The best places to visit in Afghanistan

After years on the ground, these are the places we keep coming back to with travellers. Some are famous, some almost nobody visits.

Here’s where we’d take you, and why each one is worth the trip.

Bamyan and the Buddha cliffs

A calm, high valley where two giant Buddhas once stood, until 2001. The empty niches are still staggering, and the Hazara region around them is one of the gentlest parts of the country.

More on Bamyan.

Band-e-Amir’s blue lakes

Six deep-blue lakes held back by natural stone dams, up at almost 3,000 metres. It became Afghanistan’s first national park, and it’s an easy day from Bamyan.

More on Band-e-Amir.

Kabul

Loud, layered and far more relaxed than its reputation. Babur’s gardens, the National Museum, the bird market, and food you’ll think about long after. More on Kabul.

Mazar-e-Sharif and the Blue Mosque

The north’s great city, built around one of the most beautiful shrines in the Islamic world, with the ancient ruins of Balkh nearby. See Mazar and Balkh.

The Wakhan Corridor

A thin finger of Afghanistan reaching towards China, walled in by the Pamir. Wakhi farmers, Kyrgyz herders, and some of the best trekking in Central Asia. See the Wakhan.

Nuristan

Forested, remote and unlike anywhere else in the country, with its own languages and history. It takes effort to reach, which is exactly the point.

More on Nuristan.

Want to see them?

Most of these sit on our group tours, and we can build any of them into a private trip.