Is Turkmenistan safe for tourists?

Very safe in the sense that matters least: crime against visitors is close to nil, and the police are everywhere. Across 1 guides Turkmenistan averages 4.5 out of 5; Ashgabat are rated safe or very safe. Every guide names the comfortable areas and the ones that want care, with the reason.

Which parts of Turkmenistan need the most care?

None of the 1 guides in Turkmenistan is rated below 3: the usual big-city attention — bags in front on transit, phones away at the kerb — is the whole of it.

Turkmenistan travel tips

Is Turkmenistan safe?

1 guide, each rated 1 to 5 with the reason — and two lists per place, where you are comfortable and where to pay attention. Nowhere is called dangerous; the specific thing is what helps.

4.5 average across 1 guide · Safe

Ashgabat Safe

Very safe in the sense that matters least: crime against visitors is close to nil, and the police are everywhere. Photography of government buildings, and there are many, is forbidden and enforced; the guide will say. Internet is filtered and slow. The crater trip is a night in the desert with a driver who knows it.

Comfortable: the whole marble city · Tolkuchka bazaar

a camera near anything official — forbidden and enforced; the guide says where
the street exchange rate — several times the official one, and a crime to use
the desert road to Darvaza — a night trip with a driver who knows it

The ratings are this site's own, from the guides' authors and the corrections readers send in; they are not an index. Read the general advice in travel safety tips.

The guides in Turkmenistan

The Wedding Palace in Ashgabat lit at dusk, the marble city behind it

AshgabatTurkmenistanA white-marble capital with more Guinness records than people on the streets, a burning gas crater four hours north, and a visa that takes planning