Itinerary

1. Day 1: Ashgabat Museums and City Highlights

   • Meet the group at Ashgabat International Airport and transfer to the hotel for check-in and rest.
   • Enjoy lunch before beginning the guided city tour with a professional Turkmen guide.
   • Visit the National Museum of History and Ethnography to learn about Turkmen culture and heritage.
   • Explore the Carpet Museum, home to the largest collection of Turkmen carpets in the world.
   • Discover rare carpets dating from medieval times to the twentieth century, including over 1,000 pieces from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
   • See traditional carpet articles such as chuvals, khurjuns, and torba.
   • Admire the famous hand-woven carpet recognised by Guinness World Records as the largest in the world.
   • Enjoy dinner at a local restaurant.

   Overnight stay at the hotel in Ashgabat.

2. Day 2: Ashgabat to Darvaza Gas Crater

   • Breakfast at the hotel at 9:00 am.
   • Drive to explore the ancient ruins of Nisa, dating from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD.
   • Visit Gypjak Mosque and pay respects at the mausoleum of Turkmenistan’s first President.
   • Lunch at a local restaurant.
   • Late afternoon drive to the Darvaza Gas Crater, located approximately 270 kilometres north of Ashgabat.
   • Witness the dramatic flaming crater, famously known as the Gates of Hell.
   • Enjoy breathtaking evening views of the smouldering gas crater.
   • Picnic-style dinner near the crater.

   Overnight stay in a tent under the starry desert sky.

3. Day 3: Konye Urgench and Dashoguz Border

   • Enjoy an early picnic-style breakfast at the campsite.

   • Transfer to the ancient city of Konye-Urgench.

   • Drive north through Turkmenistan for approximately four hours.

   • On arrival, explore the architectural monuments of Konye-Urgench, the former capital of Khorezm from the tenth to twelfth centuries.

   • Visit the mausoleums of Najm al-Din al-Kubra, Tyurabek Khanum, Il-Arslan, and Tekesh Ibn Hadzhibey.

   • See the impressive Qutlug Timur Minaret, the tallest minaret in Central Asia.

   • Lunch at a local restaurant in Konye-Urgench.

   • Drive to the Turkmen–Uzbek border at Dashoguz or Shawat.

   • Border crossing scheduled between 3:00 pm and 4:00 pm.