Mary & Merv Silk Road add-on adventure (including pre tour night in Ashgabat)
Turkmenistan
From
- Overview
- Itinerary
- Esential info
- Packing list
Entry Level
Cultural
Transfers
3 Nights
2 - 12
Group size
Leaders
Highlights
- Guided tour of Ashgabat Museum
- Discovery Mary & The Regional Mary Museum
- Explore Ancient Merv - UNESCO World Heritage Site
- The Great Kyz Kala, the ruined fortress
Continue your Central Asian adventure along the Silk Road in spectacular Mary and Merv!
This journey into Turkmenistan offers a thoughtful introduction to a country that few travellers experience with depth. Beginning in Ashgabat, you’ll have time to settle in after your arrival before meeting your guide and exploring the city’s museums, where artefacts from ancient settlements such as Merv and Nisa provide context for the days ahead.
Leaving the capital, the journey continues east by road to Mary, with stops in rural villages along the way. Travel here isn’t always polished, but that’s part of what makes it meaningful. With your guide alongside you, navigating language and logistics becomes far easier, allowing you to focus on the experience itself.
In Mary, a visit to the regional museum deepens your understanding of the area’s long history, from Bronze Age civilisations to more recent cultural traditions. The following day is dedicated to exploring Merv, one of Central Asia’s most significant archaeological sites. Spread across a vast landscape, Merv reveals layers of history through its ancient, medieval and later settlements. You’ll walk through the remains of once-thriving cities, visit distinctive forts such as the Kyz-Kalas, and see the mausoleums of Sultan Sanjar and Muhammed ibn-Zeyd, known for their detailed Seljuk-era brickwork.
Throughout the trip, you’ll be travelling as part of a small group, supported by experienced local guides who bring both knowledge and personal perspective. As with all YellowWood Adventures, this journey is designed to support local communities while treading lightly on the environment. It’s a trip for curious travellers, those who value insight over spectacle and are willing to step slightly off the usual path.
Day 1: Pre-tour night in Ashgabat
Transfer
Breakfast
5 star hotel
After landing in Ashgabat in the early morning, you will meet our partners at the airport, look out for the YellowWood Adventures welcome sign, and be on transferred to the hotel for an early check-in (included) for a rest after your journey,
The rest of the day and evening are free for you to enjoy, at your leisure, ahead of your tour beginning tomorrow.
Accommodation: Divan Hotel or similar
Day 2: Ashgabat Museum Tour
Transfer
Breakfast
4 star hotel
After breakfast, meet your tour guide in the lobby for a cultural trip to the Ashgabat Museum. Here we will see artefacts from Nisa and Merv, all accompanied by an English-speaking guide.
Accommodation: Divan Hotel or similar
Day 3: Ashgabat - Mary (370 km)
Transfer
Breakfast
3 star hotel
In the morning. after breakfast, we drive to Mary. On the way, we will stop at local villages, take some pictures and talk to the local people. On arrival in Mary you will be taken to check-in at your hotel, for a refresh after your journey.
Today, we will also visit the Regional Mary Museum, presenting a wide array of archaeological finds, dating back to the 3rd millennium BC (approximately 3000–2001 BC) all the way through to the late 19th century (roughly 1870–1899), from both Ancient Merv and Bronze Age sites of the Margush country. The museum also has interesting ethnographic displays, reconstructing the scenes of daily life of the Turkmen population and other minorities of the Murghab oasis.
Transfer time: 6 hours
Accommodation: Hotel Margush or similar
Day 4: Ancient Merv to Ashgabat
Transfer
Breakfast
4 star hotel
After breakfast at the hotel, we will drive east towards Bayram-Ali, the contemporary re-incarnation of the glorious Ancient Merv (UNESCO World Heritage Site).
One of the major archaeological sites of Central Asia, Merv played an important part in the development of the Silk Road for more than 2000 years. Within the limits of the archaeological park, which is 1,200 hectares, we will have a chance to observe all constituent parts of the “wandering city”. A series of adjacent cities, which can be roughly divided into the ancient (Erk Kala and Gyaur Kala), the medieval (Sultan Kala, with its suburbs), and post-medieval (Abdulla-Khan Kala and Bayram-Ali-Khan Kala).
Alongside exploring remnants of the cities of Merv, we will visit the 6th and the 9th century forts of Big and Little Kyz-Kalas, excellent examples of the so-called corrugated Koshks; the splendid 12th century mausoleums of Sultan Sanjar and Muhammed ibn-Zeyd, demonstrating exquisite Seljuk period brickwork and architectural décor. If time permits, there is also the possibility of visiting several more interesting spots within the site.
After sightseeing, you will be transferred to the airport for your flight to Ashgabat (40 min by Boeing 717 or 737). On arrival in Ashgabat, you will then be transferred to your hotel to continue your silk road adventure and join the main group.
Accommodation: Archabil Hotel or similar
Adventure Optional Extras
Single Supplement
Plant an additional 15 trees for your adventure
Carbon Compensation is not the perfect solution, and it is important to first reduce our carbon emissions as much as we can, yet trees remain an excellent natural technology to sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to slow global warming.
For every client and guide who attends a YellowWood Adventure, we donate £30 to our partner charity WeForest to plant 15 trees to (over) compensate for the carbon footprint of the tour.
We also invite our clients to match this with an optional additional £30 for another 15 trees to be planted to help compensate for the carbon footprint of their international flights.
WeForest run many tree planting and tree maintenance projects such as this seedling nursery in the Amhara region of Ethiopia, the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil and many other projects in other countries including Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania & India.
Click Here to find out more about their amazing projects around the world.
Tipping & Gratuities
- Expenses of personal nature
- Meals: Lunches and Dinners
Compulsory
Price:
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Add-Ons are an optional way of customising & extending your adventure, and making those travel miles more worthwhile. They can not be purchased separately. To select an Add-On, please visit the relevant adventure and add it to your enquiry or booking. The adventures which offer this particular Add-On can be found below:
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Booking Process
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You will receive a reminder email for your final payment 56 days before the departure date.
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Grading
To help you choose the right adventure for you, we have given each itinerary a grading that relates to the level of Walking / Trekking you will experience during the trip. This grading can be found on the Yellow map on the adventure page of the website.
All of our trips involve a level of general activity so are designed for people who are in good health, enjoy the outdoors, and have a taste for adventure and some level of fitness. As will be clear from our destinations, the climate (and altitude) may be different to that which you are used to, so please take this into consideration when choosing the most suitable holiday.
Please read our Adventure Itinerary & Essential Information for more information and don't hesitate to contact us if you would like to chat through whether you have found a suitable adventure for you.
Grade 1-3: Entry Level
You need to be in good physical health to enjoy your active holiday, but you don’t need to be an experienced hiker. These itineraries offer a mix of sightseeing and easier walking for around 2-4hrs a day, with the emphasis on sights and cultural experiences.
Walks will be well marked or on defined pathways, and often around sites of interest. The expected amount of descent/ascent will depend on the landscapes of the destination, but will not exceed 400m/day, and will often be much less. Walks are at low altitude (below 3000m).
You will not be required to carry more than a day sack with water and essentials. Ensure you are aware of the weather conditions likely in the destination you are visiting and have a pair of comfortable and worn in walking shoes/boots.
Grades 4-6: Intermediate
You need to have a good level of fitness and be a regular walker for these adventures, with ideally some trekking experience. You can expect to be walking for 3-6 hours per day, not including rest stops, normally on good trail paths but with some uneven surfaces at times.
You will not be required to carry more than a day sack. You may be walking in more challenging temperatures. You will generally be walking at low altitude (below 3000m) but may walk at altitudes up to 4000m. The amount of ascent could be up to 800m in a day but will frequently be less. You may walk on consecutive days.
Ensure you are aware of the weather conditions likely in the destination you are visiting and have suitable clothing for this adventure.
Grades 7-9: Challenging
You need to have a good level of fitness with previous experience of trekking. Extra training before your trip will ensure that you get the most out of your adventure. Areas will be remote and terrain uneven.
Expect to walk for 5 – 8 hours a day, not including breaks, with some very steep ascents and descents. You will be walking at altitude (over 3000m but not higher than 5000m).
Ensure you are aware of the weather conditions likely in the destination you are visiting and have suitable equipment/clothing for this adventure (see the packing list for your adventure).
Please check individual itineraries for details of what you will need to be carrying with you.
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