When to Visit Turkmenistan?
The best time to go to Turkmenistan is during March - May or September - November, when the temperature is more manageable at around 23 - 35°C. The temperature can be extreme during summer and winter, so I wouldn't recommend going during those times.
Things to Prepare Before Traveling to Turkmenistan
- Print Documents: With the approved letter invitation provided by your tour agency or embassy, you can get your visa stamp at your designated entry point. However, be sure to print the letter of invitation before arriving at the border.
- Prepare enough USD: It is impossible to get USD in the country, so if you have to pay your tour company in Ashgabat with USD, prepare it before you arrive in Turkmenistan. If you carry a VISA ATM, you can get Turkmen Manats out from an ATM at the Oguzkent Hotel in Ashgabat.
- Be prepared for internet censorship and limited wifi access: Free wifi is only available in big hotels like Hotel Oguzkent and Grand Turkmen Hotel in Ashgabat, and the internet is heavily censored for obvious reasons. Therefore, have a VPN service installed on your phone. If you are using Android, I'd recommend Orbot as it has never failed me anywhere I went.
How to Get Turkmenistan Visa?
Through Guided Tours (Expensive)
This is the option I chose, as it allowed me more freedom to see the country as it should be seen and to go to remote places with ease. It is also the most expensive option.
If you choose to go with this option, I would recommend reaching out to Stantours and asking for David as he was the one who recommended the itinerary to me. Stantours has proven to be one of the cheapest options available and the most reliable. If you decide to go with Stantours, ask for a driver named Vova. They said the driver wouldn't be able to speak English, but Vova was more than capable of explaining the story behind the places you are visiting. Plus, he made a delicious grilled chicken for dinner in the desert.
For the 7-day itinerary recommended in this post, I paid 1,200 USD with Stantours, including everything such as accommodation, food, jeep, domestic flights, and the 2 visa applications. I could probably have gotten it cheaper if I had booked it earlier since the domestic flight was almost 200 USD more than it should have been.
Note: Even with a guided tour, there is still a 50% chance of your visa getting rejected, so contact your tour agency way in advance before arriving in Central Asia. Mine got rejected once, but thankfully I had 3 weeks' notice, so I was able to apply for another one and got approved in time for my trip.
Get the Transit Visa Instead (Cheapest)
This is the most economical option, but you will need to be flexible with your time. First, you must go to a city where there is a Turkmenistan embassy. Bishkek, Tashkent, or Dushanbe are good places to base yourself while you wait for the visa. It may take 2-4 weeks, so apply as soon as you can.
There are a few caveats in going with this option. First, the transit visa's maximum stay is only 5 days, including your arrival and departure days, so you barely have time to see much. Also, the country you came from must be different from the one you departed to, as you are supposed to be transiting.
The cost for the transit visa is around $55 USD or $155 USD for Russians.
For more updated information on obtaining the transit visa, please see this page.
How to Get to Turkmenistan?
You can fly to Ashgabat or cross the border from Uzbekistan if you are already traveling there. Be sure to browse through Skyscanner or Expedia before comparing prices, so you get the cheapest flight possible.
How to Get Around Turkmenistan?
If you go on a guided tour, they should provide you with a jeep when traveling anywhere outside of Ashgabat. If you have a transit visa, there will be one or two taxis waiting at the border where you can pay them a ridiculous price (50 USD+) to get to places like Ashgabat or the Darvaza crater, but that is your only option. Public transportation is non-existent outside of Ashgabat.
Within Ashgabat, buses are well-connected and easy to navigate. Just go up to one of the bus stops, look at the color-coded bus lines, and take the one that passes the place you want to see.