The 5 Stans: which countries to combine, which to skip

01

Which are the five Stans, and which do we cover?

The five Stans are the former Soviet republics of Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan and Pakistan share the ending of the name but not the travel region, and this site does not cover them.

We write about four of the five, with Uzbekistan at the centre. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan appear as additions to an Uzbekistan trip, and the Central Asia planner sets out the order, seasons, visa-free stays and border crossings between them. Turkmenistan gets one section on this page and no guide of its own, because it works on different rules: a visa with an invitation letter, a tour or a 5-day transit visa, and a guide outside Ashgabat.

This guide helps you choose which countries to visit. It gives our verdict on each country, the combinations that fit 10 days, two weeks and three weeks, and what a visit to Turkmenistan requires. The four country visa guides explain entry rules by nationality. The itineraries linked below give day-by-day plans.

02

The five at a glance: what to see in each country and our verdict

Start from Uzbekistan and add one country. The table puts the five side by side: what you go for, when, entry for US, UK and EU passports, the fastest link from Uzbekistan, the US State Department level and our call. Entry and transport facts are summarised from our country guides and re-checked at the sources listed at the end; the verdicts are ours.

For other passports, use the visa table in the Central Asia planner and the country visa guides: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Every crossing, its hours and which e-visas it accepts: Central Asia border crossings and visas.

03

Can you see all five in one trip?

Yes, with about four to five weeks and a Turkmen visa sorted before you leave home. That length is our estimate from the routes on this site: three countries already take three weeks on our 3-week route, and Tajikistan and Turkmenistan add one to two weeks more, depending on whether you take the Pamirs.

Four constraints decide whether it works:

• Turkmenistan's visa. A tourist visa needs an invitation letter that a Turkmen travel agency obtains, which in practice means a booked tour. The alternative is a transit visa of up to 5 days on exact dates, with the visa for your next country already in your passport. Details are in the Turkmenistan section below.
• The Pamir season. Our Pamir Highway guide plans the road for June to September, at 8–10 days on the main route. Outside that window, leave the Pamirs out rather than squeeze them in.
• Uzbekistan's summer heat. Uzhydromet, the Uzbek weather service, puts July's mean maximum at 35–37 °C across most of the country and 38–40 °C in the south and the desert. Put the mountains in midsummer and the cities before or after. More in Uzbekistan in summer.
• Kyrgyzstan's 30 days in any 60. US, UK and EU citizens get 30 days in each 60-day period, and every day in the country counts. A loop that enters Kyrgyzstan twice, say from Almaty and later from the Pamirs, draws on the same 30 days.

04

Which country should you skip on a first trip?

Skip Turkmenistan unless you are happy to travel on a tour, and leave the Pamirs for another trip if you have less than two weeks for Tajikistan or travel outside June to September. Those are our calls; the reasons follow.

We would keep Uzbekistan's cities in any first trip: that is our core advice, and the reason this site starts there. Then add one mountain country by what you want to do. Our 10-day Uzbekistan route covers the cities on their own.

• Turkmenistan, unless you accept a tour. On a tour you cannot go outside Ashgabat without a guide (Caravanistan, updated January 2026), and there was no e-visa to apply for on 24 September 2026. The 5-day transit visa lets you cross on your own, but it is tied to exact dates and a fixed route.
• Tajikistan's Pamirs, on a short or off-season trip. The Pamir Highway needs 8–10 days, and the US advisory says to reconsider travel to GBAO, the Pamir region. Penjikent and the Fann Mountains are a different matter: they start at the Jartepa border near Samarkand, and they need no GBAO permit because they lie in Sughd region.
• Kazakhstan beyond Almaty, on a short trip. The distances are long: in KTZ's booking search for 15 October 2026, the Talgo from Almaty to Astana took 16 h 04 min to 16 h 41 min. Almaty, Charyn Canyon and the Kolsai lakes are the easiest places to combine with Uzbekistan.

05

Kyrgyzstan or Kazakhstan alongside Uzbekistan?

Kyrgyzstan, if you want lakes, treks and a night in a yurt; Kazakhstan, if you want Almaty, Charyn Canyon and an overland link by train. With one extra week, we would choose Kyrgyzstan: the flight from Tashkent to Bishkek takes about 1 h 10 min, and Issyk-Kul and Karakol fit in five nights on our 12-day two-country route.

Kazakhstan suits you if you want to cross by land. Kazakhstan Railways' Talgo leaves Tashkent daily at 14:41 and reaches Almaty-2 at 08:51 the next morning, 18 h 10 min, and Almaty is on Tashkent time (Tashkent to Almaty). The main road crossing, Gisht Kuprik, was still being rebuilt and not open on 7 September 2026. Charyn and Kolsai need two days with a night in Saty (Charyn, Kolsai and Kaindy). Our Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in 10 days route crosses by train, and Central Asia by train lists every rail link.

Want both? Three weeks cover all three countries: Almaty, the Kegen–Karkara border to Karakol and Issyk-Kul, then a flight from Bishkek to Tashkent for the Uzbek cities (Central Asia in 3 weeks). Karkara is a daytime crossing: 09:00–20:00, Kyrgyzstan's border service said on 22 September 2026.

06

Which combinations fit 10 days, 2 weeks or 3 weeks?

Two countries fit in 10 to 14 days, three in three weeks. Each row links to a day-by-day itinerary with transport details and the dates they were checked. The recommended trip lengths are our judgement.

Whichever you choose, the season sets the direction. In late summer and early autumn, start in the mountains and finish in the cities; in spring, do the cities first and reach the mountains in June.

07

Turkmenistan: what it takes

Turkmenistan needs a visa arranged in advance, and for most visitors that means a tour. Its embassy in Moscow says tourist visas are issued only with an invitation letter from the State Migration Service, which Turkmen travel agencies obtain; with the letter, the visa can also be issued on arrival at a border post or international airport. Caravanistan (January 2026) adds that on a tour you cannot go outside Ashgabat without a guide.

The transit visa is the way to cross on your own. The London embassy limits it to 5 days on exact dates, with a route naming your entry and exit points, copies of the visas for the countries before and after, and about a month for approval. The embassy in Tashkent (19 Afrosiyob Street; consular section +998 71 256 94 06, Monday to Thursday 09:00–13:00) lists the same core documents.

An e-visa exists in law but not in practice. A decree in force from 18 April 2025 introduced e-visas without an invitation (Orient). On 24 September 2026 the State Migration Service website offered online services for passports and an e-queue, but no e-visa application, and in July 2026 Uzbekistan's ambassador in Ashgabat said both countries' consular services were still agreeing the technical details. We follow the official sites: no e-visa yet. Before planning on one, ask the Turkmen embassy in Tashkent.

People go for Ancient Merv, Kunya-Urgench and the Parthian fortresses of Nisa, all on UNESCO's World Heritage List, for Ashgabat, and for the Darvaza gas crater in the Karakum desert. Darvaza burns less than it did: a Turkmengaz research institute said in June 2025 that its burning had fallen more than three-fold since August 2023. We found no 2026 report.

Four road crossings from Uzbekistan are international posts on the Uzbek Customs list; travellers report using three. Olot–Farap is round the clock on that list but 08:30–18:00 in traveller reports (Caravanistan, February 2026): plan to cross in those hours, and confirm with the Uzbek Customs Committee (+998 55 502 76 00).

08

Is there one visa for Central Asia?

No. Each country issues its own visa and counts its own days. Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan launched a joint “Silk Visa” project in 2018, and it has not been introduced (The Times of Central Asia). On 31 July 2026, at the leaders' meeting in Cholpon-Ata, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan backed Kyrgyzstan's proposal for a single tourist visa, with no agreement or start date (24.kg).

For US and EU citizens this matters little: all four countries we cover let them in without a visa. Among the four, UK citizens need a visa only for Tajikistan. Uzbekistan counts its 30 visa-free days from each border crossing, so coming back from Tajikistan or Kyrgyzstan starts a new stay; a single-entry e-visa, by contrast, is used up when you leave. Turkmenistan needs a visa for all of them.

09

Is Central Asia safe, and is it worth it?

The US State Department rates four of the five at Level 1, exercise normal precautions, and Tajikistan at Level 2, with “reconsider travel” for the Afghan border and Gorno-Badakhshan (GBAO), the Pamir region (data feed read 24 September 2026). Our safety guides add other governments' advice and the everyday risks: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

In our view, it is worth visiting if you want to combine Silk Road cities and high mountains. Plan for summer temperatures of 35 °C or more in the cities and border crossings where you walk with your luggage. Entry and payment rules differ by country and can change: Kyrgyzstan, for example, cut its visa-free allowance to 30 days in 60 for the affected nationalities in January 2026. For payment options in Uzbekistan, see the money guide.

10

What goes wrong on a multi-country trip

Most problems come from fitting in too much, and from borders and rules that changed recently. These are the ones that change plans:

• Too many countries. Land borders take time: Samarkand to Dushanbe over the Jartepa border is about 6–9 hours by road, by our estimate in the Samarkand to Dushanbe guide. Five countries in three weeks leaves two or three nights in most of them.
• Jartepa's status. The Uzbek Customs list of border posts classes Jartepa as a bilateral post, which normally means only Uzbek and Tajik citizens may cross. Travellers with other passports have crossed there on foot, but no published rule settles which applies to you. Confirm with the Uzbek Customs Committee (+998 55 502 76 00) before you build the Tajik part on it.
• The Tashkent road border to Kazakhstan. Gisht Kuprik was still closed for rebuilding on 7 September 2026. Take the Talgo, fly, or use the Kaplanbek crossing.
• The Kyrgyz day count. Overstaying the 30 days in 60 brings a fine from 5,500 som and refusal of visa-free entry next time, according to the Kyrgyzstan visa guide.
• Turkmen transit dates. The transit visa is issued for exact dates, so a delay earlier in your journey can leave you less time to cross Turkmenistan. Put your spare day before the Turkmen leg, not in it.

11

What we arrange, and what we don't

We arrange the Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan parts of a combined trip: hotels, guides, transfers, trains and flights. For Kazakhstan and Tajikistan we can advise on the route, but we do not book services there. We do not arrange Turkmenistan.

Send us your dates, your passport nationalities, the countries you are considering and the number of days you have, and we will tell you which combination fits. Send your trip details on WhatsApp or WeChat. OxusRoad replies during business hours in Uzbekistan, UTC+5.

Common questions