Kyrgyzstan Travel Forum

Has anyone flown NYC to Bishkek round-trip before? Are the cheapest flights really what I'm finding by using Kayak, Expedia, etc. (~$1,700)? Or is there a cheaper way to fly there by getting, say, a ticket to London and then another flight from there (or something similar)? Thanks!

Hi,

Flights and airtickets to Central Asia
The hub for the region is Tashkent, Uzbekistan, which has the most flights to destinations outside Central Asia. Unfortunately the airport also has a reputation for being unpleasant, and it is best to avoid flights which arrive here late at night.

There are also increasingly good options for flights to Almaty, Kazakhstan. You can fly here directly from London, Frankfurt, Beijing, Seoul, Moscow, Riga and various others.

Most Afghans and Pakistanis travel by air to Islamabad or Lahore and go by road to their final destinations.

To arrive in other Central Asia cities will generally require a transfer in one of these hubs.

Overland
From Russia
Trains going to Central Asia leave from Moscow Kazansky station. Trains go to Tashkent (56 hours/US$80), Almaty (78 hours/US$120), Bishkek (75 hours/US$70), Samarkand (85 hours/US$100), and others.

From China
There is a line from Urumqi, China to Almaty, but the bus is quicker. An interesting option is the challenging crossing from Kashgar, China to Kyrgyzstan through the Torugart Pass. This was a major link on the old Silk Road.

From Iran
The border is closed to foreigners, but there are buses running between Mashhad and Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

From Pakistan
Travelling to different areas of Pakistan is quite easy by train, bus or taxi. The route from there into Afghanistan via the Khyber Pass is not currently safe. The Karakoram Highway North into China is challenging but possible. It gets you to Kashgar; from there routes to Central Asia are either difficult (West to Bishkek) or long (swing North to Urumqi and then Almaty).

LOI for Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia etc http://www.travelazerbaijan.land.ru/

By boat
There is an irregular service between Baku, Azerbaijan and Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan.

www.airbaltic.com is the cheapest way into Central Asia. It's possible to connect to any major city (including London) via Riga for Euro 250.

Yes, those are the general costs. When I flew round trip from Almaty, Kazakhstan to Chicago it was $1700, and that was the cheapest I found. To get to Bishkek one way, it cost me over $1000 (Chicago to Poland $400, overland to Kiev, Ukraine, Kiev - Bishkek $800). I wrote up a Kyrgyzstan Flights page with some airlines to check out, too for anyone else that needs help: http://hubpages.com/hub/Kyrgyzstan-Flights