashgabat
  13. Day 13 Ashgabat – Nissa – Ashgabat
  14. Day 14 Ashgabat
  15. Day 15 Ashgabat – Derweze
  16. Day 16 Derweze – Dashoguz
  17. Day 17 Dashoguz – Kunya – Urgench – Khiva
  18. Day 18 Khiva – Urgench – Tashkent
  19. Day 19 Tashkent – Khujand
  20. Day 20 Khujand – Oybek – Tashkent
  21. Day 21 Tashkent
Want to read it later?

Download this tour’s PDF brochure and start tour planning offline

What's Included

Expand All
  • Accommodation
  • Flights
  • Guide
  • Insurance
  • Meals
  • Additional Services
  • Transport

What's Not Included

  • Additional Services

Operated by

East Site Inc

4.9
(214 reviews)

Number of tours

9

Age Range

55 to 85 years old

Response time

within 3 days

Response rate

100%

All inclusive tour packages with no hidden costs.

Your Peace of Mind Options

Cancellation Policy

A transparent overview of applicable fees.

Travel Insurance

Be covered for any unforseen circumstances.

Customer Reviews

  • Overall Rating
    Excellent
    4.8
  • Itinerary
    Excellent
    4.8
  • Guide
    Excellent
    5.0
  • Transport
    Excellent
    4.8
  • Accommodation
    Excellent
    4.8
  • Food
    Excellent
    4.8
  • 4.9
  • W
    · May 31st, 2021
    I traveled with East Site in 2013, 2016, 2018. It's those magic Central Asian tours that I miss so much since we went into isolation. And I look forward to the day when I am able to travel those countries once again!
    Trip date: October 2018
  • T
    · April 16th, 2021
    We took their 5 Stans in 2018. Really good organization, nice attitude, ideal prices!
    Trip date: August 2018
  • S
    · January 25th, 2021
    I traveled with my spouse Bianca Cooper in October 2019. It was Central Asian tour "5 Stans". You might need some waterproof clothing. East Site gave us two umbrellas and baseball hats - it was nice of them.
    Trip date: October 2019
  • M
    · November 11th, 2019
    Overall it was a 4 because the days were too long and there wasn't one "down day" to rest and recuperate. Up by 7, back in the room by 10 PM was hard for 25 or 26 days. I thought the markets were interesting the first time but not the 5th, 6th and 7th, since most of them were nearly the same. The food was usually pretty good, but the process of taking each person's order, first for soup, then for salad, then for main meal, took forever after a long day of touring. I learned that they serve way too much for most people, and usually I only had two courses and often had to leave food on my plate. Some people on the tour loved wine, and the wine available was not magnificent but was drinkable. Beer drinkers seemed to think the beer was OK too. There wasn't much to see in Kazakhstan nor in Kyrgizistan although just driving through some of it was informative. I could have skipped seeing the images on the rocks, a few of the museums that didn't have much to show, and one or two of the mosques--after having seen 15 or so it wasn't exciting anymore. However, when going sight seeing, one usually sees the historic beauties of a place, or the homes of famous people or amazing art. the history of the Stans starts after Genghis Khan and Tamerlane stopped leveling the region, the Silk Road and the culture. Therefore, most of the significant places to see are from the late 1400s and 1500s--with a few from the late 1800s and one or two modern mosques. Islam came into its own before Genghis came through, but about all that was rebuilt of note after his passage were mosques and madrassas. We learned about the meaning in the patterns in "Persian" carpets, the beautiful horses of Turkmenistan, the importance of carpets in nomad tents, the tools of war when mounted on horses and how mare's milk tastes. It was a fascinating trip, with a few repetitive things (often the food was basically the same, the mosques were pretty but there were a lot of them, the hotels were comfortable and internet was intermittent at best. Don't bother to bring a swim suit, there is no time to swim even if the hotel has a pool--which is seldom the case. When one returns to the hotel at 10 after a long day, the last thing any of us wanted to do was don a suit and take a swim). Turkmenistan, although considered very dangerous by the US embassy in Tashkent AND all of my outside information, was fascinating and I am glad we went there even though I was nervous while there. Border crossings were tedious (3 or 4 hours usually) but East Site helped us all of the way and their end of things was well covered--buses were where they should be every time, hotels were ready for us, restaurants were prepared for our influx although occasionally the service was incredibly slow, museums were braced for our visit, etc. Be prepared for heat--bring a cotton scarf or shawl or hat that you can wet with water and put over your head and neck to help keep you cool. Be aware that a lot of the hotel safes didn't work, so if you are brining valuables with you, either money or tech, etc., you will probably need to haul it around in a back pack if you are nervous about it disappearing from the room. We never had anything disappear from any rooms, but we did have a few things disappear from our suitcases during their transit from airplanes to luggage bays (they often are trucked from the plane to the terminal). There are normally squat toilets and seldom "western" toilets except in the hotels and occasionally restaurants. Bring plenty of tissue packs to provide your own toilet paper, and plenty of hand cleaner as there aren't sinks to wash your hands in usually in the bathrooms.
    Show more
    Trip date: May 2019

Dates & Availability

21 days
Central Asia 5 Stans with Hell's Gate Derweze
From Almaty to Tashkent

Why book with TourRadar?

    • Flexible payment options
    • Trusted and vetted operators
    • Rated excellent on
    • Best price guarantee
    • 24/7 customer support
    • Earn $100 in travel credits

    To protect your payment and ensure your booking will be processed in United States, never transfer or communicate outside of the TourRadar website or app.

More benefits
Select a departure month
  • Upcoming departures
  • May 2025
Select The Travel Month
Upcoming departures
  • Get Instant Confirmation
    Sunday
    25 May, 2025
    Saturday
    14 Jun, 2025
    English
    Multiple Room Types
    $7,999
Can’t find the answer to your question?

Good to Know

Tour ID: 184272

  • Currencies
    Tenge
    Kazakhstan
    с
    Som
    Kyrgyzstan
    ЅМ
    Somoni
    Tajikistan
    $
    US Dollar
    UZS
    Uzbekistan Sum
    Uzbekistan
  • Plugs & Adapters

    As a traveler from USA, Canada you will need an adaptor for types C, E, F, I. As a traveler from England, South Africa you will need an adaptor for types C, E, F, I, A, B. As a traveler from Australia, New Zealand you will need an adaptor for types C, E, F, A, B.

    Type C
    Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
    Type E
    Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
    Type F
    Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
    Type I
    Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
    Type A
    Turkmenistan
    Type B
    Turkmenistan
  • Vaccines
    • These are only indications, so please visit your doctor before you travel to be 100% sure.
    • Typhoid - Recommended for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Ideally 2 weeks before travel.
    • Hepatitis A - Recommended for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Ideally 2 weeks before travel.
    • Tuberculosis - Recommended for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Ideally 3 months before travel.
    • Hepatitis B - Recommended for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Ideally 2 months before travel.
    • Rabies - Recommended for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Ideally 1 month before travel.
    • Yellow fever - Certificate of vaccination required if arriving from an area with a risk of yellow fever transmission for Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Ideally 10 days before travel.
    • Tick-borne encephalitis - Recommended for Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. Ideally 3 months before travel.
    • Cholera - Recommended for Tajikistan. Ideally 2 weeks before travel.
  • Visa
    • Unfortunately we cannot offer you a visa application service. Whether you need a visa or not depends on your nationality and where you wish to travel. Assuming your home country does not have a visa agreement with the country you're planning to visit, you will need to apply for a visa in advance of your scheduled departure.
    • Here is an indication for which countries you might need a visa. Please contact the local embassy for help applying for visas to these places.
  • Payment information
    • For any tour departing before February 22nd, 2025 a full payment is necessary. For tours departing after February 22nd, 2025, a minimum payment of 20% is required to confirm your booking with East Site Inc. The final payment will be automatically charged to your credit card on the designated due date. The final payment of the remaining balance is required at least 60 days prior to the departure date of your tour. TourRadar never charges you a booking fee and will charge you in the stated currency.
    • Some departure dates and prices may vary and East Site Inc will contact you with any discrepancies before your booking is confirmed.
    • The following cards are accepted for "East Site Inc" tours: Visa, Maestro, Mastercard, American Express or PayPal. TourRadar does NOT charge you an extra fee for using any of these payment methods.
  • Cancellation Policy
  • Accessibility
    Some tours are not suitable for mobility-restricted traveler, however, some operators may be able to accommodate special requests. For any enquiries, you can contact our customer support team, who are ready and waiting to help you.