Travelling in Kyrgyzstan

The main part of the website consists of descriptions of natural attractions in Kyrgyzstan, with detailed practical information. All descriptions can be found in the “Routes” section. For easier navigation, they are grouped by regions of the country.
The “Around Bishkek” region includes not only locations within the administrative borders of the capital, but also places located at a short distance from it (about an hour’s drive). On each regional page, you will find location cards that include a cover photo, a short description, and the main “parameters” of the place. By clicking the “Learn more” button, you can open a detailed description of the location and the route to it.

The Travel information section contains general information about Kyrgyzstan for travelers. The Site news section features website updates, where you can track which pages have recently been added and what is planned for the near future. The same news is also published on Boosty (in Russian) and Patreon (in English).

The website is still under development. Detailed information will gradually appear over the next few weeks. Check the Site news section regularly or subscribe on Boosty or Patreon to be the first to know about updates.

Each card contains the name, a brief description, and the main parameters of the place:

• Distance from Bishkek — the length of the driving route one way, according to Yandex.Maps (measured from the center of Bishkek, Ala-Too Square).
• Travel time (by car) — based on the same service, excluding traffic jams.
• Difficulty level (by car) — a rating from 1 to 5 showing how challenging the road is for a regular city sedan. The rating refers to the most difficult (usually final) part of the route. 1 — the route runs along paved or good-quality dirt and gravel roads. 5 — the road is at the limit of a sedan’s capabilities; it’s recommended to use an SUV or have a backup plan in case of difficulties.
• Distance from parking — the length of the hiking part of the route one way, according to outdooractive.com / maps.me / openstreetmap.org.
• Travel time (on foot) — based on the same services. Their algorithms take terrain difficulty into account, although the actual time will, of course, depend on travelers’ fitness.
• Elevation gain — the difference in altitude between the start and end points of the route.
• Difficulty level (on foot) — a rating from 1 to 5 showing the hiking difficulty. It takes into account the length, elevation gain, and trail quality. 1 — a short, easy walk along a good trail with little or no ascent. 5 — a long, steep climb requiring good physical fitness.
• Place rating — an “author’s” evaluation of the place’s attractiveness on a 1–10 scale.

If the “hiking” section of the card shows dashes, it means you can drive directly to the location. If a range is shown, it means there are several route options of different lengths. You can learn more by clicking the “Learn more” button.

Very easily! In the detailed location card (opened via the “Learn more” button), there is a “Route in Google Maps” button. It will immediately open the Google Maps website or app and build a route to the start of the hiking trail.

Yes. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Open the location card by clicking “Learn more”
2. Find the embedded route map from alltrails.com
3. Click the route name in the upper-right corner of the map — the route page on alltrails.com will open in a new tab
4. On the left side of the route page, click the … button in the upper-right corner
5. Select Export route file
6. Choose the file format (for example, GPX Track) and click Export (in addition to GPX, many other formats are available)

All locations and routes published on this website have been personally verified by the author. By the way, that’s why the distribution of routes across the country is uneven: I haven’t yet managed to visit all the interesting places in central Kyrgyzstan, and the Osh and Batken regions are not represented at all. I hope that one day this will change.

Everything in the world is subject to change — this applies to both man-made and natural objects, especially in mountainous areas. Rockfalls, landslides, mudflows, floods, earthquakes, and avalanches can unpredictably alter the landscape in a matter of hours. I strive to keep descriptions accurate but cannot guarantee their relevance for every location at any given time. I would be grateful if you report any inaccurate information using the contact details at the bottom of the page.

I urge all travelers to treat nature with care and local residents with respect. Please take your trash with you, don’t make campfires in undesignated areas — and if you do, be sure to extinguish them properly. Don’t break hunting laws, respect the rules, laws, and customs of the country you’re visiting — and it will surely reward you with kindness.

The goal of this project is not to make a profit, but maintaining and developing the website requires certain expenses, so I truly appreciate any financial support. As usual, even a small contribution matters. For user convenience, I’ve set up two ways to support the site:

• Boosty — for holders of Russian bank cards
• Patreon — for holders of Kyrgyz and international bank cards

If you’d like the project to continue and grow, please support it — it really makes a difference. On Boosty, both one-time donations and subscriptions are available. On Patreon, one-time payments aren’t supported, but you can select any subscription tier, make a single payment, and then immediately cancel your subscription.
On both platforms, you can also simply subscribe to project updates — it’s free.