Afghanistan in 3 to 20 days
The empty niches of the Bamyan Buddhas, the blue lakes of Band-e Amir, the white pigeons of Mazar, the tiles of Herat and a minaret alone in a gorge: Afghanistan a day at a time, from a long weekend to three weeks. Choose how long you have.
The route
- Kabul1 day
- Bamyan3 days
- Mazar-i-Sharif2 days
- Herat3 days
- Kabul1 day
Day-to-day spending, before hotels~49,000 AFN (755 USD)
Photo: Suliman Sallehi
- Morning Travel permits at Afghan Tour1,000 AFN
On Shash Darak Road; list every province you will visit. Allow half a day; closed on Fridays.
- Afternoon Babur's Garden350 AFN
The Mughal emperor's terraced garden above the city.
Sleep Kabul: guest houses 800 to 2,000 afghanis, mid-range hotels from 3,000.
Photo: Naqibullah Khaliqi
By road: Via Maidan Shahr and the Unai and Hajigak passes; in winter, the Shibar road to the north.
- Evening Bamyan bazaar
A walk in the bazaar facing the cliff of the Buddhas.
Sleep Bamyan: guest houses and small hotels in town.
Photo: Ali Azad
- Morning The Buddha niches500 AFN
Two empty niches in the cliff and monks' caves with fragments of painting. One ticket covers several sites.
- Afternoon Shahr-e Gholghola
The ruins of a city destroyed in 1221, with the whole valley below.
- Evening Dragon Valley
A split ridge that legend says is a slain dragon.
Eat Palaw and aush noodle soup in the bazaar.
Sleep Bamyan: guest houses and small hotels in town.
Photo: Mahdi Ansel
By road: Via Yakawlang; the park has its own permit.
- All day Band-e Haibat and the six lakes250 AFN
Walk the rims of the dams, take a pedal boat and drink tea by the water. Afghan women have been barred since 2023; foreign women are sometimes turned back.
Sleep Bamyan: guest houses and small hotels in town.
Photo: AhmadElhan · CC BY-SA 4.0
By road: Via Shibar and Doshi, stopping at Aybak.
Sleep Mazar-i-Sharif: hotels near the shrine.
Photo: Qasim Mirzaie
- Morning The Blue Mosque350 AFN
The tiled courtyard and its white pigeons. Non-Muslims do not go inside the shrine; women have at times been refused.
- Afternoon Old Balkh
The walls of the Bala Hissar, the ninth-century Noh Gonbad mosque and the Green Mosque of Khwaja Parsa. Get the Balkh permit in Mazar.
- Evening Buzkashi (in winter)
Fridays from November to mid-March.
Eat Kebab and bolani in Mazar's bazaar.
Sleep Mazar-i-Sharif: hotels near the shrine.
Photo: Artacoana · Public domain
By air: There is no direct flight from Mazar: change in Kabul (Kabul to Herat about 6,650 afghanis).
- Afternoon The Citadel of Herat500 AFN
A fortress of round towers said to date back to Alexander, with a museum.
Sleep Herat: hotels in Shahr-e Naw or near the citadel.
Photo: Mehdi Khoshnejad
- Morning The Great Mosque
The blue tilework, and the tile workshop behind it. Non-Muslims outside prayer times.
- Afternoon The Musalla minarets and Gowhar Shad
Leaning minarets and the tomb of Queen Gowhar Shad. Free to see.
Sleep Herat: hotels in Shahr-e Naw or near the citadel.
Photo: Marius Arnesen · CC BY-SA 2.0
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- Morning Gazargah
The shrine of an 11th-century poet and mystic on a hill east of Herat.
- Afternoon The bazaar and the glassblowers
Herat's blue glass, old caravanserais and silk shops.
- Evening Pul-e Malan
The old bridge over the Hari Rud south of the city.
Sleep Herat: hotels in Shahr-e Naw or near the citadel.
Photo: Mohammad Amiri
By air: About ten flights a week.
Sleep Kabul: guest houses 800 to 2,000 afghanis, mid-range hotels from 3,000.
Before you go
Permits
Foreign visitors need a travel permit naming every province they stay in. Since September 2025 it is issued in Kabul by Afghan Tour, the state tourism office on Shash Darak Road, and is reported at 1,000 afghanis a province; allow half a day. Register again at the information and culture office in each province. Band-e Amir and Balkh have their own permits, and Kandahar asks for a local one. Reports say a guide is now required.
Getting around
Every domestic flight goes through Kabul: there is no flight from Mazar to Herat, so link them through Kabul. Kabul to Herat is about ten flights a week, Kabul to Mazar about seven, and Kabul to Kandahar twice a week. Bamyan and Jam are reached only by road. See today's flights, the roads and passes and getting around.
Safety
Every Western government advises against travel to Afghanistan in 2026. Read the safety advice, go with a local guide or operator, travel by day, and never photograph checkpoints, soldiers or officials. Pakistan struck Kandahar, Paktia and Khost in September 2026; no tour goes to the eastern border provinces. Ask about Kandahar, Panjshir and the Jam road the week you go.
Women
Afghan women have been barred from Band-e Amir since 2023 and, since June 2026, turned back from Panjshir. Foreign women are usually allowed in but are sometimes refused at Band-e Amir and the Blue Mosque. Some operators run women-only tours with women guides.
Money
- Group tours cost about US$200 to 350 a day, everything included.
- On your own: a local meal 200 to 300 afghanis, a car with a driver 2,000 to 4,000 a day, a guide about US$30 to 50.
- Bring clean US dollars and change them at a sarraf: see today's rate.
The daily costs above are for fees, food, transport and flights, not hotels.
When to go
April to June and September to November. Jam is best in September and October; Band-e Amir is cold from November. Buzkashi is played on Fridays in Mazar from November to mid-March. See the weather and the visa you need, and for one city in depth, Kabul in 3, 5 or 7 days.
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