About this Private Tour
Our most complete luxury itinerary — eleven days across the whole Afghan heartland, staying five-star in Kabul (the Serena), Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif, with two unhurried days in Herat and a slow northern day around Mazar and Kholm that group tours never have time for. In Bamiyan, where no five-star exists, you have the valley's best hotel, with a pool and direct views of the Buddha niches.
You fly to Herat and back rather than enduring the two-day desert road, cross to Bamiyan and Band-e Amir overland where the landscape rewards it, continue north to Mazar — and fly home from there. Three flight legs, all charged at pure ticket cost, with your guide on every one of them.
What luxury means with us: security planned end-to-end by our Kabul operations room with routes confirmed daily; a senior guide and professional driver who are yours alone; the newest 4WDs in our fleet; internal flights instead of long roads; and the access that makes Afghanistan unforgettable — tea in a cave family's home in Bamiyan, the tile workshops after hours, a table kept for you at the best restaurant in every city. One phone number, answered day and night.
Day-by-day itinerary
Day 1 — Arrival — Kabul Serena
Airport meet and greet and check-in at the Kabul Serena. A gentle first afternoon: Babur's garden, the Shah-Do Shamshira Mosque and sunset from Wazir Akbar Khan Hill, then dinner at the Serena.
Day 2 — Kabul in depth
The National Museum's Bactrian gold-era treasures, the bird market's covered lanes, Timur Shah's mausoleum and the palaces of Darul Aman. Evening at the best table in the capital.
Day 3 — Fly to Herat — the Friday Mosque
A 90-minute flight replaces two days of desert road. In Herat you start with the Friday Mosque, whose dazzling tile façades are maintained by a workshop that has restored mosaics continuously for over eighty years. The old city's four bazaars and the blue-glass workshops fill the afternoon. Overnight at Herat's five-star hotel.
Day 4 — Herat at leisure — citadel, minarets, Gazar Gah
The extra day standard tours never give Herat. The mighty citadel on Alexander's foundations, the five leaning Musalla minarets of Queen Gawhar Shad's lost university, her mausoleum, and the Sufi shrine at Gazar Gah where pilgrims tie ribbons to the ancient ilex. Time for tea houses and the silk weavers — no rushing.
Day 5 — Fly back — over the Unai Pass to Bamiyan
Morning flight to Kabul, then straight into the mountains: the 3,200-metre Unai Pass and the red ruins of Shahr-e Zuhak announce the Bamiyan valley. Late afternoon before the empty Buddha niches, lit gold at sunset. Overnight at the valley's best hotel, terrace views straight onto the Buddha niches.
Day 6 — Band-e Amir — the blue lakes
A full day at Afghanistan's first national park: six travertine lakes of surreal blue at 2,900 metres, a private boat, a lakeside lunch, and the silence that makes this the country's most loved place.
Day 7 — Bamiyan valley — caves and citadels
Morning among the monastic caves beside the great niches and the Kakrak valley's smaller Buddhas, then the City of Screams — Shahr-e Gholghola, destroyed by Genghis Khan in 1221 — with the whole valley spread below. Afternoon tea with a cave-dwelling family whose people have lived here 700 years.
Day 8 — North through Samangan to Mazar
Overland where the landscape earns it: the Shibar Pass, the gorges of the north, and Takht-e Rostam — the 4th-century Buddhist stupa carved down into the living rock at Samangan. Evening arrival at Mazar's five-star hotel.
Day 9 — The Blue Mosque & ancient Balkh
The Shrine of Hazrat Ali and its turquoise perfection in the morning light, then Balkh — the Mother of Cities: Zoroaster's traditional home, Rumi's birthplace region, the shrine of Khwaja Abu Nasr Parsa and the vast ruined walls. A farewell dinner of the north's famous fish and pilau.
Day 10 — Mazar at leisure — Kholm & the northern bazaars
A day standard tours never allow. In the morning you drive out to Kholm (Tashkurgan), the old caravan town whose covered bazaar and Bagh-e Jahan Nama pavilion once marked the last stage of the Silk Road before the Oxus. Back in Mazar, the afternoon is unhurried: the carpet and chapan dealers around the shrine, green tea on a rooftop overlooking the Blue Mosque, and time to simply watch the doves wheel over the tiles. Farewell dinner at the best table in the north.
Day 11 — Fly back to Kabul — departure
The morning Mazar–Kabul flight has you back in the capital in under an hour, with time at the Serena before your international departure. All three internal flights on this tour are charged at pure ticket cost — no markup, and your guide flies with you.
What's included
Included
- Letter of Invitation for Afghanistan visa (worth $200) — free, within 48 hours of booking
- Kabul Serena (5-star) + best available hotels in Herat, Bamiyan and Mazar, top rooms
- Kabul–Herat return + Mazar–Kabul flights for you AND your guide (at cost, no markup)
- Private 4WD and driver for all overland legs
- Senior English-speaking guide throughout
- All entrance tickets, permits and tourist taxes
- Full board — breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, at the best tables in each city (eat whenever you like — it is all included)
- Airport transfers
Not included
- International flights
- Afghan e-Visa (~$133, paid to the government portal)
- Travel insurance
- Tips
Your hotels
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