AF · Curated travel guide
Buddhas of Bamiyan, Minaret of Jam, Mausoleum of Imam Ali and 7 more — what each one is, and why it is worth the detour.
Chosen from everything Wikidata knows about Afghanistan and ranked by how many Wikipedia language editions describe them, which is about as close to "famous" as open data gets.
Sculptures in Afghanistan before 2001
Two monumental Buddhist reliefs, carved perhaps around the 6th century in Afghanistan's Bamiyan Valley, 130 kilometres (81 mi) northwest of Kabul, 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) up. Carbon dating of their materials puts the smaller "Eastern Buddha", 38 m (125 ft) tall, at around 570 CE and the larger "Western Buddha", 55 m (180 ft), at around 618 CE, both from when the Hephthalites ruled the region.
Photo: James Gordon, CC BY 4.0
Minaret in Ghor Province, Afghanistan
A UNESCO World Heritage Site in western Afghanistan, in a remote, almost unreachable part of Ghor Province's Shahrak District, between the Hari and Jam Rivers.
Photo: david adamec, Public domain
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Mosque and shrine in Afghanistan
Also called the Shrine of Hazrat Ali or the Great Blue Mosque, a complex of mausoleum and mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif, capital and biggest city of Balkh Province in northern Afghanistan. A popular sight in the middle of the city, it draws visitors of every religion and sect all year round.
Photo: Saeedeh Joshaghani et al., CC BY-SA 4.0
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Mountain in Afghanistan and Pakistan
Also spelled Noshakh or Nowshakh, a peak 7,492 m (24,580 ft) high in the Hindu Kush, on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Afghanistan's highest mountain, it is second in the Hindu Kush only to Tirich Mir, and 52nd highest in the world.
Photo: Louis Meunier, CC BY 3.0
Valley in northeastern Afghanistan
Also spelled Panjsher, a valley of northeastern Afghanistan near the Hindu Kush, 150 kilometres (93 mi) north of Kabul, split by the Panjshir River.
Photo: Master Sgt. Michael O'Connor (U.S. armed forces), CC BY 2.0
Mosque in Herat, Afghanistan
A Sunni Friday mosque in the city of Herat, in Herat Province, north-western Afghanistan. The Ghurids built it; Sultan Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad Ghori laid its foundation in 1200 CE.
Photo: Sven Dirks, Wien, CC BY-SA 4.0
Road tunnel in northern Afghanistan
A tunnel through the Salang Pass in Afghanistan's northern Parwan Province, some 90 km (56 mi) from Kabul, the capital, which lies to its south. It is 2.67 kilometres (1.66 mi) long and nearly 3,400 m (11,200 ft) up, and the Soviets first finished it in 1964.
Photo: Michal Vogt, CC BY-SA 2.0
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Desert in Afghanistan
Also called the Sistan Desert, a very dry plateau between Kandahar and Helmand provinces in south-eastern Afghanistan: a sandy desert of small red sand hills some 50–100 feet (15–30 m) high, plains covered in sand, and open ground of rock and clay.
Photo: Mouliric, CC BY-SA 3.0
Palace in Afghanistan
A palace of three storeys in Darulaman, about 16 km south-west of central Kabul. Around it stand the Afghan International University, the National Museum of Afghanistan and the National Assembly.
Photo: Qasimmirzaie, CC BY 4.0
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Presidential palace of Afghanistan
Afghanistan's presidential palace, in Kabul. Since the Taliban abolished the presidency in 2021, the Cabinet of Afghanistan has met there.
Photo: U.S. Secretary of Defense, Public domain
Officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, a landlocked country where Central and South Asia meet. Pakistan lies on its east and south, Iran on its west, Turkmenistan on its northwest, Uzbekistan on its north, Tajikistan on its northeast, and China on its northeast and east. Its 652,864 square kilometers (252,072 sq mi) of land are mostly mountains, with plains in the north and southwest divided by the Hindu Kush.
Officially The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Known locally as افغانستانAfghanestan.
Based on the Wikipedia article, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0: the facts are Wikipedia's, the wording is this site's.
This guide lists 10: Buddhas of Bamiyan, Minaret of Jam, Mausoleum of Imam Ali and Noshaq and others.
By machine, from open data, with no human ranking them and nobody able to pay for a place on the list. Everything Wikidata records in Afghanistan that is a building, a landform, a protected area or a tourist attraction, has coordinates, a photograph and an English Wikipedia article, is ranked by how many Wikipedia language editions wrote about it. Provinces, cities, airports, stations and stretches of sea shared with the neighbours are filtered out.
Dari, Pashto. The currency is AFN.
A travel eSIM is usually the cheapest way, and avoids a roaming bill. The plans suggested at the foot of this guide start at $7.16 for 1GB per day. The eSIM is data-only and sits alongside your normal SIM, so calls, texts and WhatsApp keep working on your own number.
Roshan. Your phone picks whichever has the best signal where you are, the same way a local phone does.
Maps, tickets and translation all want data, and roaming is the expensive way to get it. A Computatus eSIM eSIM connects to Roshan once you land, and installs by QR code before you leave.
| Plan | Data | Valid | Price | Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1GB per day Cheapest | 1 GB | 1 day | $7.16 | Get it → |
| 1GB for 7 days | 1 GB | 7 days | $8.06 | Get it → |
| 2GB per day | 2 GB | 1 day | $12.35 | Get it → |
| 3GB for 15 days | 3 GB | 15 days | $21.12 | Get it → |
| 3GB for 30 days | 3 GB | 30 days | $22.38 | Get it → |
| 5GB for 30 days | 5 GB | 30 days | $35.08 | Get it → |
No app needed. Install by QR code before you fly, keep your own number for calls, and it connects the moment you land.
A commission on plans bought through these links is what pays for this guide. Nothing above depends on it: the places are chosen before any price is looked up.
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