Bamyan and Band-e-Amir: how to get there, when to go and what to expect

Photo: Wasim Mirzaie

Getting there from Kabul

There are two main roads to Bamyan, and each crosses a pass.

• The Shibar road (north). It goes through Charikar and over the Shibar pass, at about 3,000 metres. It is about 237 km and takes some six and a half hours (Wikipedia).
• The Hajigak road (south). It goes by Maidan Shar and crosses the Unai pass and the Hajigak pass. It is shorter, but higher and harder. Wikipedia calls it extremely dangerous because of ice, and says avalanches and heavy snow can block it.

Both close in heavy snow, sometimes for a day or more. For dates and how to check, read winter roads and passes and the roads tool.

Wikivoyage lists shared minivans from Kabul and flights to Bamyan airport, but it does not date them, and I found no current schedule or fare I could confirm. Ask at the Kabul car park, or check the airlines' own booking sites, before you plan around either. There is a list of flights at /en/tools/flights/.

When to go

Bamyan town is at about 2,550 metres. In July the average high is about 26 °C and the average low about 10 °C. From December to February the average high is between 1 °C and 5 °C and the average low is below −6 °C, with 5 to 7 snowy days a month in January and February (Wikipedia's climate table). Band-e-Amir is higher still, at about 2,900 metres. Wikipedia says it is best in late spring and summer, and that in winter it reaches about −20 °C and the lakes freeze over.

Check the weather page a few days before you go.

What to see

Photo: Ali Azad

• The Buddha niches. The two great Buddhas, 55 m and 38 m tall, were carved into the cliff in about the 6th century and destroyed in March 2001. The empty niches remain, and visitors can still walk through the monks' caves around them. The valley was listed by UNESCO in 2003 and is on its list of World Heritage in Danger.
• Shahr-e Gholghola, the ruined "City of Sighs" on a hill in the valley, said by Wikipedia to have been destroyed in 1221.
• Band-e-Amir. Six lakes in a chain: Gholaman, Qambar, Haibat, Panir, Pudina and Zulfiqar. Haibat is the largest. The walls between them are travertine, built over centuries by mineral water. It was Afghanistan's first national park, in 2009.

Photo: Mahdi Ansel

The road to the lakes, entry and who can go

• The last 16 km. The road from the highway to the lakes was reported unpaved and uncomfortable in April 2022 (8am.media), and I found no later report that it had been paved. Allow extra time.
• Distance. The park is about 75 km from Bamyan town. Wikivoyage's undated page gives about 3 hours by private minivan, for roughly 2,000 to 3,000 afghanis, and suggests staying a night if you have time. Treat those figures as old and bargain.
• Tickets. Wikivoyage said in February 2016 that the Buddha site ticket was 300 afghanis and also covered Shahr-e Zohak and Gholghola. No current fee for either site is published anywhere I could open, so ask at the gate.
• Women. In August 2023 the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice closed Band-e-Amir to women (Dawn, 29 August 2023), and I found no later report that this has changed. Ask locally if a woman in your party plans to go.
• Crowds. Eid and public holidays are the busiest days. Officials said 197,352 domestic visitors came to Bamyan province in the Eid holidays of June 2025, and 25,691 vehicles were counted at its entrance (Omid Radio).

Landmines and unexploded ordnance remain around Bamyan, and Wikivoyage advises staying on well-used paths. Wikivoyage says rocks painted white mark cleared paths, and rocks painted red do not.

For hotels, Wikivoyage's list is undated and partly marked dead, so I do not repeat it. Ask your driver or a family in Bamyan, and confirm the price before you hand over any money.

More about the province is at Bamyan, and the visitor's guide has the basics for anyone travelling from abroad.