Gretchen Stuppy Carlson
Kyrgyzstan had been our list for a few years, I kept coming across incredible pictures of the mountains and roaming horses and felt the yearning to visit a place that still felt wild. And this country did not disappoint, in fact, we would love to go back and spend even more time in Kyrgzystan, there is truly so much to do. After exhaustive research, we settled on this 10 Day Kyrgyzstan Itinerary and we loved every minute.
In this article, I’ll share the highlights, where we stayed, what we did and give you some ideas we considered for lengthening this 10 day itinerary in Kyrgyzstan or shortening it. Note that we did a lot of hiking on this itinerary, although you can easily do a similar itinerary with less hiking.
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Quick Look at our 10 Day Itinerary to Kyrgyzstan
- Day 1: Ala Archa National Park
- Day 2: Drive to Song Kul Lake (Stop at Konorchek Canyons).
- Day 3: Song Kul Lake
- Day 4: Drive to Issyk Kul, Kan’ony Aksay spend the night near the lake
- Day 5: Explore Fairytale (Skazka Canyon) Drive to Karakol
- Day 6: Ala Kul Trek
- Day 7: Ala Kul Trek
- Day 8 Ala Kul Trek
- Day 9 Complete Ala Kul Trek and spend the night in Karakol
- Day 10 Head back to Bishkek or ony our way to Kahzakstan
This itinerary starts right on day one so you will either want to arrive to Bishkek the day before or as we did, arrive that morning and get right to hiking. At the end of the itinerary, you can make the drive directly back to Bishkek or continue on to Kahzakstan.
You can also do this entire itinerary in the reverse order, however, it’s helpful to acclimatize before you hike to the ridge above Ala Kul , and this itinerary gives you a few days to do this. Before this trip, we did a recent hike at altitude up a volcano in Guatemala and appreciated the impacts of altitude (both Finley and myself got some altitude sickness).
How to Adjust This Itinerary (Lengthen or Shorten)
After resarching this trip, I ultimately landed on a 10 day itinerary based on what we wanted to see and how much time we had. If you had more time, there are a number of other things we considered for lengthening the 10 day Kyrgystan itinerary.
Lengthening the Itinerary
1. An extra day or two at Song Kul
If we had one more day, I would consider adding a horse trek to your time at Song Kul Lake. There are many 3 day tours that trek on horseback to Song Kul and then spend a day at the lake. You can find lots of tours online – this is the one we considered.
Instead of doing the trek we decided to do a ride during our time at the camp.
2. Kel-Suu Lake + Tash Rabat (3–4 days)
If you have more time, this is the add I’d make first. Kel-Suu is one of the most striking, least-visited alpine lakes in the country and the photos are stunning, and Tash Rabat, a 15th-century Silk Road caravanserai, is a completely different kind of stop than anything else on this itinerary. It branches off near Naryn, so it would slot in between Song Kul and Issyk Kul. This stop is complicated both in terms of the time to get there as well as getting a border permit.
3. Jyrgalan Valley (near Karakol)
An alternative or addition to the Ala Kul trek: less crowded, same region, and good for multi-day trekking. Since this itinerary is already trek-heavy, think of this as the “we wanted even more mountain time” option rather than a detour. You could add this on or do it instead.
4. Chon Kemin Valley on the way back to Bishkek
This one’s an easy add. It sits right on the return route from Issyk Kul to Bishkek, so there’s a green valley, a waterfall, and some short hikes waiting for you without much extra driving.
Shortening the Itinerary
If you don’t have 10 full days, there are a few things you can do. The first is to do the Ala Kul Trek in just 3 days. This is doable, expecially if you get a car ride down and don’t stay at Altyn Arashan. You could also do a long day of driving from Song Kul to Karakol and cut out a day there. I don’t recommend skipping Ala Archa or doing less time at Song Kul Lake.
Best Time to Go / When We Went
Several of the hikes and activities on this itinerary are in the mountains at high altitude. These areas are often inaccessible during the winter months and even during the summer, serious rains can cause closures. Many of the roads and bridges flooded just a week after our trip.
The best season for this itinerary is the very end of June – early Sept. We started our itinerary on June 28 and still had cold weather and even a little snow.
Getting There & Around
The only place to really start your trip in Kyrgyzstan is in Bishkek. If you plan to visit Kahzakstan, you can also fly to Almaty. Many airlines fly to both these airports. Once you land you have 3 options for getting around Kyrgyzstan:
- Join a Tour. This is a completely reasonable way to explore the country. There are several tours that include multi-day treks like Ala Kul and you can often tailor a trip to what you are looking for. Start your search on Viator.
- Rent a car. If doing your own trip is more your thing, you can also rent a car. We rented a car out of Almaty from Iron Horse Nomads. It is very common to have rental car issues in this country, partly due to the age of the rentals and partly to the condition of the roads. Check with your rental company that you can take your car where you plan to go. Many rentals don’t allow their cars to go to certain areas, although the road from Bishkek to Karakol is generally fine, but up to Song Kul is not always permitted.
- Get a ride. You absolutely do not need to rent a car to travel independently in Kyrgyzstan. Shared minibuses called marshrutkas connect many of the major towns and are inexpensive, although they aren’t necessarily the fastest or most comfortable way to travel. Shared and private taxis are another option.
This can actually be a great middle ground between joining a tour and renting a car. You still get to plan your own itinerary, choose your own accommodations and travel independently, but you don’t have to navigate mountain roads or worry about the car.
Altitude & Acclimatization
This itinerary includes some hiking at altitude, specifically visiting Song Kul and hiking to Ala Kul. This is why the itinerary is in this order as spending a few days at altitude before the big trek helps with acclimatization. We were still out of breath on the ascent so just be prepared for things to take longer.
Special Travel Considerations
There are a few specific travel considerations to mention. The first is whether Kyrgzystan is a good trip with kids. The answer is yes…but it’s best for kids who have already travelled: drives can be long and uncertain, and the hiking here is hard. We felt incredibly safe during our visit to Kyrgyzstan but my kids have travelled to well over 30 countries.
What about traveling solo? We were obviously there as a family, but I would feel safe here as a solo traveller as well. I would recommend a tour though as some of the logistics are better when there are a few people.
Day-by-Day Itinerary
Below I’m sharing the details of our itinerary.
Day 1: Ala Archa National Park
We arrived in Bishkek around 5 am (after 2 long days of travel), and were met with our car from Iron Horse Nomads. This was an easy trade off and we were on our way within an hour of landing at the airport. Like many airports, arrival here can be overwelming without a plan and a lot of people are offering to give you rides.
We headed straight into Bishkek to grab some breakfast and coffee before heading to Ala Archa National Park. Our goal was to stay awake as long as we could and to do this hiking seemed logical.
The drive is less than an hour and there is a large parking lot you can pay to park in. From here, you purchase tickets in the main building to enter the park and you can take a shuttle up to the end of the road. You’ll find a series of places to eat and a growing number of places to stay up in the park. We did the Ala Archa River Hike which starts on a paved gentle path and slowly becomes a dirt road and eventually a dirt trail. The trail follows the river with a few bridges and some elevation gain. The further up the valley you get the more stunning the scenery. This is truly a beautiful trail and becomes less crowded as you hike. It was the perfect intoduction to the country. Overall we did about 8 miles.
See my complete guide to Ala Archa National Park.
After grabbing some lunch back at the start of the hike, we continued driving east and stopped to stay at the Alay Guest House. This is a great stay on the way to Song Kul and we got a great night of sleep and one of our bets breakfasts of the trip!
Day 2: Drive to Song Kul (Konorchek Canyons stop)
As soon as we finished breakfast, we headed towards Song Kul. This is a few hour drive and you will climb up into the mountains. To break up the drive we made a short stop at Konorchek Canyon which is directly on the road to Song Kul.
Drive up into the canyon and stop when the car can’t make it any further and walk from there. This canyon isn’t so pretty as Fairytale Canyon, but is a great stop along the way.
10 Day Kyrgyzstan Itinerary: Konorchek Stop
Our rental car was not so sure about this and we were already a little worries by the time we go to Kochkor where we stopped for some food and to get money from an ATM.
From here, the road continues uphill towards Song Kul and eventually follows a series of dirt road switch backs. Our rental car was not happy and eventually started to overheat of the way up. Eventually we pulled over and within 5 minutes we had several cars pulled over trying to help. It was such an amazing outpouring of help. While we let the car cool off and added some fluids, one of the cars offered Freja and I a ride to our yurt camp. Eventually the car made it but it was just the start of our car woes.
Reaching Song Kul Lake is amazing. The lake view is unlike anything we had ever experienced. The lake is large (you can almost not see across it) and is ringed by mountains and dotted by yurt camps and horses. The view is truly incredible. We stayed along the southern part of the lake at Yurt Camp Rima and had a fantastic time (you can see my guide to Song Kul).
Day 3: Song Kul
We had two nights at Song Kul. Yurt Camp Rita has about 10 yurts, a clean bathroom, and delicious meals. The best part about Song Kul is that you can spend your time being active of just relaxing. We asked out yurt camp to organize a 2 hour horseback ride for all 5 of us (for under $100), we took a few mile hike up into the mountains and we enjoyed sunset strolls along the shoreline.
It was magical and I highly recommend the lake and camp.
Day 4: Drive to Issyk Kul / Aksay Canyon
With our fingers crossed we left Song Kul and descended to Kochkor where we made a brief stop for someone to fix the car. He did for about $10 but turns out the fix would only last a day or so.
Our next stop was at Feel Nomad Yurt Camp on the Southern Shore of Issky Kul. This yurt camp is nestled in a canyon near the village of Ak Sai. In order to reach the camp, you need to drive down a wash in the canyon. We arrived just after a rain storm and the drive was an adventure. We were basically driving down a river.
When we did arrive at the yurt camp, we had a great night, delicious dinner and gorgoues views of the lake.
Day 5: Skazka (Fairytale) Canyon → Karakol
Day 5 started with a drive back out of the canyon which had dried out and was completely different and easier to navigate. We returned to the main road and continued east towards Karakol. This road was under major construction but when it’s complete will be a fast way to get along this part of the lake. We made a stop along the way at Skazka Canyon or Fairytale Canyon.
This is another stop that is directly off the main road and should not be missed. It doesn’t look like much from the road, but after just a few minutes of driving, the view opens up into a gorgeous canyon. You’ll find a series of trails at the canyon. Plan to spend at least 1 hour here exploring the canyon.
After exploring, head to Karakol in time to stop at the rental shop and Destination Karakol if needed before they close for the day.
We spent the night at the Caravan Hotel.
Days 6–9: Ala Kul Trek
Day 6-9 we did the 4 day trek to Ala Kul Lake. We had rain rolling in so got an early start on our hike and organized leaving our car at the hotel. The hikes climbs up to Ala Kul, a high alpine lake with indredible mountain views before ascending to nearly 13,000 feet and eventually descending to Altyn Arashan. Along the way we stayed in yurt camps booked directly online of through Destination Karakol.
You can see all the details to help you plan this part of the itinerary in our Guide to a Alak Kul (Ala Kol) Trek.
If you don’t want to do the full trek, it’s possible to take horses up or to do this tour with a guide.
Sirota Yurt Camp Ala Kul
Day 10: Bishkek or onward to Kazakhstan
We returned on day 10 back to Karakol and continued our drive on into Kazakhstan. If you are just visiting Kyrgyzstan, you can return back to Bishkek along either north or south part of the lake.
Map of our our Itinerary to Kyrgyzstan
What to Pack for This Itinerary
Temperatures on this trip range from hot days in Bishkek to cold and snow in the mountains. You should plan to pack lots of layers and warm clothes.
- Warm layers for camp (nighttime temps drop well below what the daytime warmth suggests) We brought fleeces and puffy jackets. Also bring rain coats and pants for warmth.
- A sleeping bag liner. The yurts have sleeping bags, a liner keeps it clean and even warmer.
- Waterproof, broken-in hiking boots: the descent off the pass is loose scree and sometimes wet
- Trekking poles (genuinely useful on the descent) We rented these in Karakol
- Sun protection: the UV at this altitude is intense even on cool days
- Water purification, since most of your water will come straight from mountain streams
- Plenty of non-cotton layers.
Hiking in Kyrgyzstan
Practical Tips
Tourism is changing rapidly in the country, but there are a few things that are helpful to know.
Cash – cash is still the most accepted way to pay although we found many places accepting cards even outside Bishkek and there are many more ATM’s then just a few years ago. This is true in yurt camps especially but also just grocery stores and restraurants.
Cell Service and Wifi – Everywhere we stayed had Wifi including remote mountain yurt camps, so even if cell serive was somewhat limited, we got good connection every night.
Language – we found English spoken in many places otherwise it was Russian or Kyrgyz.
Maps – we recommend downloading maps including maps.me. In general, Yandex maps are much better than google maps.
FAQ
Is 10 days enough for Kyrgyzstan?
Yes, 10 days is enough to see some of the highlights of Kyrgyzstan, especially if you focus on one part of the country. Our 10-day itinerary included Ala Archa National Park, Song Kul Lake, Issyk Kul, Skazka Canyon, Karakol and the four-day Ala Kul trek.
That said, we could easily have spent two weeks or longer in Kyrgyzstan. With more time, I would add Kel-Suu and Tash Rabat, spend another day at Song Kul, or explore Jyrgalan Valley.
What is the best 10-day Kyrgyzstan itinerary?
For an active trip with plenty of hiking, I recommend traveling from Bishkek to Ala Archa National Park, Song Kul Lake, the southern shore of Issyk Kul and Karakol before finishing with the Ala Kul trek.
Our route was:
Bishkek → Ala Archa → Song Kul → Issyk Kul → Skazka Canyon → Karakol → Ala Kul → Karakol → Bishkek or Kazakhstan
I particularly liked doing the trip in this order because it gave us several days at increasing elevations before hiking over the high pass above Ala Kul.
Can you travel around Kyrgyzstan without a tour?
Yes. You absolutely do not need to join a tour to travel around Kyrgyzstan. We traveled independently and planned our own accommodations, hikes and activities.
You can rent a car as we did, or travel between many of the main destinations using marshrutkas, shared taxis and private drivers. You can also arrange transportation for specific portions of your trip without booking an organized tour.
Is Kyrgyzstan expensive to travel?
We found Kyrgyzstan relatively affordable once we were there, especially compared with many of the other places we’ve traveled.
Some of our activities were surprisingly inexpensive. For example, our yurt camp at Song Kul arranged a two-hour horseback ride for all five of us for under $100, and one of our car repairs cost about $10. Your total cost will depend heavily on how you travel. Renting a car, hiring private drivers and taking guided tours will obviously increase your budget compared with using shared transportation.
Do you need to book yurt camps in advance in Kyrgyzstan?
We booked some of our yurt stays ahead of time, including the camps we used during our Ala Kul trek. I would recommend making reservations in advance for places that are important to your itinerary, especially when you’re traveling during the main summer season.
Some yurt camps can also help arrange activities once you arrive. At Song Kul, for example, our camp organized our horseback ride after we got there.
Can you combine Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in one trip?
Yes, and this is exactly what we did. We rented our car in Almaty, Kazakhstan, drove into Kyrgyzstan and continued back into Kazakhstan after finishing our trip.
This can work particularly well if you’re planning a longer Central Asia trip. You can fly into Almaty or Bishkek and build an itinerary that includes both countries. Just make sure your rental company specifically allows you to cross the international border with your vehicle.
