About this Private Tour
This private four-day tour starts at the Uzbekistan–Afghanistan land border at Hairatan / Termez — not at Kabul airport. Our team sleeps in Termez the night before and meets you at the border in the morning. Border pickup is included in the tour price.
Day 1 is Mazar-i-Sharif and the ancient city of Balkh. Day 2 you take the main road to Kabul via Kholm and Samangan — not the Bamiyan highland road, and not Band-e Amir. You arrive in Kabul that afternoon or evening. Day 3 is a full day in the capital. Day 4 is the Kushan-era Shewaki Buddhist Stupa, then the airport transfer for an afternoon departure.
Three nights: one at the Arsalan Guest House in Mazar-i-Sharif and two at the Khyber Hotel in Kabul. Land-border entry needs an embassy sticker visa from the Afghan embassy in Tashkent; the Kabul airport e-visa is not valid at Hairatan. Private only, any dates. This is the short Termez–Kabul file. The six-day Termez tour is the one with Bamiyan and the lakes. This is not Ishkashim, the Wakhan, or a Pakistan-border itinerary.
Day-by-day itinerary
Day 1 — Hairatan pickup, Mazar-i-Sharif and Balkh
Our team stays in Termez the night before so they meet you at the Hairatan / Termez land border in the morning. After immigration you drive into Mazar-i-Sharif and start at the Shrine of Hazrat Ali, the Blue Mosque, its 15th-century Timurid tilework alive with white pigeons — women should bring a headscarf for shrine visits. Then it is a 40-kilometre drive to Balkh, the 'Mother of Cities': ancient Bactra, where Alexander the Great wintered in 328 BCE, where Rumi was born, and which Genghis Khan levelled in 1220. You walk the earthen ramparts of the Bala Hisar, see the Khwaja Abu Nasr Parsa Mosque, and stand inside the 9th-century No Gonbad Mosque, one of the oldest surviving mosques in the Islamic world. Back in Mazar the afternoon closes with the city bazaar. The night is spent at the Arsalan Guest House, Mazar-i-Sharif.
Day 2 — Mazar to Kabul via Kholm and Samangan
An early start south and east on the main road toward Kabul — not the highland road to Bamiyan. You stop at Kholm (Tashkurgan) for a short walk through the covered bazaar, the arched market that still serves the town. Then Samangan at Takht-i Rustam — a complete Buddhist stupa of the 4th to 5th century CE carved downwards into solid bedrock rather than built up from it. The nearby Samangan cave bazaar offers a good leg-stretch before the run continues south. You reach Kabul in the afternoon or evening. Overnight at the Khyber Hotel.
Day 3 — Kabul full day
A full day in the capital. The National Museum of Afghanistan — Bactrian gold country, Buddhist Gandhara, Islamic bronzes that survived everything — then the terraces of Babur Garden, resting place of the first Mughal emperor, and finally the Id Gah Mosque. And if the light cooperates you close the day on Wazir Akbar Khan Hill with the city spread out below. Overnight in Kabul.
Day 4 — Shewaki and departure
Breakfast at the hotel, then a last morning in the capital: the Kushan-era Shewaki Buddhist Stupa, the terraced garden of Bagh-e Babur where the Mughal emperor is buried, and the Id Gah Mosque. Then comes the airport transfer for an afternoon departure. Book your outbound flight for 17:00 or later and allow three hours for check-in. Kabul connects daily to Dubai with flydubai, and onwards to Doha, Istanbul and Abu Dhabi with Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines and Air Arabia.
What's included
Included
- Letter of Invitation for Afghanistan visa (worth $200) — free, within 48 hours of booking
- Hairatan / Termez land-border pickup on Day 1 (team in Termez the previous night)
- Hotel and transfer on arrival in Mazar-i-Sharif
- All accommodation in shared twin/double room with private bathroom
- English-speaking Afghan guide throughout
- Private vehicle with driver and fuel
- Breakfast and lunch every day
- All entry tickets and photo permits
- Government taxes and tourist permits
- Two nights at the Khyber Hotel in Kabul after Day 2 arrival from Mazar
- Day 4 Kabul city touring and Kabul airport drop
Not included
- International flights to Termez / Uzbekistan and onward from Kabul
- Afghanistan visa fee
- Travel insurance (required — IATI Travel Insurance covers Afghanistan)
- Dinners
- Personal expenses and gratuities
- Single room supplement — $75 (3-star) / $150 (4-star) per room, whole tour
Your hotels
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