Private, on your own dates · Turkmenistan
Four days entering Turkmenistan from Uzbekistan at Farab: Mary and the ruins of Merv, two nights in Ashgabat with Nisa and the Gypjak mosque, and an evening trip out to the burning Darvaza crater.
Twin share · land only, flights extra
Charming Turkmenistan crosses the country from east to west and ends with a flight home from Ashgabat. It suits travellers coming overland from Bukhara, and it keeps the nights in hotels, reaching the Darvaza crater as an evening excursion rather than a camp.
The first day meets you at the Alat–Farab border and heads to Mary, with its regional museum, Orthodox church and bazaar. The next morning is spent among the walled cities of Merv, once one of the richest oases on the Silk Road, before the drive west to Ashgabat and an afternoon among the capital’s marble monuments.
The third day begins with Nisa, the Turkmenbashi Ruhy mosque at Gypjak and the National Museum, with lunch included, and then heads north into the Karakum. After the water and mud craters comes Darvaza, a pit of burning gas about seventy metres across, with a barbecue dinner at the rim and the drive back to Ashgabat under the stars.
The last morning is free before the airport. Visa support, hotels, transport, guiding, entrance fees, the Ashgabat lunch and the Darvaza dinner are included.
Hotels are named on your confirmation — all are of the stated category.
Turkmenistan
No. The crater is visited in the evening with dinner at the rim, and you return to your hotel in Ashgabat the same night, so the whole tour is in hotels.
Only on a transit visa, which is hard to obtain and short. A tourist visa requires a letter of invitation through a tour operator and a guide for the whole stay, which is exactly what this programme provides.
Yes. The Turkmen government has spoken about extinguishing it and reports suggest the fire has become smaller, but it continues to burn and is the centrepiece of every visit to the Karakum.
The Turkmen manat. Hotels and a few shops take cards, but most places do not; bring US dollars in clean notes for the visa fee and to exchange at official rates.
Tell Tulli what you'd change — hotels, dates, an extra city — and she'll price it with our team and come back to you.