Afghanistan Central Route
fromAn immersive 15 days exploration of Central and Southern Afghanistan. This 2000km road trip gives the visitor an insight into both the rural life of the Central highlands of Afghanistan and the rarely visited Pashtun heartlands of the south of the country.
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Vacation Style Holiday Type
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Activity Level Moderate
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Group Size Medium Group
An immersive exploration of Central and Southern Afghanistan. This 2000km road trip gives the visitor an insight into both the rural life of the Central highlands of Afghanistan and the rarely visited Pashtun heartlands of the south of the country.
We start in Kabul before taking the bone jarring Central route to Herat. En route stopping at Bamian, the lakes of Band e Amir and the iconic minaret of Jam. We pause for breath in Herat, the most architecturally complete city in Afghanistan. Then we follow the southern road stopping at the ancient city of Bost in Helmand, the ancient Afghan capital of Kandahar and the great city of Ghazni with its fort and 1000 year old towers.
The majority of these regions have been impossible to visit for two decades due to security concerns.
Highlights:
- Discover the remains of the Buddhas of Bamian
- Drive the Central Route and camp beneath the fabled Minaret of Jam
- Explore the Pashtun heartlands of Ghazni, Kandahar and Helmand
Start Point: Islamabad, Pakistan
End Point: Kabul, Afghanistan
Maximum number of people: 10
- All accommodation
- Breakfast
- Transport/transfers
- Guiding – One Afghan and one international guide.
- One international flight (Islamabad – Kabul)
- Visa support
- Any necessary visas
- Insurance
- International flights
- Entrance fees
- Lunch & Dinner
- Drinks
- Tips
- Any additional flights needed in Afghanistan that may be necessary due to security concerns.
- Day 1 Islamabad - Peshawar
- Day 2 Peshawar - Islamabad - Kabul
- Day 3 Kabul
- Day 4 Kabul - Bamian
- Day 5 Bamian – Band e Amir - Bamian
- Day 6 Bamian – Chagcharan
- Day 7 - 8 Chagcharan – Minaret of Jam - Herat
- Day 9 Herat
- Day 10 Herat – Lashkar Gah
- Day 11 Lashkar Gah – Kandahar
- Day 12 Kandahar
- Day 13 Kandahar – Ghazni
- Day 14 Ghazni - Kabul
- Day 15 Kabul - End
We do not and cannot offer a uniform accommodation standard on our itineraries. We consider comfort, location, design, character, historical interest and whether the money we spend will go into the pockets of the local community when we make our choices of where to stay.
The accommodation will be based on 2 people sharing.
An optional single supplement is available upon request, for an additional cost of $600 per person.
- All accommodation
- Breakfast
- Transport/transfers
- Guiding – One Afghan and one international guide.
- One international flight (Islamabad – Kabul)
- Visa support
- Any necessary visas (Afghan visa in Peshawar should cost $80)
- Insurance
- International flights
- Entrance fees
- Lunch & Dinner
- Drinks
- Tips
- Any additional flights needed in Afghanistan that may be necessary due to security concerns.
We do not directly arrange international flights to Afghanistan or Pakistan. We can suggest routes and operators.
We do not arrange Afghanistan visas directly. We will provide visa support in the form of Letters of Invitation to assist in your Afghanistan visa application in Peshawar on the first day.
We can provide visa support for the Pakistan e-visa which is requirement for travel to Pakistan.
Please note, visas for Afghanistan are currently not easily obtained via most embassies. However, with the return of international travel the visa process may suddenly change.
At the moment, the easiest and most reliable place to get Afghans visas is at the consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan. All our trips include a night in Pakistan, allowing our guests to obtain their visa just before entering Afghanistan.
It is also possible to obtain the visa in Dubai ahead of travel.
Please contact us for further information.
With the exception of breakfast, meals are not included as part of the trip. In our experience people sometimes want to eat different things in different places at different times. We know some great places and will also happily show you some of our favourite restaurants and tea houses. Some are luxurious, some are earthier, but all have character. However, we do not pretend to be the arbiters of good taste and are equally happy for you to go off and find your own favourites.
In Afghanistan, we take at least 2 vehicles when driving between towns if there is a big group, for safety reasons. If there is a breakdown we will not be left stranded. When we choose our vehicles and drivers we take into consideration the road conditions, the length of journey and the competence of the man behind the wheel (not a laughing matter in a country that should be the setting for a live-action version of the Wacky Races). Your comfort and enjoyment of the journey is the first priority.
On this trip you will be accompanied by 2 team leaders from. This allows for greater security and means that there will always be someone on hand to help or assist you even if the other team leader is busy arranging something.
Sometimes we also hire local guides. If we are a large group, we may wish to split into smaller groups for city tours to allow greater flexibility and keep a lower profile. An extra local guide allows us to do that.
Trips to Afghanistan do create dangers all of their own and whilst we want you to have as much freedom as possible, we must state that the tour leader has the final word with regards to changes in the itinerary for safety reasons. Whilst the route we have chosen passes through areas that we consider to be stable things can change and we may have to alter the route or cancel sections of the trip at short notice.
If there is an extra expense incurred due to the change of itinerary, then you may be asked to bear part of that cost. For example, if we have to fly between cities rather than drive this may occur an additional cost.
