Culture Tour — Kyrgyzstan
Silk Road Journey

Culture Tour

Bishkek → Cholpon-Ata → Karakol → Bokonbaev → Tash Rabat → Son-Kul → Bishkek

Duration 7 Days
Price From $1,000
Type Cultural
Difficulty Easy

Prices per person. Group discounts available.

Day-by-Day Itinerary

D1 Bishkek City (40 km / 40 min)

Arrival in Bishkek. Transfer to the city (30–40 min). Hotel check-in (early check-in not included). Time to rest.

City tour after late breakfast including the Monument of Kyrgyz National Hero Manas, Changing of Guards of Honour, State Historical Museum, Kurmanjan Datka and Lenin statues, Ala-Too Square, governmental buildings, Oak Park and Fine Art Gallery.

Welcoming dinner in a local restaurant. Breakfast & Dinner

D2 Bishkek → Karakol (400 km / 6–7 hrs)

Breakfast at the hotel. Drive to Karakol via the Burana Tower Historical Complex — an ancient minaret near Tokmok on the Great Silk Road. Visit the on-site museum and collection of Balbals (Turkic grave markers).

Continue to Issyk-Kul Lake — the world's second-largest alpine lake (182 km long, 668 m deep). Stop at Cholpon-Ata for the famous petroglyphs site and a swim. Evening arrival in Karakol. Breakfast

D3 Karakol → Djety Oguz → Bokonbaev (180 km / 3 hrs)

Morning city tour of Karakol: Przhevalski Memorial Museum, the Dungan Mosque (Chinese pagoda style), and the Russian Orthodox Holy Trinity Church — built of wood without a single nail, famous for its Tikhvinian icon from 1897.

Drive south along Issyk-Kul. Hike in Djety Oguz (Seven Bulls) canyon, see the Broken Heart Rock, and visit Skazka (Fairy Tale) canyon. Arrive in Bokonbaev village for a visit to the local felt-making cooperative. Breakfast & Dinner

D4 Bokonbaev → Tash Rabat (360 km / 5–6 hrs)

Morning eagle hunting demonstration — meet a traditional Berkutchi (eagle hunter) and see the birds of prey in action.

Drive through Naryn town — the most Kyrgyz city in the country (90% Kyrgyz population) — with a brief stop at the Central Blue Mosque. Continue south towards the Chinese border into Kara-Koyun canyon. Overnight at a yurt camp near Tash Rabat caravanserai (3,200 m). Breakfast & Dinner

D5 Tash Rabat → Son-Kul Lake (260 km / 5 hrs)

Morning excursion to Tash Rabat caravanserai — a mysterious 10th-century stone structure, possibly a Nestorian monastery, merchants' rest house or fortress, now beautifully preserved.

Drive back via Naryn and north to Son-Kul Lake (3,016 m) over the Moldo-Ashuu pass. Son-Kul — the "Last Lake" — is a vast alpine expanse surrounded by summer nomadic pastures. Overnight in a yurt camp. Breakfast & Dinner

D6 Son-Kul → Bishkek (360 km)

Return drive to Bishkek via Kalmak-Ashuu pass, Kochkor village, the Orto-Tokoi reservoir, Kuvaky pass and Boom Canyon. Time on arrival for souvenir shopping.

Farewell dinner at a local restaurant. Breakfast & Dinner

D7 Bishkek → Airport (35 km / 40 min)

Group or individual transfer to Manas International Airport for your departure flight. Breakfast

Route Map