10-Day Grand Afghanistan

Your guide and driver meet you at the airport and take you to the hotel, then out into a city that has been continuously inhabited for more than 3,500 years and sits at 1,800 metres. The afternoon begins at the tiled Sakhi Shrine, continues past the Shah-Do Shamshira Mosque, and slows down in the Kah Faroshi Bird Market, where cages of songbirds line a lane older than most capitals. The last stop is the mausoleum of Timur Shah Durrani, the ruler who made Kabul the Afghan capital in 1776. The altitude is real, so take the first day at an easy pace and drink more water than you think you need.

A morning flight carries you west to Herat, the city that served as the Timurid Empire's 15th-century capital of learning. You cross the old Malan Bridge on the way in, then climb through the restored halls of the Qala Ikhtyaruddin citadel and visit the Herat National Museum inside its walls. The afternoon belongs to the Masjid-i Jami, Herat's Friday Mosque, whose twelve minarets and endless mosaic tilework represent the apex of Timurid decorative art. You end in the vaulted lanes of the Old City bazaar, and overnight at the Sadaf Herat.

The morning is for Gazurgah, the pilgrimage complex around the tomb of Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, Herat's Sufi mystic (1006–1088); the shrine you walk through was completed under the Timurid ruler Shah Rukh in the early 15th century and is still an active place of prayer. Dress modestly and bring a headscarf for the visit. After lunch you fly back to Kabul, and if the light cooperates you close the day on Wazir Akbar Khan Hill with the city spread out below. Overnight in Kabul.

An early departure starts the longest driving day of the route, around seven to eight hours including the Ghazni visit. In Ghazni — capital of the Ghaznavid Empire from 977 to 1186 — you see the two surviving brick minarets, the tomb of Sultan Mahmud, the Soviet-era tanks and aircraft of the Military Open Air Museum, and the citadel above the old town. From there the road swings north-west into the mountains, reaching Bamiyan by evening. Pack the daypack with snacks and a warm layer; dinner comes late on this one.

A full day in the Bamiyan valley, the heartland of the Hazara people. You climb the red-walled fortress of Shahr-e Zuhak and the hilltop ruins of Shahr-e Gholghola, then follow the quieter Buddhist niches of the Kakrak Valley to the great cliff where the 55-metre and 38-metre Buddhas stood until March 2001. The empty niches and the monastic caves honeycombed around them remain one of the most affecting sights in Asia. The day ends with tea in a cave house as guests of a local family.

Today's 4WD excursion runs to Band-e Amir, declared Afghanistan's first national park in 2009 — six lakes stacked behind natural travertine dams at 2,900 metres. You cross Band-e Haibat by boat, visit the lakeside mosque and footprint shrine of Hazrat Ali, and settle into a picnic lunch above water so blue it looks lit from below. At this altitude even easy walking works the lungs, so pace yourself and keep drinking water. You are back in Bamiyan in time for the market and dinner.

You leave at first light for the eight-to-nine-hour drive north to Mazar-i-Sharif. The great pause en route is Takht-i Rustam at Samangan: a Buddhist stupa of the 4th to 5th century CE carved entirely from solid bedrock, ringed by its own rock-cut trench. The nearby cave bazaar makes a good leg-stretch before the descent to the northern plains. You reach Mazar in the evening and check in at the Arsalan Mazar.

The morning starts at the Shrine of Hazrat Ali — the Blue Mosque — whose turquoise-glazed Timurid tilework and courtyards of white pigeons define Mazar-i-Sharif. Then you drive out to ancient Balkh, one of the oldest cities on earth, where Alexander wintered, Rumi was born, and Genghis Khan's army left ruins in 1220. The circuit takes in the Khwaja Abu Nasr Parsa Mosque, the earthen ramparts of the Bala Hisar, and the 9th-century No Gonbad Mosque. Back in the city you visit the Baba Mazari Mausoleum and finish in the bazaar — carry small afghani notes if you plan to shop.

Heading south, you stop at Kholm to walk Bagh-e Jahan Nama, a walled royal pleasure garden, before the long climb into the Hindu Kush. The route crosses the Salang Pass through the Soviet-built tunnel of 1964, which pierces the range at 3,400 metres. All told it is seven to eight hours to Kabul, so treat it as a day of scenery rather than sightseeing. Final overnight in Kabul.

Your last morning gathers up three sites the first day could not fit: 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.