The 10 Best Cities to Visit in Central Asia

Silk Road domes, Soviet boulevards and mountain towns sit side by side, and the cheap, easy places compete with the hard-to-reach ones.

1. 1
   Almaty

   Kazakhstan's biggest city, with a cheap metro, mountain gondolas at Shymbulak and day trips to Charyn Canyon.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Samarkand

   Silk Road city in Uzbekistan whose Registan square and turquoise-domed madrasas anchor most Central Asia itineraries.
   666pts
3. 3
   Khiva

   Walled desert town in Uzbekistan whose Itchan Kala is a compact open-air museum of mud-brick and tilework.
   500pts
4. 4
   Dushanbe

   Tajikistan's green, low-key capital, gateway to the Pamir and Fann Mountains.
   499pts
5. 5
   Osh

   One of Central Asia's oldest cities, with a huge bazaar and the Sulaiman-Too sacred mountain above it.
   499pts
6. 6
   Astana

   Kazakhstan's futuristic capital, built up from the 1990s with towers and landmark buildings on the steppe.
   388pts
7. 7
   Bishkek

   Kyrgyzstan's leafy Soviet-planned capital, with Ala-Too Square and the Tian Shan rising behind it.
   388pts
8. 8
   Karakol

   Kyrgyz town on Lake Issyk-Kul known for its wooden Holy Trinity Cathedral and as a hiking and ski base.
   0pts
9. 9
   Bukhara

   Uzbek trading city with a walkable old town of domes, minarets and the Kalyan minaret at its heart.
   0pts
10. 10
    Shymkent

    Southern Kazakhstan's big, warm and food-focused city near the Silk Road site of Turkistan.
    0pts

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