Kabul → Bamyan → Band-e Amir · Highlands and blue lakes
Buddhas and Blue Lakes: Kabul, Bamyan & Band-e Amir — 6 days / 5 nights
- 6 days · 5 nights
- $900–$1,320 per person
- Private tour
The Buddhas and Blue Lakes tour is Al Hamid Tour and Travel's 6-day, 5-night private tour of Kabul, Bamyan and Band-e Amir. It costs $900 to $1,320 per person, with an English-speaking guide, a private vehicle and driver, hotels with breakfast, and help with the visa letter and provincial permits.
The classic first trip to Afghanistan, and the route most of our guests ask for: Kabul's gardens and museum, the drive west over the central highlands, two days in the Bamyan valley and a day at Band-e Amir, Afghanistan's first national park.
How long is the Buddhas and Blue Lakes tour, and what does it cost?
The Buddhas and Blue Lakes tour takes 6 days and 5 nights through Kabul, Bamyan and Band-e Amir and costs $900–$1,320 per person as a private tour with Al Hamid Tour and Travel. Where the price falls in that range depends on your group size and travel dates: send us both and we confirm it in writing.
- Length
- 6 days and 5 nights
- Price
- $900–$1,320 per person
- Route
- Kabul → Bamyan → Band-e Amir
- Where you sleep
- Kabul 1 · Bamyan 3 · Kabul 1
- Flights
- None: the whole tour is by road
- Best months
- May to June and September to October
- Starts and ends
- Kabul
Where does the Buddhas and Blue Lakes tour go?
What do you do each day of the Buddhas and Blue Lakes tour?
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Day 1Kabul
Arrive in Kabul
Your guide and driver meet you at Kabul airport. In the afternoon, Babur's Gardens, where the founder of the Mughal empire is buried, and the view over the city from its terraces.
Night in Kabul
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Day 2Kabul → BamyanBy road
Over the central highlands to Bamyan
About 180 km by road, four to six hours through the mountains west of Kabul, with stops for tea and photos. In the evening, a walk along Bamyan's bazaar street below the cliff.
Night in Bamyan
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Day 3Bamyan
The Buddha niches and Shahr-e Gholghola
The two Buddha niches, 55 and 38 metres high, and the monks' caves around them; then the climb to Shahr-e Gholghola, the citadel destroyed by Genghis Khan's army in 1221, for the best view of the valley.
Night in Bamyan
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Day 4Bamyan → Band-e AmirBy road
The six lakes of Band-e Amir
About two hours west by road to Band-e Amir National Park: deep-blue lakes held back by natural walls of travertine, and time to walk beside the largest, Band-e Haibat. Back to Bamyan for the night.
Night in Bamyan
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Day 5Bamyan → KabulBy road
Shahr-e Zuhak and the road back to Kabul
On the way out of the valley, the red towers of Shahr-e Zuhak, the fortress that guarded the road from Kabul. Then four to six hours back to the capital.
Night in Kabul
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Day 6Kabul
Kabul, and your flight home
The National Museum and Darul Aman Palace, or Murad Khani, the restored old city, before your guide takes you to the airport.
You fly home
How does the price of the Buddhas and Blue Lakes tour compare?
Ours: $900 to $1,320 per person, which is $150–$220 a day. Other operators that publish a price for a similar route charge $850–$2,350 for 4–6 days, or $170–$392 a day. Prices checked in October 2026.
What does the Buddhas and Blue Lakes tour price include?
An English-speaking guide who knows the region; private vehicle and driver, including airport transfers; hotels with breakfast, two people per room; help with the visa invitation letter and the provincial permits. Not included: international and domestic flights (we book and ticket both for you), lunch and dinner, and the visa fee.
Included
- An English-speaking guide who knows the region
- Private vehicle and driver, including airport transfers
- Hotels with breakfast, two people per room
- Help with the visa invitation letter and the provincial permits
Not included
- International and domestic flights (we book and ticket both for you)
- Lunch and dinner
- The visa fee
When is the best time for the Buddhas and Blue Lakes tour?
Bamyan and Band-e Amir are at their best from May to October; in winter the lakes freeze and the roads are often snowbound.
Buddhas and Blue Lakes: questions and answers
How long is the Buddhas and Blue Lakes tour?
6 days and 5 nights: 1 night in Kabul, 3 nights in Bamyan and 1 night in Kabul. The days can be moved around your flights.
How much does the Buddhas and Blue Lakes tour cost?
$900 to $1,320 per person with Al Hamid Tour and Travel, for a private tour on your dates; the exact figure depends on the size of your group and the season.
Which places does the Buddhas and Blue Lakes tour visit?
Day 1, arrive in Kabul; day 2, over the central highlands to Bamyan; day 3, the Buddha niches and Shahr-e Gholghola; day 4, the six lakes of Band-e Amir; day 5, shahr-e Zuhak and the road back to Kabul; day 6, kabul, and your flight home.
Can women visit Band-e Amir on the Buddhas and Blue Lakes tour?
Not with certainty. The park was closed to women in August 2023 and the ban has not been formally lifted. Since then some foreign women with a guide have been allowed in and others turned away, so we check the rule for your dates before you book; the rest of the tour, the Buddha niches of Bamyan included, runs either way.
How far is Band-e Amir from Kabul?
About 250 km by road: four to six hours from Kabul to Bamyan, then about two hours on to the lakes. That is why this tour spends three nights in Bamyan rather than visiting the lakes in a day from Kabul.
When is the best time for the Buddhas and Blue Lakes tour?
May to June and September to October. Bamyan and Band-e Amir are at their best from May to October; in winter the lakes freeze and the roads are often snowbound.
What does the price of the Buddhas and Blue Lakes tour include?
An English-speaking guide who knows the region; private vehicle and driver, including airport transfers; hotels with breakfast, two people per room; help with the visa invitation letter and the provincial permits. Not included: international and domestic flights (we book and ticket both for you), lunch and dinner, and the visa fee.
Do you arrange the Afghanistan visa?
Yes. Al Hamid Tour and Travel issues the invitation letter for every guest and walks you through the application, whether you use the online e-Visa or an embassy. It also handles the provincial travel permits for every stage once you land. The visa fee itself is paid by you.
Want to book this tour? Send us your dates and we will confirm the price and what the route looks like around your flights.
Which other multi-city tours could you take instead of the Buddhas and Blue Lakes tour?
Besides the Buddhas and Blue Lakes tour, we run five other multi-city tours: Gardens and Minarets (4 days, $600–$880); Three Capitals Road (5 days, $750–$1,100); Cliffs and Citadels (7 days, $1,050–$1,540); Hindu Kush Crossing (8 days, $1,200–$1,760); Heart of Asia Grand Tour (11 days, $1,650–$2,420). All are private and start in Kabul, and the stops can be changed to fit your days.
4 days · 3 nights
Two historic cities
Gardens and Minarets
- Kabul1 night
- Herat2 nights
$600–$880 per personflights extra
5 days · 4 nights
Ghaznavid and Durrani capitals
Three Capitals Road
- Kabul2 nights
- Kandahar2 nights
$750–$1,100 per personflights extra
7 days · 6 nights
Highlands and Timurid Herat
Cliffs and Citadels
- Kabul1 night
- Bamyan3 nights
- Kabul1 night
- Herat1 night
$1,050–$1,540 per personflights extra
8 days · 7 nights
Highlands, the Salang and the north
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- Kabul1 night
- Bamyan3 nights
- Kabul1 night
- Mazar2 nights
$1,200–$1,760 per personflights extra
11 days · 10 nights
The best of Afghanistan
Heart of Asia Grand Tour
- Kabul2 nights
- Bamyan3 nights
- Kabul1 night
- Mazar2 nights
- Herat2 nights
$1,650–$2,420 per personflights extra