Romantic Kyrgyzstan in 9 days: a private yurt and a quiet lake
This is not a country of infinity pools and rose petals, and any itinerary that pretends otherwise is selling you something that does not exist here. What Kyrgyzstan has for two people is better than that and much rarer: a lake shore with nobody on it, a private yurt on a pasture at 10,000 feet with
- Duration
- 9 days
- Pace
- Relaxed
- Hotel changes
- 3
- Best months
- Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep
- From
- $2,565 per person
Nine days, three bases, three moves. The slowest itinerary in our Kyrgyzstan library and deliberately so.
Who it suits: couples, honeymooners and anybody who would rather have four nights in two places than nine nights in six.
Your specialist: Osnat Angerman or Paz Prosianoy, our Southeast and Central Asia specialists, working with our long-standing partner in Bishkek.
The season. Roughly June to September and nothing outside it. The passes into Song-Kul close and the yurt camps come down, so the dates decide whether this itinerary exists at all.
What we will not pretend. The yurt at Song-Kul is private, which means the two of you have it to yourselves with proper bedding and a stove lit for you. It does not mean a bathroom. The toilet is still an outdoor long-drop shared with the camp, there is still no shower, and it is still below freezing at four in the morning. That is the trade, and for the right couple it is the best night of the trip. For a couple who would rather not, we say so on the call and build the alternative.
Day by day
Day 1: Arrive Bishkek. Late-night arrival, forty minutes to the city, and the best room in the best small hotel Bishkek has. Nothing scheduled on day one beyond a late breakfast.
Day 2: Bishkek, slowly. A morning in the Osh bazaar with a guide who is good company rather than an information service, lunch somewhere in the tree shade, and the afternoon free. Dinner at the one restaurant in the capital worth planning around, booked by our partner.
Day 3: Bishkek to the south shore of Issyk-Kul. Five hours east, with Burana tower and its field of stone figures on the way and a long lunch at the lake. Arrive the south shore in the afternoon: the quiet side, with the snow line of the Terskey Ala-Too behind the water and a fraction of the north shore’s summer traffic. Three nights in one room.
Day 4: Issyk-Kul, the Skazka canyon and the lake. Red rock formations on the shore, which are at their best in the hour before sunset and empty at seven in the morning, so we do them early and leave the day free. Swimming from mid-July, at around 68°F (20°C) in August. A private boat on the lake in the late afternoon if you want it.
Day 5: Barskoon, or nothing. The Barskoon gorge is an hour away: waterfalls, spruce forest, a picnic set up by our partner at the top of the valley where the road stops. Or a day at the hotel, which is a legitimate choice and one we recommend at least once on a nine-day trip.
Day 6: Issyk-Kul to Song-Kul. Five to six hours west and up, the last stretch on gravel switchbacks over a pass at around 11,300 feet (3,450 m). Arrive mid-afternoon at the camp we use on the quiet northern shore of the lake, which takes fewer guests than the ones near the road. A ride out along the water in the late afternoon, dinner in the family yurt, and then your own yurt with the stove lit. Two nights at about 10,000 feet (3,000 m).
Day 7: Song-Kul. Nothing planned. Walk, ride, sit. Watch the herds move and the milking. There is no signal, no electricity beyond a solar lamp, and no other plan. Second night in the private yurt.
Day 8: Song-Kul to Bishkek. Six hours down and north through the Kyzart valley, arriving in the city late afternoon. A hotel with a very good bathroom, which after two nights on the jailoo you will appreciate more than usual, and a final dinner.
Day 9: Departure. Transfer to Manas airport.
What is included
Accommodation throughout, the best rooms available at each property, a private yurt with proper bedding and a lit stove for both Song-Kul nights, breakfast daily and full board at Song-Kul, a private vehicle and driver for the whole route, an English-speaking guide on the days you want one and not on the days you do not, the private lake boat, the Barskoon picnic, horse hire at Song-Kul, all entries, airport transfers, a day-by-day document with real drive hours, and a WhatsApp group with your specialist and our Bishkek partner where there is a signal.
What we would change, and when
- Would rather not sleep at 10,000 feet? We move the pasture nights to Kyrchyn at 7,200 feet (2,200 m), or make Song-Kul a long day trip from Kochkor and put both nights in a good guesthouse.
- Travelling in June? The lake is too cold to swim and the pass into Song-Kul may still be snowed. We weight the days towards the gorges and confirm the pass a fortnight out.
- Want a second mountain range? Add three days for Tash Rabat, sleeping in the yurts beside the caravanserai, which is the most atmospheric night in the country.
- Celebrating something? Tell us. A yurt on its own away from the camp, a table set outside at sunset and a musician from the village are all arrangeable, and none of them is a package.
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