Turkmenistan 6 days tour

Arrival at Ashgabat International Airport. You will be met by our representative and transferred to the hotel (early check-in). Free time. In the afternoon, Ashgabat city tour. You will see the Wedding Palace, the modern Yildyz Hotel, the Ferris Wheel, the Constitution Monument, the Arch of Neutrality, the Monument and Park of Independence, the Ertogrul Gazi Mosque, the Ashgabat Olympic Stadium and the Halk Hakydasy Memorial Complex. Overnight in Ashgabat.

Ashgabat

Overnight: Ashgabat (Hotel)

Breakfast at the hotel. Drive to the “Altyn Asyr” Oriental Bazaar in Jygyldyk, 20 km north of Ashgabat (open on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday) – one of the largest open bazaars in the world, filled with colourful rugs, jewellery, carpets, silk and national Turkmen costumes, with animals sold in other parts of the market. Alternatively, visit the Gulistan Bazaar, one of the largest and oldest covered markets and a must for any traveller to Ashgabat. The ground floor is dedicated to fresh produce such as fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and dairy products, with stalls selling spices, nuts, dried fruit and other food; the second floor is home to shops selling clothing and souvenirs. In the afternoon, drive to the burning Darvaza Gas Crater (276 km, about 4 hours), a top international tourist destination. The area is rich in natural gas, and the crater has been burning for over 50 years, shining like a pearl in the middle of the Karakum Desert. You will also see the water and mud craters. The trip is a chance to enjoy the fresh desert air and a taste of nomadic life. You camp in a Turkmen national yurt or in private tents and have a barbecue dinner while the gas crater lights up the night sky.

Darvaza Gas Crater, Karakum Desert

• Ashgabat → Darvaza Gas Crater (276 km)

Overnight: Darvaza Gas Crater (Yurt camp)

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Picnic-style breakfast at Darvaza. Drive back to Ashgabat. In the afternoon, visit the National Museum of History and Ethnography. The museum has a rich collection of ancient artefacts from Turkmenistan, with more than 500,000 exhibits in 9 halls, each dedicated to a certain period or theme. It shows the variety of Turkmenistan’s landscapes, its flora and fauna, fossils and rare geological finds. The Hall of Independence illustrates the modern development of the country, and the Hall of Ancient History presents flint tools from the Mesolithic era (50,000 years BC) used by early people in western Turkmenistan, along with Neolithic ceramics and ornaments from the first human settlements on the northern slopes of the Kopetdag. Overnight at the hotel.

Ashgabat

• Darvaza Gas Crater → Ashgabat (276 km)

Overnight: Ashgabat (Hotel)

Meals: Breakfast

Breakfast at the hotel. Morning drive to Mary. On the way, see the ruins of the Seyitjemaleddin Mosque in Anau, built in 1456 when Abu-ibn-Kasim Baber Bahadurkhan ruled in Khorasan (1446–1457). Bahadurkhan’s vizier, Muhammed Hudaidot, financed the construction and chose a site near the grave of his father, Sheikh Jemaleddin, a native of Anau. The square central hall, with sides of 10.5 metres, was crowned with a dome. The mosque was partly rebuilt in later periods, heavily damaged by land subsidence by the nineteenth century and destroyed in the 1948 Ashgabat earthquake; today only the lower parts of the portal and some fragments of the walls remain. Also on the way, visit Abiwerd, once an important trading town of North Khorasan. It was a key link on the Great Silk Road between Nisa and Merv and had close ties with Nishapur, across the Kopetdag Mountains to the south. Continue to ancient Merv – the “Queen of the World” – once one of the most important capitals of Islam, along with Baghdad, Cairo and Damascus. Sightseeing includes Greater Kyz Gala and Lesser Kyz Gala (6th–7th c.), the Complex of Askhabs (8th–14th c.), Erk Gala (6th c. BC), Gyaur Gala (4th c. BC), the Hoja Yusup Hamadani complex, the Sultan Sanjar mausoleum and the Muhamed Ibn Zeid mausoleum. After sightseeing, transfer to Mary airport for the flight back to Ashgabat. Overnight at the hotel.

Mary, Merv

• Ashgabat → Mary
• Mary → Merv
• Merv → Mary
• Mary → Ashgabat

Overnight: Ashgabat (Hotel)

Meals: Breakfast

Breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast, drive to Nissa fortress – the Sanctuary of Parthian Kings, 18 km from Ashgabat at Bagyr village. UNESCO declared the fortress a World Heritage Site in 2007. Nissa is described as one of the first capitals of the Parthians. It was founded by Arsaces I (reigned c. 250–211 BC) and is reputedly the royal necropolis of the Parthian kings, although it has never been established whether the fortress was a royal residence or a mausoleum. Then visit the Turkmen Carpet Museum, one of the best in Central Asia and one of the cultural centres of Turkmenistan, with about 2,000 carpets, including rare ones, featuring designs of the Tekke, Yamud, Sarik and Chodor tribes. Among them are the smallest carpet, made to hold keys, and the world’s largest handmade carpet, 301 m² in size, woven in 2001 and entered in the Guinness Book of Records in 2003. Later, visit a horse stable to see the national pride of the Turkmen people – the Akhal-Teke horses, the most beautiful horses in the world. Turkmens began breeding Akhal-Teke horses 5,000 years ago, and this unique breed was never mixed with other breeds. Illustrious emperors such as Alexander the Great and Darius I desired to own them. There are over 35 beautiful horses on the farm, and according to local belief, every sick person who touches an Akhal-Teke horse will soon get well. After sightseeing, transfer to your hotel. Overnight at the hotel.

Nisa, Ashgabat

• Ashgabat → Nisa (18 km)
• Nisa → Ashgabat (18 km)

Overnight: Ashgabat (Hotel)

Meals: Breakfast

Transfer to Ashgabat International Airport. Departure.