Exploring The Silk Road
Highlights and key routes
Does anywhere conjure the spirit and romance of adventure quite like the Silk Road? The original transcontinental trade route; the stomping grounds of Marco Polo and Genghis Khan; a ribbon weaving across desert and mountain to connect medieval Europe with the mysterious and mighty civilisations to the east.
About this guide
Does anywhere conjure the spirit and romance of adventure quite like the Silk Road? The original transcontinental trade route; the stomping grounds of Marco Polo and Genghis Khan; a ribbon weaving across desert and mountain to connect medieval Europe with the mysterious and mighty civilisations to the east.
And more recently, thrills of another flavour: the shuttering of the Iron Curtain and the eventual re-emergence of isolated republics onto the world stage. These landlocked countries in the heart of Asia are now slowly finding their feet in the 21st century. At the same time, their period of extended isolation has helped preserve remarkable cultures, unique architecture and spectacular natural scenery.
Despite the region’s long and illustrious history of exploration, much of the Silk Road remains a mystery to today’s traveller. Where to begin? What to see? How to get around?
That’s why we created this guide: To introduce you to the must-see highlights and show how to condense a land of mind-boggling diversity into an all-too-brief holiday.
Unlike in Marco Polo’s day, a journey along the Silk Road no longer demands an epic five-year voyage. But don’t let that diminish the scale of the adventure that awaits–buckle up, you’re in for one hell of a ride!
In this guide
- A Silk Road Journey
- Samarkand: Unique Heritage
- Shymkent: Tulips & Sufis
- Almaty, Charyn Canyon & Altyn Emel
- The World’s Best Souvenirs
- Song Kul: Nomads, Yurts & Horses
- Arslanbob: Hospitality, Waterfalls & Walnut Forests
- The Karakum Desert: Ancient Ruins And The Door To Hell
- Ashgabat: The Marble Capital
- The Pamir Highway
- Bukhara & Khiva
- Xinjiang & Kashgar
- The Four Stan Loop
- The Uzbekistan Loop
- Essential Uzbekistan & Turkmenistan
- To The Wild West
- Kazakhstan & Kyrgyzstan Unwrapped
- The Kazakhstan Loop
- Pure Adventure: Tajikistan & Uzbekistan
- Climate And When To Go
- Food And Drink In Central Asia
- Central Asia FAQs