Central Asia itinerary: 2 or 3 weeks, day by day

Two weeks or three: how the routes differ

Both plans run one way, so you never double back: you fly into one capital and home from another. Two weeks link Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan with one land border and one short flight. Three weeks add Kazakhstan's Charyn Canyon and Kolsai lakes and a night in the Altyn-Arashan valley, cross by land at Karkara instead of Dostuk, and trade the Fergana Valley for two more full days in the Uzbek cities.

Pick by your dates as much as by your days. July highs in the Uzbek cities average 35–37 °C, while the Kyrgyz mountains open fully only from late June to early September, so each plan has an order that puts the cities and the mountains in their good weeks; see when to go. Both plans fit inside the visa-free stays of most Western passports.

Two weeks, day by day: Khiva first, Karakol last

Fly into Tashkent and take the fast train west to Khiva, then travel east by train through Bukhara and Samarkand, back to Tashkent and on into the Fergana Valley. On day 10 you walk into Kyrgyzstan at Dostuk, fly from Osh to Bishkek the next morning and finish at Issyk-Kul and Karakol. Starting with Khiva puts the longest train ride, 7 h 42 min, on day 2, and every leg after it runs east.

• Day 1. Sleep near Tashkent Central (Markaziy), where the Manguberdi leaves at 07:00; the night trains use Tashkent South, a different station. Arriving at Tashkent airport covers the ride into town, cash and a SIM card.
• Days 2–3, Khiva. The 14:42 arrival leaves the afternoon for a first walk inside the walls. Day 3 is for the monuments of Ichan-Kala; the single ticket and the order of visits are in the Khiva guide.
• Days 4–7, Bukhara and Samarkand. Bukhara's station, Buxoro-1, is in Kogon outside the city, so add the ride into the old town. In Samarkand, day 6 leaves the afternoon for Gur-e Amir, and day 7 is for Registan, the square of the Ulugh Beg, Sherdor and Tilla-Kori madrasahs, and the Shah-i-Zinda necropolis. The Bukhara and Samarkand guides set the order of visits.
• Day 8, Tashkent. This night stays in the plan because train 730 to the valley leaves Tashkent at 07:20, before any train from Samarkand arrives. If the afternoon Afrosiyobs are sold out, the Manguberdi leaves Samarkand at 12:51 and reaches Tashkent at 15:12; the Tashkent–Samarkand guide has every departure.
• Day 9, the valley. Get off train 730 at Kokand at 10:26. From the station you need a car and driver for Khudoyar Khan's palace, a pottery workshop in Rishtan and the drive on to Margilan, and the Rishtan host is booked ahead. The Fergana Valley guide plans the day hour by hour.
• Day 10, Dostuk. Yodgorlik, founded in 1972, weaves silk atlas and adras mostly by hand; see it in the morning, then go to Andijan and the border. You walk through the Uzbek and Kyrgyz posts with your bags, clocks go forward an hour, and Sulaiman-Too, the UNESCO-listed mountain over Osh, fills the evening. The crossing itself is under borders and visas.
• Days 11–12, Issyk-Kul. Take the 07:15 or 09:10 flight and go straight from Manas airport to the north shore. Sleep both lake nights in one place around Cholpon-Ata or Tamchy so day 12 has no packing; lake buses leave Bishkek's main bus station at 1/1 Alma-Atinskaya Street. The Issyk-Kul guide compares the shores and their prices.
• Days 13–14, Karakol. The wooden Dungan Mosque was built in 1907–1910 for the town's Dungan community; the Karakol guide has the rest of the town. Many westbound flights leave Manas in the small hours (on 24 September most Istanbul departures were listed between 02:30 and 05:55), which suits the drive back. For a flight before the evening, sleep night 13 in Bishkek instead; see variants.

Three weeks, day by day: Almaty to Khiva

The autumn order runs east to west: 4 nights in Kazakhstan, 7 in Kyrgyzstan and 9 in Uzbekistan. You reach the mountains while they are still open, then Samarkand and Bukhara as the September heat breaks. For late spring, the same nights run the other way, with the Talgo from Tashkent to Almaty; see variants.

• Days 1–4, Kazakhstan. Give Almaty two nights and Saty, the village below the lakes, two, so you never drive back to Almaty. Charyn and Kolsai Kolderi are separate parks, each charging 865 ₸ per person a day and 3,027.5 ₸ per car. The new 10 km Kaindy road was due in August 2026, but no opening had been announced by 27 September, so plan day 4 on the park's 4×4 track. The Almaty and Charyn, Kolsai and Kaindy guides have the hour-by-hour plans. For the Kazakh days we give advice but do not book.
• Day 5, into Kyrgyzstan. No public transport runs from Saty to the border, so book the car to Karakol before you travel and agree how the driver is paid: there is no exchange office at Karkara or in Kegen. Without a car, bus 424 leaves Almaty's Sayran station at 10:00 for Karakol via Karkara, but it skips Charyn and Saty. The crossing rules are under borders and visas.
• Days 6–11, Kyrgyzstan. Two Karakol nights before the valley and one after keep the long drives off the mountain days. This is our 8-day Kyrgyzstan route entered from the east, with a second Karakol night in place of the first Bishkek night. To trek instead, give the valley night and the two lake nights to the 3–4-day Ala-Kul trek, which ends in the same valley, and drive the 400 km back to Bishkek in one day.
• Day 12, the flight. Choose it before anything else in Uzbekistan. Tashkent is an hour behind Bishkek, so the 18:50 departure lands at 19:10 local time; Tashkent to Bishkek lists the other flights in both directions.
• Days 13–21, Uzbekistan. The nine nights match our 10-day Uzbekistan plan: Tashkent 2, Samarkand 2, Bukhara 3 and Khiva 2, with the third Bukhara night as the slow day. Uzbek trains go on sale 60 days ahead, so for a trip that starts in Almaty you buy them about six weeks before you leave home.

Borders and visas: each country counts its own days

Most Western passports need no visa for any of the three countries, but each country counts its days separately, from the moment you cross. Neither plan re-enters a country, so no allowance is spent twice. The Central Asia planner lists every crossing in the region with its status.

• Registration is done for you. Uzbek hotels register guests within three working days of entry, and Russian citizens can stay 15 days before registration is due. In Kazakhstan the hotel or host notifies the police within 3 working days. In Kyrgyzstan the 55 listed nationalities need no registration for their first 30 days.
• Dostuk (Dustlik on the Uzbek side) is open 24 hours for pedestrians, cars and lorries, the Kyrgyz Border Service's checkpoint list shows. Caravanistan reports a lunch break from 13:15 to 13:45 and Andijan–Osh minibuses every 20 minutes, about 2 hours end to end. In 2018 the Uzbek post put an orderly crossing at about 15 minutes, with crowds on Kara-Suu market days.
• Karkara is listed by the Kyrgyz Border Service as open round the clock for cars and lorries, not for pedestrians. On 22 September 2026 its deputy head told parliament the post works 09:00–20:00, because Kazakhstan cut the 24-hour regime the two governments had agreed; he gave no time zone, and Bishkek is an hour ahead of Kegen. Cross in a vehicle, in daylight, by early afternoon.
• E-visas. Kyrgyzstan accepts its e-visas at 12 posts, Dostuk and Ak-Zhol (Korday) among them, but not at Karkara, so e-visa holders on the three-week plan enter via Korday (variants). Indian citizens: Uzbekistan's 30-day exemption under decree PF-180 needs a qualifying visa and an air ticket home or to a third country, so on a land exit to Kyrgyzstan the Uzbek e-visa removes the doubt.
• QazETA, Kazakhstan's electronic travel permit, is a free, voluntary pilot: on 7 September 2026 the Interior Ministry said that not having one is no reason to refuse entry. The full rules are in Kazakhstan entry, Kyrgyzstan entry and Uzbekistan visa and registration.

Trains, borders and flights: every leg in one table

Trains carry every Uzbek leg, and one flight links the countries in each plan: Osh to Bishkek, or Bishkek to Tashkent. Almaty keeps Tashkent's clock (UTC+5), and Kyrgyzstan is an hour ahead. Each row links the route page with the full timetable; in Tashkent, the fast trains and train 730 use Tashkent Central, not Tashkent South.

Kyrgyz and Kazakh road legs are sold by the seat or by the car. Minibuses and shared taxis leave from the bus stations; a car with a driver is agreed per day or per trip, and no tariff is published for it.

What the two plans cost, and what to book first

Trains, the flight and the fees are the lines that differ between the two plans. Rooms, food and guides depend on your choices, and the country pages price them: Uzbekistan trip costs, Kyrgyzstan money and costs and Kazakhstan money and costs. The sums below are ours, from published fares, not Oxusroad prices.

1. 1

   Flights first

   An open-jaw ticket (into Tashkent and home from Bishkek, or into Almaty and home from Tashkent or Urgench), then the flight inside the trip. From 25 October fewer Osh–Bishkek and Bishkek–Tashkent flights were listed.

2. 2

   Uzbek trains at 60 days

   Sales open at 10:00 Tashkent time. Buy the Khiva Manguberdi on the morning its date opens, and the other legs as their dates open.

3. 3

   The Talgo at 45 days

   Spring order only: Kazakhstan Railways opens sales at 07:00 Astana time, which is Tashkent time.

4. 4

   Cars and the mountain night

   The Kokand–Rishtan–Margilan car and the Dostuk transfer, or the Saty–Karakol car over Karkara and the Altyn-Arashan night.

5. 5

   Rooms last

   Book each night around a ticket you already hold, and ask each hotel whether the tourist tax is in the room price.

When to go, and which way round

The Uzbek cities and the Kyrgyz mountains peak in different months, and the direction of travel reconciles them. Put the cities in spring or in the second half of September, and the mountains between June and early September.

Uzhydromet, Uzbekistan's weather service, gives 30–33 °C by day in the first half of September and 26–29 °C in the second; in July 2026 Bukhara set a station record of 46.9 °C and Samarkand 43.6 °C. Around Karakol the trekking high season runs from June to early September, and passes above 3,500 m still hold snow in June. Month by month: Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

Shorter, longer or the other way round

Change whole nights rather than squeezing two legs into one day. The first five rows adjust the two-week plan, the last three the three-week plan.

Watch out on these routes

Most problems come from sold-out trains, border hours and long road days.

• The Khiva train sells out. On 27 September the Manguberdi from Tashkent had seats on 5 of its next 17 departures. Buy at 10:00 on the day sales open; the fallbacks are the night train from Tashkent South (21:45 → Khiva 12:09) or a flight to Urgench.
• Karkara's hours. The Kyrgyz list says 24 hours, but in late September the post worked 09:00–20:00 because Kazakhstan's side cut its hours, and it is for vehicles only. There is no exchange office at Karkara or in Kegen, and the road is gravel for about 15 km on the Kazakh side and 50 km on the Kyrgyz side. Cross by early afternoon.
• Winter flights. For dates from 25 October, the Osh–Bishkek board listed only Avia Traffic's 20:10, so a winter trip needs a Bishkek night after the flight. On Bishkek–Tashkent only Uzbekistan Airways and Centrum Air had winter dates; Aero Nomad and Qanot Sharq were listed only to 22 and 24 October (boards read on 27 September). Choose the flight first, then buy the trains around it.
• Long road days. Day 14 of the two-week plan is 400 km and 6–7 hours before a flight; the three-week plan has three days of 4–6 hours in a vehicle (days 3, 5 and 11).
• Three currencies, cash outside the cities. The Uzbek so'm, the Kyrgyz som and the Kazakh tenge are different money, and minibuses, guesthouses and mountain camps want cash. Mir, Visa and Mastercard cards issued in Russia do not work in Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan, so travellers from Russia bring dollars or euros.
• Days add up. Kyrgyzstan's 30 days in any 60 and Kazakhstan's 90 in 180 count earlier visits too, so add them up if you were there recently.

Common questions