Afghanistan Tours

Sample itinerary for our Afghanistan vacations tours

Here’s our standard 10-day tour we offer on most of our expeditions.

Day 1 – Arrival in Kabul

• Day 1 is the arrival day, a day which we will spend picking you up from airport and checking in the hotel, as well as giving you a warm welcome through an introductory briefing on Afghanistan.
• In the evening, we will go all together for a traditional Afghan meal.
• Overnight in Kabul.

Day 2 – Full day in Kabul

• Early morning and before our visit, we should go to the market to buy some local clothes, something which is strictly necessary to blend in (to a certain extent) with the local population.
• Then, we will head to Old Kabul, walking slowly through all the different bazaars, including the worldwide famous bird market, a photogenic bazaar where they sell different types of birds as pets, one of the top tourist attractions in Kabul.
• After a hearty meal, we will travel west of Kabul to spend the afternoon and evening in Sakhi Shrine, a mini version of the Blue Mosque in Mazar and also one of the most stunning mosques in all Afghanistan.
• Overnight in Kabul.

Day 3 – Mazar-e-Shariff

• At 11:30am, we will catch a flight to Mazar e-Sheriff, a northern city close to the Uzbekistan border, the reason why here you find a large population of Uzbeks.
• From the airport, we will drive straight to Balkh, an ancient city once the centre of Buddhism, Sufism and Zoroastrianism. Among other landmarks, we will visit Bala Hisar – the ancient citadel built by Alexander the Great when he destroyed the Kurush (Persian empire) – and Parsa Mosque.
• Then, we will head back to Mazar to spend the entire afternoon in the Blue Mosque, one of the highlights in all Afghanistan, a huge shrine composed of mind-blowing turquoise patterns that comes to life with the thousands of worshippers that visit it every single day. It’s a place not to rush, so we will take our time there.
• Overnight in Mazar-e-Shariff

Day 4 – Bamyan

• This is an exciting day, for two different reasons.
• On the one hand, few are the travelers who have done this journey by road, since the area between both destinations used to be extremely dangerous before the Taliban took over, but not anymore.
• On the other hand, we will drive through the Hindu Kush range, witnessing amazing landscapes and passing through 5 different provinces: Bamyan, Parwan, Bghlan, Samangan and Balkh.
• We will arrive in Bamyan in the evening. Overnight in Bamyan.

Day 5 – Exploring the city of Bamyan

• Bamyan is a Hazara town and the only sort of tourist-friendly place in all Afghanistan. It’s located at the heart of the Hindu Kush, in a stunningly beautiful area surrounded by mountains and lush, green fields, but also a region with rich in ancient history.
• Early morning, we will pay a visit to the giant Buddhas that were carved from the rocks back in the 6th century, but unfortunately destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. The big Buddha-shaped holes they left behind are impressive though, and the views from the top even more.
• Right after eating a traditional regional meal, we will head to historical Shahr-e Gholghola also (City of Screams), a 13th century city in Bamyan, that was conquered by Gengis Khan after months of surrounding.
• The evening will be spent on top of a mountain with awesome views of the mountains. Overnight in Bamyan.

Day 6 – Band-e-Ameer National Park

• Band-e-Ameer is a UNESCO World Heritage and also the only National Park in all Afghanistan, a set of deep-blue lakes absolutely jaw-dropping.
• The best way to get an impression of its size is by circling the lakes on foot, so we will do a small trek, while choosing the best spot for a picnic lunch.
• After enjoying the lakes, we will drive back to Bamyan, not without enjoying the landscapes this region can bless us with on the way. Overnight in Bamyan.

Day 7 – Bamyan to Ghazni

• The drive to Ghazni from Bamyan will go through an actual off the beaten path region in Afghanistan, passing by isolated villages in the middle of the desert.
• The drive will take 4 hours.
• Upon arrival in Ghazni, we will have lunch, and then we will visit the Ghaznavid minarets, two masterpieces of Islamic engineering from the 12th century.
• Overnight in Ghazni.

Day 8 – Drive to Kandahar

• The driver to Kandahar is pretty long – around 6 hours – but it goes through the former battle zone of the USA against the Taliban, so expect to see a lot of abandoned American tanks and military trucks.
• We expect to arrive in Kandahar around lunch time and visiting some of its highlights will follow after that.

Day 9 – Kandahar

• Kandahar is the cultural center for the Pashtun people.
• Long-bearded-men and women in burqa, but also dust, utterly hot summers, and an insane level of military security.
• Kandahar is like the Afghanistan we have been watching on TV, but it’s also rich in history, since it was actually founded by Alexander the Great himself in the 4th century BC.
• The city, however, is also infamous for being the place where the Taliban movement was founded, and the actual Taliban capital when they ruled the country from 1996 to 2001.
• We will visit the remains from the city founded by Alexander the Great but our visit will also have a big focus on the Taliban history, and that will include the mosque where Mullah Omar and Osama Bin Laden used to pray, as well as a Taliban school.
• In the evening, we will catch a flight back to Kabul.
• Overnight in Kabul.

Day 10 – Kabul and departure

• Your flight will likely be in the afternoon so early in the morning, we will go to the Bibi Mahro Hills to enjoy the best views in the city.
• After that, we will take you the airport to catch your international flight.