Seven Lakes Day Trip from Samarkand: Tajikistan's Fann Mountains by 4×4
Cross into Tajikistan for a day at the Seven Lakes: Panjakent bazaar, the lakes of the Fann Mountains by 4×4 and the UNESCO site of Sarazm on the way…
Seven Lakes of Tajikistan: 2 Days from Samarkand, a Night by Lake 6
Cross from Samarkand into Tajikistan for Sarazm, Panjakent bazaar and the Seven Lakes, sleep in a private room above Marguzor, the sixth lake, and drive on by 4×4 to the seventh in the morning. All cars, border help, room and meals included. May to October.
About this trip
The Seven Lakes are the best day trip from Samarkand, and the one complaint about the day trip is that it ends: the valley empties in the late afternoon, the light turns gold on the water, and the day-trippers are already on the road back to the border. This version stays. You sleep in a private room at the tour base above Marguzor, the sixth and largest lake, with the lake below your window, and in the morning a 4×4 takes you up the rough track to Hazorchashma, the seventh, which the day trip rarely reaches.
The trip is private, from your hotel door and back: an Uzbek car to the border, a Tajik driver on the other side, the 4×4 for the high track, and every crossing, ticket and meal arranged.
The two days
| Day | Where | What |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samarkand → Jartepa → Panjakent → Lake 6 | Border on foot, Sarazm, the bazaar, lunch, the lakes one by one, sunset at Marguzor |
| 2 | Lake 6 → Lake 7 → Jartepa → Samarkand | 4×4 to Hazorchashma, a walk, lunch, back over the border by late afternoon |
Where you sleep
The tour base at Marguzor has a handful of private rooms with their own bathroom and a window straight onto the lake; this is the only place in the valley with that view. Dinner and breakfast are cooked there: soup, grilled meat or plov, bread, fruit, tea. There is electricity and hot water; do not count on internet. Bring a warm layer: the lake is at 2,100 m and the evenings are cold even in July.
Good to know
- When: from May to early October, when the track beyond the sixth lake is open and the base is staffed. In May and October the colours are strongest and the nights coldest.
- Passports and visas: you leave Uzbekistan and come back, so an Uzbek e-visa, if your nationality needs one, must allow two entries. Most nationalities enter Tajikistan without a visa; some need an e-visa, issued online. Read our Tajikistan visa rules and Uzbekistan visa rules.
- Your driver and guide: your Tajik driver speaks Russian. Add an English-speaking driver if you want the valley explained on the way, or a professional guide in Spanish, Italian, German, French, Korean, Turkish or Chinese for both days; the prices are in the options when you book.
- Ending elsewhere: instead of returning to Samarkand, the second day can end in Tashkent (about 5 hours from the border) or in Dushanbe (4–5 hours from Panjakent through the Anzob tunnel), as options when you book.
- The road: paved to Panjakent, gravel up the valley, and a rough 4×4 track between the sixth and seventh lakes. The walking is optional and easy.
- Only one day? Our Seven Lakes day trip returns to Samarkand the same evening. Read our overnight guide to the Seven Lakes.
A bigger group, a simpler guesthouse at the fourth lake, or a third day in the Fann Mountains? Message us on WhatsApp.
Day by day
- Day 1
Samarkand to the Seven Lakes, via Sarazm and Panjakent
Pickup at your hotel at 08:00 and an hour's drive to the Jartepa border. You cross on foot in about twenty minutes, and your Tajik driver is waiting on the other side. First stop is Sarazm, the 5,500-year-old settlement on the UNESCO list, then Panjakent bazaar for dried fruit, bread and a look at the town, and lunch. In the afternoon the road climbs the Shing valley past the lakes in turn, each a different colour, with stops at the best of them, to the tour base above Marguzor, the sixth. Settle into your room, walk along the shore as the light goes, dinner at the base.
- Day 2
Lake 7 by 4×4, then back to Samarkand
Breakfast with the lake below the window. A 4×4 takes you up the rough track beyond Marguzor to Hazorchashma, the seventh lake, the highest and the quietest, with time to walk along it. Back down the valley for lunch, then the road to the Jartepa border, the crossing on foot, and your car to Samarkand, arriving in the late afternoon. If you chose to end in Tashkent or Dushanbe, your car is waiting for that instead.
What's included
- 1 night at the Seven Lakes tour base at Marguzor (lake 6): private room with bathroom and a view of the lake, breakfast included
- Lunch on both days and dinner on day 1
- Private car from your Samarkand hotel to the Jartepa border and back (sedan for up to 3, SUV for 4–6)
- Private car with a Russian-speaking driver on the Tajik side: Sarazm, Panjakent and the lakes on day 1
- 4×4 with driver on day 2: Lake 6 to Lake 7 and back to the border
- Help at the Jartepa border, both ways
- Entrance ticket to the Sarazm museum
- Bottled water
Not included
- Visas or e-visas, if your passport needs them
- English-speaking driver, unless you add it as an option
- Ending in Tashkent or Dushanbe instead of Samarkand, unless you add it as an option
- Tips for drivers
- Travel insurance — required for every traveller
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