Ashgabat
Turkmenistan
A 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
Photo by Nikolai Kolosov on Unsplash
Photos by Nikolai Kolosov, Nikolai Kolosov, Nikolai Kolosov and Nikolai Kolosov on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Turkmenistan
April to May, and October to November (summer is over 40°C; the crater trip is at night whatever the month)
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 40mm in Mar
Where it is
37.95°N, 58.38°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Several days- See the marble city lit at night
- Drive to the Darvaza crater and camp beside it
- Walk Nisa in the morning
- Buy a carpet at Tolkuchka
- Photograph nothing official
Ashgabat travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Turkmenistan
Mid-rangeManat, at an official rate of 3.5 to the dollar that nothing else in the country believes. Change only at a bank or the hotel — the street rate is several times better and dealing on it is a crime with real consequences for a visitor. Bring dollars in new notes; cards barely exist.
ATMs & cards
Foreign cards work in a handful of Ashgabat hotel machines and nowhere else. Bring cash for the whole visit, in dollars, and change what you need at the hotel.
Avoid these
- every machine outside the big Ashgabat hotels, which will not work
Use these instead
- the machines in the Ashgabat hotels
Cards barely exist here. Bring dollars in new notes for the whole visit and change at the bank or the hotel — never in the street, which is a crime.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Turkmenistan
SafeVery 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.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (5 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- 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
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Turkmenistan visa rules
Visa required in advanceup to 10 daysUSD 55–100 plus the letter of invitation
A tourist visa needs a letter of invitation from a licensed Turkmen agency, which also supplies the guide the visa requires you to travel with. Allow a month. A transit visa of three to seven days can be had without the guide, for a journey with an onward visa in the passport, and is refused often enough to need a plan B.
How to get it: Book through a Turkmen agency, which applies for the letter of invitation; when it comes, the visa itself is issued at the embassy or on arrival at Ashgabat airport against the letter. Bring dollars for the fee and the entry tax.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Turkmenistan
Evacuation likelyRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Tetanus up to date
Getting treated
Poor, and the state system is not one a visitor would want to test. Ashgabat has a hospital that treats foreigners for cash; anything serious is a flight out, and the guide will know the drill. Bring every medicine you might need.
Heat is the hazard: over 40°C for the whole summer, and the desert trip to the crater is a night in it. Tap water is not drunk. The internet is filtered, which matters if you were counting on looking something up.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
GoodPlov, shashlik, the Turkmen bread from a tandoor, and dograma (a bread-and-meat soup). The restaurants are few, formal and cheap at the official rate; the bazaar cafés are the real food. Camel milk chal, fermented, if offered.
Getting around
Limited- UberNot here
- BoltNot here
- From the airport
- From the airport to the centre 20–40 manat in a taxi, or the guide meets the flight, which is how most visitors arrive
No ride-hailing. Any car is a taxi if you wave, for a few manat across town, and on a tourist visa the guide has a car anyway.
Time zone and your working day
Asia/Ashgabat — 9 hours ahead of you
0 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — — your time, — theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 00:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 00:00–08:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Getting online
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Turkmenistan, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Turkmen
- HelloSalamsa-LAM
- PleaseHaýyşHA-yish
- Thank youSag boluňsag bo-LUN
- Yes / NoHawa / Ýokha-WA / yok
5 more phrases
- Excuse meBagyşlaňba-gysh-LAN
- How much is it?Näçe manat?NA-che ma-NAT
- DeliciousDatlydat-LY
- WaterSuwsuv
- GoodbyeSag boluňsag bo-LUN
Latin script since the 1990s, close to Turkish. Russian is understood in Ashgabat by the older generation; English is rare, which is one more thing the guide is for.
Religion
Sunni Muslim, under a state that controls it
Muslim by tradition and closely regulated by the government, which built the biggest mosques in the region and decides who preaches in them. Modest dress, and the mosques are visited with the guide.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Travel with the guide the visa requires, and let them say where the camera can point
- Dress conservatively, and more so at the mosques, which are visited together
- Carry the passport; the checks are frequent
- Accept tea and bread when offered, which is often
Don't
- Do not photograph government buildings, the presidential palace or anything in uniform — this is enforced
- Do not change money on the street; the rate is tempting and the crime is real
- Do not discuss the president or the government with anyone
- Do not expect the internet to work for messaging apps
Where to stay in Ashgabat
No Holistay rentals in Ashgabat yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Ashgabat on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Ashgabat ASB
20 minfrom the airport· 10 km as the crow flies
20 min; the guide meets the flight.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
