After decades of conflict, the nation is trying to attract tourists.
Leaving a Caribbean resort for a hike is adventurous enough for many, but some travelers prefer venturing to a place on the State Department’s “Do not travel” list: Afghanistan.
The conflict-worn nation is emerging as a travel destination for intrepid globetrotters who yearn to behold its picturesque landscapes, ancient architecture, and rich cultural heritage—all uniquely insulated from the rest of the world. And they’re not letting government warnings about the risk of civil unrest, terrorism, and wrongful detention stop them from booking a trip.
Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, the country has been tightening its strict religious morality laws that have been increasingly restrictive for local women, who now can’t seek education beyond the sixth grade and can’t sing or recite poetry in public.
But the past four years have also been relatively peaceful for a country that was embroiled in a series of devastating wars since the 1970s. Some adventurers (many of them female) are taking the relative calm as a green light to hop on a flight to Kabul, particularly as Turkish Airlines resumed flights there last year, alongside multiple UAE-based airlines.
Seizing the moment
Since the US withdrew its forces in 2021, 14,500 foreign tourists visited Afghanistan, according to Taliban officials cited by the New York Times late last year. The number of tourists increased more than tenfold to 7,000 in 2023 from 691 in 2022, per the Associated Press.
The Taliban government, isolated on the world stage, has seized the opportunity to welcome wanderlusting foreigners—a source of desperately needed foreign currency and a way to boost the nation’s international image.
What’s the experience like?
Travelers typically start in Kabul, flying in from Dubai, Pakistan, or crossing the land border from Tadjikistan:
- Many go on to visit the picturesque Bamiyan Valley with its mountain landscapes, a turquoise lake in the middle of the desert, and remnants of ancient Buddhist sites—including Buddha statues destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.
- Some also venture to the Silk Road hub of Herat and the 12th-century Blue Mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif, near the border of Uzbekistan, and the remains of the city Ai-Khanoum, built by a successor of Alexander the Great.
