25 Best Places to Visit in Kyrgyzstan in 2026

Bishkek sits at about 800 metres on the northern edge of the Kyrgyz Ala-Too, and on clear days the range’s snow peaks are in view from the centre. It began in 1825 as Pishpek, a Kokand fortress, and was called Frunze from 1926 to 1991.

Give it a day or two at the start or end of your trip. Go to Osh Bazaar early, before the crowds, walk the Soviet-era blocks around Ala-Too Square and the National History Museum, and leave time for coffee. Our guide to things to do in Bishkek has the full list, and our best cafes and best restaurants in Bishkek guides will keep you fed.

Ala-Archa puts glaciers and 4,000-metre peaks about an hour’s drive from Bishkek. The park was set up in 1976, and its highest summit, Semenov-Tian-Shansky Peak (4,895 metres), is also the top of the whole Kyrgyz Ala-Too range.

We would make it the first stop on any Kyrgyzstan trip. A day of walking above 2,000 metres here, with a bed back in Bishkek at 800 metres, is a gentle way to get used to the altitude before Song-Kul or the Ala-Kul trek. The park road ends at the alpine camp, at just over 2,100 metres, where trails start up the side valleys and towards the Ak-Sai Glacier.

Since May 2025 only electric vehicles may drive past the park checkpoint, and electric buses carry visitors up the valley. Early autumn, when the trees by the river turn gold, is the prettiest time to come. Our day trips from Bishkek guide has the transport, fees and walks.

Kol-Tor is a lake at the head of the Kegeti Gorge, about 2,700 metres up and above the village of Kegeti, 80 to 90 km east of the capital. Its water is a startling turquoise.

Be ready for a long day: expect roughly 7 to 8 km each way and around 900 metres of climbing, which takes 3 to 4 hours on the way up. Marshrutkas run from Bishkek’s Eastern bus station to Kegeti, and in summer the Trekking Union of Kyrgyzstan runs weekend trips.

Burana is our pick for Silk Road history in the north of the country. The tower is the main survivor of Balasagun, a Karakhanid city in the Chuy Valley, and stands just south of Tokmok, about 80 km east of Bishkek. An earthquake in the 15th century brought down the top of the minaret, which once stood about 45 metres and is now around 25.

In 2014 it became part of the Silk Roads World Heritage listing for the Chang’an–Tianshan Corridor. You can climb to the top for a view over the valley, and balbals, old Turkic stone figures, stand in the field around it. Tokmok is on the main road to Issyk-Kul, so Burana is an easy detour on the way to the lake. Tickets, hours and the marshrutka route are in our day trips from Bishkek guide.

Konorchek is a maze of red sandstone towers just off the Boom Gorge, the narrow pass that the main road and the railway use to get from the Chuy Valley to Issyk-Kul. It is about two hours’ drive from Bishkek, and day tours run from May to October.

The walk in starts from a car park by the Red Bridge and follows a dry riverbed, squeezing between the rocks until the canyon opens out. Allow about three hours there and back, and carry plenty of water. Our day trips guide has the turn-off and the routes inside the canyon.

Chon-Kemin is a long, green valley east of Bishkek, protected since 1997 as a nature park of more than 1,200 square kilometres. The Chon-Kemin River runs 116 km down it, and the park is about 135 km from the capital, 30 km beyond the town of Kemin.

Guesthouses along the valley serve home-cooked meals and arrange horse rides and walks by the river. Marshrutkas to Kemin leave from Bishkek’s Eastern bus station. You only need a border permit if you head for the far end of the valley, near the Kazakh border.

Issyk-Kul is about 180 km long and up to 668 metres deep, and it sits at 1,607 metres, which makes it the second-largest mountain lake in the world after Titicaca. The water is slightly salty, and the lake rarely freezes.

The north shore, around Cholpon-Ata, has the beaches and resorts, plus an open-air field of around 2,000 petroglyphs carved between 800 BC and 1200 AD. The south shore is quieter, with small villages, canyons and yurt camps.

Karakol is the capital of the Issyk-Kul Region and the base for the country’s best-known treks. It sits at 1,745 metres near the eastern end of the lake, about 380 km from Bishkek, or roughly six hours by marshrutka.

The town began as a Russian outpost in 1869 and was called Przhevalsk for much of the Soviet era. Two buildings are worth a look between hikes: the wooden Holy Trinity Cathedral and the Dungan Mosque, built between 1904 and 1910 without a single nail.

In summer Karakol fills with hikers heading for Ala-Kul and Altyn-Arashan. In winter the Karakol ski base, with runs up to 3,040 metres, takes over.

Altyn-Arashan is a high valley about 20 km southeast of Karakol, inside the Arashan nature reserve, with Pik Palatka standing at its head. Hot springs rise in three groups between 2,350 and 2,435 metres. Plan on a long soak after the walk up.

Bus 350 from Karakol passes the turn-off for the valley, and the trail starts from Ak-Suu village. Many people combine it with Ala-Kul on a multi-day loop (see number 10). There are yurt camps in the valley.

Ala-Kul is 2.8 km of turquoise water held back by a natural dam at 3,532 metres, high above the Karakol Valley.

The usual route is a loop from the Karakol Gorge up to Ala-Kul, over the pass to Altyn-Arashan and down to Ak-Suu, about 50 km over 2 to 4 days. The pass tops out at around 3,860 metres, and the last climb is steep and on loose rock, so take it slowly. There are yurts along the route in summer, but book ahead.

Marshrutka 101 from Karakol goes to the national park gate, where you pay the entry fee.

Jeti-Oguz means “seven bulls”, after the row of red cliffs at the mouth of the gorge. The rocks are red conglomerate and have been a protected natural monument since 1975. Nearby is a split rock known as the Broken Heart, and a sanatorium sits at the foot of the cliffs.

It is about 35 km west of Karakol. Take bus 371 or 372 to Jeti-Oguz village, then a taxi for the last 10 km to the rocks.

Jyrgalan is a small village at 2,477 metres in the far east of the Issyk-Kul Region, built in 1964 for a coal mine. Since 2013 local families have opened guesthouses, and it has become a quieter alternative to Karakol for hiking and horse riding.

Bus 331 leaves Karakol bazaar three times a day.

Skazka means “fairy tale”. Wind has worn the red and yellow sandstone into towers, walls and ridges just above the south shore of Issyk-Kul, a few kilometres from the village of Tosor.

It is only about 2 km off the main road, so it makes an easy stop on a drive around the lake. There is a small entry fee. In midsummer it fills with picnickers, so come early or late.

The Barskoon Gorge cuts south into the mountains from the south shore of Issyk-Kul. Its main waterfall, 24 metres high, is about 20 km up the gorge from Barskoon village and roughly 90 km southwest of Karakol, and has been a natural monument since 1975.

A 2 to 4 hour return walk takes in three waterfalls, with names like Manas’s Bowl and Champagne Splashes. The trail is steep, with loose stones, so wear proper shoes. On the drive up, look out for a bust of Yuri Gagarin and a Soviet truck on a plinth.

There is little traffic up the gorge, so you may need a taxi from the village. Spring is the best time to go.

Kyrgyz hunters have flown golden eagles for centuries. The eagle is the berkut, and the person who trains it and hunts with it is the berkutchi.

Bokonbaevo, the main town of the Tong District on the south shore, is where to see them, with demonstrations arranged locally. Agree the price before it starts. Marshrutkas from Bishkek’s municipal bus station on the eastern bypass road take 5 to 6 hours.

Kok-Moinok is a set of red and yellow sandstone canyons in the Issyk-Kul Region, about 150 km from Bishkek and west of Balykchy, the town at the lake’s western tip. Visitors compare it to Utah’s Bryce Canyon, and its passages wind on for up to 2.5 km.

It is close to the road from Bishkek, so it fits easily into the drive to the lake.

Song-Kul is a lake at 3,016 metres in the north of the Naryn Region, about 29 km long and 18 km wide, and in summer herders pitch yurt camps along its shore. It is our first pick for a night in a yurt.

The camps are reliably open in July and August. In June or September, check ahead, and note the ice only clears by late May. There is no public transport, so arrange a driver in Kochkor. The road climbs over a 3,500-metre pass, but a high-clearance car is enough. Or arrive the old way, on a two-day horse ride or hike from Kyzart.

Kol-Ukok is a smaller lake at about 3,000 metres in the hills south-east of Kochkor, about 20 km from town by dirt road, with a few small yurt camps on the shore.

You can drive up in about an hour, ride, or walk. Walkers usually take a taxi to the trailhead outside town, then hike about 14.5 km to the lake, which takes around 4.5 hours with 1,100 metres of climbing. From the camps, a day hike of about 12 km return climbs to a second, higher lake. The CBT office in Kochkor can arrange horses and transport.

Kel-Suu is a narrow turquoise lake about 5 km long, squeezed between sheer rock walls at 3,514 metres in the At-Bashy District, close to the border with China. In 2019 it drained away, and it has since filled again.

Because it is in the border zone, you need a permit. Apply at least a month ahead; agencies in Naryn arrange it for a small fee. From the yurt camp it is about an hour’s walk to the water, and boats run trips on the lake.

Tash Rabat is a stone caravanserai with 31 rooms, set in a quiet side valley of the At-Bashy District at over 3,000 metres, south of Naryn on the way to the Torugart Pass and China.

Its age is disputed. It is usually dated to the 15th century, possibly on the site of a much older monastery. Naryn is the base, and Koshoi Korgon, an old fortress site, is about an hour from Naryn on the same road. Further south is Chatyr-Kul, a lake in the border zone that needs a permit.

Osh is Kyrgyzstan’s second city, in the Fergana Valley at 963 metres, and UNESCO estimates it is more than 3,000 years old.

Its landmark is Sulaiman-Too, the rocky mountain rising out of the middle of town. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the only one that lies entirely within Kyrgyzstan, and the small mosque on top was built by Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire, in 1510. Climb up late in the day for the view over the city.

Osh is also where the road to the Alay Valley and the Pamir Highway begins (numbers 24 and 25).

Sary-Chelek is a deep blue lake in a forested reserve in the Jalal-Abad Region, at roughly 1,900 metres and more than 230 metres deep. The reserve has been a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 1978 and climbs from 1,200 metres to over 4,200.

Getting here takes effort, which keeps it quiet. You drive via Tash-Komur and Kara-Jigat to Arkyt, where the reserve headquarters is, then take 15 km of dirt road to the lake. Count on 9 hours or more from Bishkek, or 6 from Osh. The road is clear of snow from mid-May to the end of September, and July and August are best.

Arslanbob is a large village at 1,600 metres in the Jalal-Abad Region, surrounded by what is often called the largest walnut grove on Earth, around 11,000 hectares of it. Above the village are two waterfalls, of 80 and 23 metres.

Come in late September or early October for the walnut harvest, or any time from April to October for walks in the forest and up to the falls. A daily minibus runs direct from Osh in the early afternoon. Otherwise, change at Jalal-Abad and Bazar-Korgon, which takes 4 to 5 hours in all.

The Alay Valley is a wide, high valley between about 2,400 and 3,500 metres, and above it rises Lenin Peak, 7,134 metres, on the border with Tajikistan. The climbers’ base camp at Achik-Tash is at 3,600 metres. Nearby Tulpar-Kol is a small lake at about 3,500 metres with yurt camps in summer, where you can watch sunrise light up the face of the peak.

The base is Sary-Mogol, 34 km west of Sary-Tash and about 220 km from Osh, roughly four hours by shared taxi. From Sary-Mogol it is about an hour by jeep to the lake. You don’t need a permit to hike up to Traveller’s Pass for the view (the sign at the top says 4,150 m), only to climb the peak itself.

The Pamir Highway (the M41) is 1,252 km long, and most of it runs through Tajikistan. The Kyrgyz section starts in Osh and runs about 185 km over the Taldyk Pass (3,615 metres) to Sary-Tash, a village at 3,170 metres where the roads to China and Tajikistan split. It is good tarmac all the way and takes about three and a half hours.

Even if you don’t cross the border, the drive to Sary-Tash is worth it for the snow peaks. One marshrutka a day runs from Osh. Beyond Sary-Tash the road climbs 44 km to the Kyzyl-Art Pass and the Tajik border, at over 4,200 metres, with a rough stretch of mud and gravel.

To continue into Tajikistan you need a Tajik visa and a GBAO permit for the Pamirs. Check the current rules for foreigners at this crossing before you go. The road is kept open all year, but blizzards are possible above 4,000 metres, and May to September has the best weather.