To THE CENTER AND NORTH (Kabul- Bamyan- Mazar e Sharif- Samangan and Balkh district)
one person: 1700 USD, two people: 1250 USD/person and great discounts for groups.
The tour is suitable for both individuals and group travelers.
Date is open
Included/Excluded
- Invitation Letter
- Permit Costs and Taxes
- Pick up and Drop off
- English-Speaking Tour Guide
- All Road Transportation
- All Accommodation
- All Site Entries
- All Meals (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner)
- Bottled Water
- Sim Card and 10 GB Internet Package
- Visa Fee
- Flights
- Afghan Clothing
Tour Plan
Pick up by the tour guide and driver. Hotel check-in and a short briefing of the tour by the guide. Breakfast or lunch if needed.
Money exchange and going to a tailor shop for the local outfit/shirt.
Touring Kabul depending on what time remains: First of all, we will take you to BiBi Mahroo hill (the big flag) to have a bird’s eye view of Kabul city.
Visiting the oldest market, Mandawi bazaar and the Bird market. Walking around Pul-e-Khishti Mosque (1793-1800), Nadir Pushtun Wat, Chahar Chatta bazaar and Pul-e-Bagh-e-Omumi to catch the atmosphere of Kabul, meeting people and their daily life and culture.
Visiting the Shah-Do-Shamshira Mosque (1544) relates to an early legend concerning the arrival of Islam in Kabul.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Accommodation: Khyber Hotel
Balkh, is a town of prodigious antiquity where Zoroaster preached sometime between 1000 and 600 B.C. Under the Kushans, when Buddhism was practiced throughout Afghanistan, many holy Buddhist temples flourished in Balkh. The Arabs, the bearers of Islam, called Balkh the Mother of Towns, so impressed were they with its magnificence but in 1220 Genghis Khan left it utterly devastated. Balkh was abandoned for Mazar-e-Sharif in 1866
Departing Kabul early in the morning towards Mazar-e-Sharif by a flight.
Registration at the Afghan tour department and Hotel check-in.
A short drive to Balkh District.
Visiting Masjid-e-Haji Piyada or Nuh Gunbad Mosque, 9th century A.D.
A visit to Khwaja Abu Nasr Parsa Mosque and to the tomb of Rabia Balkhi The first woman of the Islamic period to compose poems in Persian
A visit to the ruins of Bala Hisar-e-Balkh built by Alexander the Great 329-327 B.C.
Visiting the ruins of the Mawlana Jalaluddin Balkhi (known in the west as Rumi) abbey. Rumi was born in Balkh in 1207. Perhaps the most eminent sufi poet of all time.
Visiting Burj-e-Ayaran tower (the city wall).
Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Accommodation: Arsalan Hotel – Mazar e Sharif
Visiting the Blue Mosque of Mazar-e-Sharif, built in 1136 by the great Seljuk Sultan, Sanjar. Genghis Khan destroyed it in 1221, having heard there was great treasure beneath its pillars. The reign of the Timurid Sultan Husain Baiqara rebuilt it in 1481.
A 2 hour drive to Samangan.
Visiting Jahan Nama garden on the way, built in 1890.
Visiting Takht-e-Rustam stone stupa, 4th Centry AD. with 8 meters high and 28 meters across, is encircled by a two-meter wide passageway at its foot which was used by pilgrims for circumambulation.
A visit to Tahmina Bazaar and m0nastery complex near to the stupa, destroyed by the Hephthalites c. 460 A.D.
We will continue our drive to Pul-e-Kumri city to make the next day drive shorter.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Accommodation: Saltanat Hotel – Pul e Khumri
This is a 10-hour drive passing through Salang Tunnel (Hindu Kush mountains). Altitude of 3363 m: 11034 ft. and 2,7 km: 1,7 mi. long, built in 1964 by Soviet Union.
We will drive through another fascinating road, Dara-e-Ghurband, through the Shibar Pass. It winds along beside the Ghorband River.
We will pass Sia Gird district and many local bazaars and markets.
Many stops on the way for photography and lunch
Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Accommodation: Bam-e-Asia Hotel
Registration with the Provincial Afghan Tour department.
Visiting the UNISCO Heritage Sites, the ruins of Buddha Statues (once tallest standing Buddhas in the world), the Large Buddha, 55 m: 180 ft high (late 5th to the early 7th centuries A.D.). The Small Buddha, 38 m: 125 feet high (the 3rd or very early 4th centuries A.D.). Both were demolished by the Taliban in 2001.
Visiting the ruins of Gholghula City (The City of Screams), one of the eight UNISCO Heritage Sites in Bamyan. Build by Ghaznavids (977-1186) and demolished by Genghis Khan in 1221.
Hiking and sightseeing around Band-e-Amir Blue Lakes. Altitude: 2916 m: 9567 ft. There are five lakes in all.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Accommodation: Bam-e-Asia Hotel
After breakfast, we will leave Bamyan for Kabul. This is a 4-hour beautiful drive, traveling through the fascinating Hajigak Pass (3700 m: 12,140 ft.), with stops at picturesque rest areas to refresh and take unforgettable photos.
A visit to the UNISCO Heritage Sites, the ruins of Zuhak City (Red City) on our way. The fortress is believed to have been founded between 500-600 A.D. by the Hephthalites, around the same time as the Buddhas of Bamyan were created and demolished by Genghis Khan in 1221.
After lunch in Kabul, a visit to a UNISCO Heritage Site in Kabul, the iconic Babur Garden built by the Mughal Emperor Babur Shah, 1528 CE.
Our last visit today, Ziarat-e-Sakhi or Sakhi Shrine built in 18th century.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Accommodation: Khyber Hotel
Visiting more of Kabul depends on what time remains.
We will take you to Chicken Street (antique market). You will find all kinds of handicrafts, Afghan handmade Rugs, gemstones, calligraphy, glass miniatures and oil paintings, antique and ornamental works in Chicken Street.
Breakfast and lunch
Finally, after a 7-day trip to Afghanistan with lots of unique experiences and heart touching stories we will drop you at the Kabul airport for your flight back home.
End of the tour.
