Insight Guides Silk Road

How To Use This E-Book

Getting around the e-book

This Insight Guide e-book is designed to give you inspiration for your visit to the Silk Road, as well as comprehensive planning advice to make sure you have the best travel experience. The guide begins with our selection of Top Attractions, as well as our Editors Choice categories of activities and experiences. Detailed features on history, people and culture paint a vivid portrait of contemporary life along the Silk Road. The extensive Places chapters give a complete guide to all the sights and areas worth visiting. The Travel Tips provide full information on getting around, activities from culture to shopping to sport, plus a wealth of practical information to help you plan your trip.

In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

Maps

All key attractions and sights along the Silk Road are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.

Images

Youll find hundreds of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of the Silk Road. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.

About Insight Guides

Insight Guides have more than 40 years experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce 400 full-colour titles, in both print and digital form, covering more than 200 destinations across the globe, in a variety of formats to meet your different needs.

Insight Guides are written by local authors, whose expertise is evident in the extensive historical and cultural background features. Each destination is carefully researched by regional experts to ensure our guides provide the very latest information. All the reviews in Insight Guides are independent; we strive to maintain an impartial view. Our reviews are carefully selected to guide you to the best places to eat, go out and shop, so you can be confident that when we say a place is special, we really mean it.

2017 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd

The Silk Roads Top 10 Attractions

Ancient cities, some in ruins, some still thriving; huge mountain ranges, deserts, oases; and buildings to take your breath away.

Top Attraction 1

Persepolis . This great city was used to reaffirm the power of the Achaemenid kings. The western end of the Silk Road developed from the network of roads built to connect even the remotest corners of their Persian Empire. For more information, .

iStock

Top Attraction 2

Registan, Samarkand . A spectacular architectural ensemble, with fantastic Islamic designs and calligraphy etched into the facades of its mosque and madrassas. For more information, .

iStock

Top Attraction 3

Mogao Caves . These caves near Dunhuang lay undiscovered for centuries. They contain one of the worlds greatest collections of Buddhist art. For more information, .

iStock

Top Attraction 4

Poi Kalon ensemble . Consisting of mosque, madrassa and minaret, this is the focal point of Bukhara, one of the great centres of trade and scholarship along the Silk Road. For more information, .

iStock

Top Attraction 5

Isfahan . This great city grew rich from the Silk Road trade linking with the Persian Gulf, resulting in some sublime architecture including the incomparable Imam Mosque. For more information, .

iStock

Top Attraction 6

The Turpan Oasis . A sea of green surrounded by desert, is famous for its vineyards. The city of Turpan is also the base for excursions to ancient Silk Road sites and other attractions. For more information, .

iStock

Top Attraction 7

Yurt living . Experience the nomadic lifestyle amid the wilds of the mountain nation of Kyrgyzstan, at the heart of Central Asia. For more information, .

Shutterstock

Top Attraction 8

Lake Issyk-Kul . The worlds second-largest saline lake has a dramatic mountain setting. Meaning hot lake in Kyrgyz, it does not freeze, even in the depths of the Kyrgyz winter. For more information, .

Shutterstock

Top Attraction 9

Karakoram Highway . One of the worlds most awe-inspiring roads, linking Western China and Pakistan across the mighty Pamir and Karakoram mountain ranges. For more information, .

iStock

Top Attraction 10

Terracotta Army . A legacy of Chinas First Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, who had it built to protect him in the afterlife. For more information, .

iStock

Editors Choice

Linking two continents across 8,000km (5,000 miles), the Silk Road has much to offer. The following selection will provide inspiration to organise a trip.