Central Asia

This self-launched version of G Adventures' 14-day Best of Kyrgyzstan & Tajikistan runs the same Bishkek → Song Kul → Karakol → Almaty → Dushanbe → Fann Mountains → Khujand → Tashkent route for roughly a third of the price. Central Asia is one of the easiest regions in the world to do independently on this exact routing: shared taxis and marshrutkas cover every leg, Community Based Tourism (CBT) offices in Kochkor and Karakol book yurtstays and 4x4 transfers directly with the same host families the tour uses, and Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan are visa-free for most nationalities. The one leg worth pre-booking is the Almaty–Dushanbe flight. Costs are approximate per-person estimates at current budget-traveller rates, assuming you pair up to split 4x4 hire and guesthouse twins.

Travel Crew

~£585

A self-launched 11-day route through Tajikistan's Fann Mountains and Uzbekistan's legendary Silk Road cities, following Exodus's "Highlights of Central Asia" itinerary independently. Start in Dushanbe, hike beside Iskandarkul Lake and the Seven Lakes of Marguzor, trek to the terraced village of Voru, then cross into Uzbekistan for Samarkand and Bukhara. Using local guesthouses, homestays, shared taxis and the Afrosiyob high-speed train, you get the same landscapes, Silk Road architecture and artisan encounters for a fraction of the guided-group price. Costs are approximate backpacker/budget-traveller estimates in GBP.

Travel Crew

~£705