Full Afghanistan in 13 days

Day 2 – Full day in Kabul

• In the morning, we will head to Old Kabul, where we will spend the morning 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 visit Sakhi Shrine, a mini version of the Blue Mosque in Mazar and also one of the most stunning mosques in Afghanistan.
• Our day will be finished in Bibi Mahro Hills, the highest point in all of Kabul, from where you get a 360º view of the city, and whose center features the tallest flag pole in the country, today this flag being a massive Taliban flag.
• This place is always busy with locals for sunset, so it will be a great chance to interact with them too.
• Overnight in Kabul.

Day 3 – Drive to Bamyan

• Early start, the journey to Bamyan takes around 4 hours.
• Bamyan, the heartland of Hazara people, 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 rich in ancient history.
• After lunch, we will visit the 6th century Buddhas that were destroyed by the Taliban, and finish our day in Shahr-e Gholghola, an ancient fortress from where you get jaw-dropping views of all Bamyan and surrounding mountains.
• Overnight in Bamyan.

Day 4 – Full day in Bamyan with Band-e-Ameer

• Band-e-Ameer is a UNESCO World Heritage and also the only National Park in all Afghanistan, a set of deep-blue lakes that are jaw-dropping.
• The best way to get an impression of its size is by walking around the lakes on foot, so we will do a 1-hour hike, while choosing the best spot for a picnic lunch.
• After lunch, we’ll go back to Bamyan and visit the remaining sites, like the Dragon Valley and the Red City.
• Overnight in Bamyan.

Day 5 – Drive to Samangan and Mazar-e-Sharif

• This will be a long driving day, Bamyan to Mazar through Salang pass.
• On the way to Mazar, we can also visit the Buddhist stupas from Samangan, which date from the 3rd century.
• We will arrive in Mazar at the end of the day.
• Overnight in Mazar-e-Sharif

Day 6 – Full day in Mazar-e-Sharif

• In the morning, we will go to Charkint district, where you find the gate built to stop the troops from Genghis Khan. This gate also played an important role when fighting the Soviets in 1988 and also with the Taliban during their first rule, so it’s a pretty big deal for Afghans from this area.
• We’ll also visit the city center of Mazar and at sunset, we will go to the Blue Mosque, arguably, the most stunning mosque in the world.
• Overnight in Mazar-e-Sharif

Day 7 – Fly back to Kabul, drive to Ghanzi

• We’ll catch the morning flight to Kabul, from where we’ll start our journey to Ghazni, a barely visited city but home to 2 imposing minarets, as well as a collection of tens of tanks from the Soviet Union and USA.
• Overnight in Ghazni.

Day 8 – Journey to Kandahar

• The road conditions on this particular section of the road are awful, so this is going to be a driving day that will take us to even more isolated towns and villages, with a very different landscape from what you’ve seen before.
• On the way, we will have the chance to see destroyed artillery that once belonged to the USA, as well as the remains of car bombings.
• Overnight in Kandahar.

Day 9 – Full day in Kandahar

• Kandahar is the heartland 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 of 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.
• Overnight in Kandahar.

Day 10 – Journey to Herat

• The journey to Herat is a 9 to 10-hour drive but the journey will take us across some of the most isolated provinces in Afghanistan, including Farah, Nimruz, and Helmand.
• These provinces have been controlled by the Taliban for many years already, way before the Taliban takeover in 2021, and they are the most affected by the Afghan war as well.
• Helmand is actually the province with the largest number of American casualties in all of Afghanistan, and probably in the whole world.
• Overnight in Kandahar.

Day 11 – Full day in Herat

• Herat is so different from anything you’ve seen in Afghanistan, an Afghan city with many Persian and Iranian influences, visible not only in their architecture but also in their food.
• Highlights in Herat include the Friday Mosque and its tile workshop, Herat’s Citadel and the city’s bazaar, where we will visit shops where burqas are made.
• In the evening, something fun we tend to organize is eating ice cream at a shop typically frequented by the Taliban.
• Overnight in Herat.

Day 12 – Fly to Kabul

• We will catch the morning flight from Herat to Kabul.
• We will check in at the hotel and after lunch, we’ll visit all the places we missed on day 2 of the tour, which can include the Maranjan Hills, the National Museum or Babur Gardens.
• Overnight in Kabul.

Day 13 – Departure

• In the morning, we’ll head to Chicken Street, the only place in Kabul where you can find actual souvenirs, ranging from fridge magnets to coffee mugs and the carpet bazaar.
• Airport transfers will be arranged accordingly.