Travel to Tajikistan often equates “doing the Pamir Highway” or “trekking in the Fann mountains“. Although those are both excellent ideas, we would like to offer up some more suggestions to expand the range of ideas.
What’s great about Tajikistan is how every area – the north, the south, the Pamirs – blends together natural beauty, village life and historic sights. That makes the task of separating out specific “things to see and do” difficult, as it is really all about being in a place and peeling back the many layers one by one, as you stay longer.
But here are some suggestions, anyway.
Table of Contents
Outdoor activities, fauna & flora

- Trek the Fann mountains or one of the other major trekking areas of Tajikistan
- Go wildlife spotting to see markhors, Marco Polo sheep, snow leopards and more
- Explore the Pamir plateau by camel
- Raft some really wild white waters
- Smell the flowers at the highest botanical garden in the world in Khorog
- Admire the beauty of the Pamirs’ endemic butterflies, plants and flowers
- Traverse the Fedchenko glacier, the largest glacier outside the polar regions
- Climb a 7000m+ mountain
- Ski at a ski resort, or go ski touring to make first descents
- Cycle the whole Bartang valley all the way until Karakul
- Find dinosaur footprints in Shirkent National Park
Village life & folk culture

- Admire intricate woodcarving around the country and seek out craftsmen at work in a traditional workshop in Isfara
- Eat a pomegranate straight from the tree in Southern Tajikistan
- Attend a game of buzkashi
- Watch the horse games at the At Chabysh festival in Murghab
- Don’t settle for yeasty wheat non! Switch your daily plov for a lunch of qurutob, drink yak milk and eat amazing Pamiri dishes like apricot soup
- Immerse yourself in Pamiri traditions: learn about Pamiri music and houses
Historical sights

- Track down the remains of Buddhism: at the stupa in Vrang or in front of the large reclining Buddha in Dushanbe
- Check out the ancient fortresses of the Pamir Highway
- Search out reminders of Tajikistan’s civil war, or try to broach the subject with locals
- Trace the demise of the Sogdian empire: visit ancient Panjakent and see the frescoes in the museum, or search for the ruined fortresses of Dewashtich
- Admire the continuity of faith at 1000-year-old Sufi mausoleums in Faizabad, Mazor-i Sharif, Chorku or Kulob
- Go back 5000 years at the archaeological site of Sarazm
- Take a day trip to the Palace of Arbob and learn about the founding of Tajikistan and Soviet collective farms (or see one of the largest Lenins in the world instead).
City life

- Visit bazaars everywhere, from Khujand to the Afghan border
- Enjoy Soviet architecture and mosaics in Dushanbe before they disappear
- Learn about Ismaili religion at the Ismaili center
Relaxation

- Book treatments at the Soviet-era Khoja Obi Gharm sanatorium
- Have tea in a tea house and talk to the men
- Jump in the hot springs of Garm Chashma or Bibi Fatima