Tajikistan itineraries: 1 week, 2 weeks and 3 weeks

Length is set by your visa and by the season, not by ambition. Most nationalities get a Tajik e-visa valid for 60 days, and a separate GBAO permit is required for the Pamir and Wakhan — apply for both online before you fly (check current rules for your passport).

The Fann Mountains and the Pamir Highway are summer routes. Snow closes high passes from roughly October to May, so a 14- or 21-day Pamir plan only works from about June to September. Dushanbe, Khujand and Penjikent run year-round, with spring and autumn the most comfortable.

Fly into Dushanbe and give it two nights: the Museum of Antiquities for the reclining Buddha, Rudaki Park, and the bazaars and teahouses around Rudaki Avenue. This is also where you buy the GBAO permit if you are continuing, and where you sort a car or shared taxi.

Then head north into the Fann. Iskanderkul is the easy first stop — a lake with a guesthouse, roughly half a day's drive from the capital. Haft Kul (the Seven Lakes) near Penjikent is the second, and sleeping at the lakes beats doing it as a day trip. Finish with a night in Penjikent for the Sogdian ruins and Sarazm, then either cross to Samarkand in Uzbekistan or drive back to Dushanbe.

This route is the safest first trip: no high passes, no permit beyond GBAO if you skip the Pamir, and short transfers between stops.

The classic 14-day run goes Dushanbe → Kalaikhum → Khorog → Wakhan → Murghab → Karakul → Kyzyl-Art → Osh. You need the GBAO permit, and you should check your own government's travel advice for the GBAO region before booking — several advise against parts of it.

Dushanbe to Khorog is a long, rough day along the Panj river; break it at Kalaikhum. Khorog is the Pamir hub and worth two nights, then three in the Wakhan for Yamchun Fortress, the hot springs and the Hindu Kush views. Allow at least six days from Khorog to Murghab if you go via the Wakhan. Murghab sits at 3,600 m, so build in an acclimatisation night before Karakul.

The route ends in Osh, Kyrgyzstan, if the Kyzyl-Art pass is open to foreigners — confirm this before you commit, as it has closed at times. Otherwise return to Dushanbe or fly out of Khorog.

With 21 days you can do the Pamir properly and still see the north, or slow the whole trip down. The strongest additions are a four-night Fann trek between Alauddin and Kulikalon lakes, and a northern loop through Istaravshan and Khujand, exiting to Tashkent via Oybek.

If the Pamir is the point, spend the extra week on the Wakhan and Bartang valleys rather than adding distance. More nights at altitude, not more kilometres, is what makes a three-week Pamir trip work.

Distances look short on the map and take far longer on the ground. Shared 4WD seats and marshrutkas are the cheap way between towns; a private car with driver is the flexible way, and the main cost of a Pamir trip. Guesthouses and homestays are the norm outside Dushanbe and Khujand.

Carry cash. Cards work in some Dushanbe and Khujand hotels and ATMs, but the Pamir runs on somoni in hand. Altitude is the other thing to plan for: Murghab and Karakul are above 3,600 m, so ascend gradually and take the spare day.