The Taliban wants people to visit Afghanistan. Here’s what it’s like

(CNN) — Ben Herskowitz stood on a hill overlooking the ancient archaeological landscape of Bamiyan, nestled among the high mountains of the Hindu Kush. In the distance, he could see white snow-capped mountains, greenery and blossoming trees spread across Afghanistan’s Bamiyan Valley.

It was “one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to in my life,” Herskowitz said. “So many different diverse landscapes in one area. I’ve never seen contrast like that in one place.”

Herskowitz, a 22-year-old from Vermont in the United States, found himself thousands of miles from home in May, with Afghanistan’s spectacular landscapes nearly all to himself.

“You go to Rome or Greece to see ruins and there are thousands of tourists blocking your way all around you, but here you can sit up in these beautiful places that have so much history from so many periods, and you’re the only one there,” Herskowitz explained.

The conflict-ravaged country, not known as a vacation hot spot, has seen an increase in tourism since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021 after the US withdrawal.

Visitors from around the world have been immersing themselves in Afghanistan’s scenic landscape and ancient history. They’ve been taking dips in the turquoise lakes of Band-e-Amir National Park, exploring Buddhist art and ruins in Bamiyan and shopping in the bustling bazaars of Kabul, all while experiencing the legendary hospitality of Afghans.

About 691 tourists visited Afghanistan in 2021, rising to 2,300 the following year and 7,000 in 2023, according to the Associated Press, citing Mohammad Saeed, head of the Tourism Directorate in Kabul. More than 10,179 have visited the country since August 2021, a spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Tourism told CNN.

While those figures seem low, the steady increase points to a new buzz around tourism in Afghanistan even while the country struggles with a humanitarian crisis and poverty following decades of war. Many countries have not formally recognized the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan, and the United Nations calls Afghanistan under the Taliban the most repressive country in the world for women’s rights.

“There’s a flow of tourists coming into the country since the fall of the republic,” says Khyber Khan, founder of Afghan tour company Unchartered Afghanistan. The country is known as a conflict zone, but “we have so many things to offer – culture, people, landscape,” Khan said. One now sees “a lot of tourists especially in Kabul, you always see a group of tourists,” Khan said.

Taliban officials say they are supporting tourism.

“The growth of the tourism industry has a positive effect on the country’s economy,” the spokesperson for the Ministry of Culture said. The country sees most tourists coming from the United States, the European Union, China, India, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, the spokesperson added.

A department has been created under the ministry to provide services to tourists and train students in the tourism industry and hotel management, the spokesperson said.

Bringing tourism money into a country largely isolated by international sanctions is seen by some as lending unwarranted legitimacy to the Taliban’s repressive regime at a time when it continues to deny many of its citizens basic human rights.

The UN’s special rapporteur for human rights, Richard Bennett, said this week that he had been barred from Afghanistan, a move that sent “a concerning signal about [the Taliban’s] engagement with the United Nations and the international community on human rights.”

‘Hospitality there is so welcoming’

Herskowitz, a part-time social media content creator and traveler, says he was intrigued to explore Afghanistan after hearing how “beautiful” and “hospitable” it is from other tourists who recently visited.

While many travelers have reported positive experiences, many Western governments warn against traveling to the country.

Afghanistan carries a Level 4: Do Not Travel advisory from the US State Department, which cites “terrorism, risk of wrongful detention, civil unrest, kidnapping and crime” as reasons for its rating. The United Kingdom also “advises against all travel to Afghanistan.”

In May 2024, three Spanish tourists were among four people killed when gunmen opened fire on a group of international tourists and Afghans in Bamiyan. It was not clear who was behind the attack.

Despite being aware of the travel advisories warnings, Herskowitz still opted to go to Afghanistan after learning from his community of fellow “extreme travelers” that it’s a relatively safe place for tourists.

“I prefer to get my information from friends who have actually been to these places recently and give me an update on what it’s actually like to visit,” Herskowitz told CNN. “From my experience, I felt super safe the entire time.”

With his best friend from Vermont and two other UK travelers and content creators, Herskowitz embarked on a private eight-day tour across the country with two local Afghan tour guides.

Bamiyan, a central Afghanistan city and region that’s listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was Herskowitz’s favorite destination they visited.

“It’s an ancient city” and has “these amazing ruins that are really spectacular to see,” Herskowitz said. He described staying in a hotel with views of the remains of monumental sixth-century Buddha statues. Two of the standing Buddha statues in this area were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.

Herskowtiz also explored Band-e-Amir’s series of six lakes by pedal boat amid picturesque red-hued cliffs and rocky natural dams. The park was “just out of this world,” Herskowitz said.

But experiencing Afghan hospitality is what really struck Herskowitz. The “hospitality there is so welcoming,” Herskowitz said.

“Locals were so happy to see a tourist in their country. You’re a guest in their country and so they want to invite you for something to show their hospitality.”

When shopping in Kabul, Herskowitz said shopkeepers constantly offered him and his friends tea, food and even safe lodging if they needed it.

Herskowitz also said he saw a “good amount” of other tourists during his time in Afghanistan. He said he came across three different 14-member tour groups from Italy, Greece and Indonesia.

‘Everyone is coming’

To accommodate the increase in tourists, tourism companies have popped up in Afghanistan.

“The presence of tourists has increased because it’s not an active war zone anymore,” Khan said. He started Unchartered Afghanistan in 2023.

Ehsan Barakzai, founder of Afghan tour company Destination Afghanistan, says the “gate (to Afghanistan) has just opened, so everyone is coming.”

Barakzai personally gave 130 people tours of Afghanistan in 2023, he said, adding that most of his customers come from China, Germany, Canada and the United States.

“A lot of tourists came from watching YouTubers and people on social documenting their travel to Afghanistan,” Barakzai explained.

Tourists can enter Afghanistan only after obtaining a tourist visa from one of Afghanistan’s consulates. A consulate will normally provide the visa if an individual has a letter of invitation from a tour company in Afghanistan. Afghanistan has consulates in the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan as well as embassies in Germany, Spain and the Netherlands, among other countries.

Additionally, tour companies must be registered and licensed to operate with the Ministry of Culture for “better coordination,” the ministry spokesperson said.

Bookings for Afghanistan in 2023 were at the highest ever level for tour company Untamed Borders, founder James Wilcox told CNN. Untamed Borders has been offering tours in Afghanistan since 2007, Wilcox said.

“Since the Taliban took over, the security situation has changed. One of the biggest risks isn’t there anymore – before the risk was the Taliban,” Wilcox explained. A security risk for tourists traveling to Afghanistan before the Taliban takeover was the deadly fighting between the Taliban as an insurgency group against US forces and the previous US-backed government of Afghanistan.

“That major … risk has diminished,” he said, adding, “there are a lot of historical things to see. It’s culturally very rich.”

Touring Afghanistan as a woman

Afghan women have seen their rights rolled back in areas such as education and employment since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

But those restrictions don’t usually apply to female tourists, Unchartered Afghanistan said. “Tourists who are women will generally have the opportunity to explore Afghanistan as men do,” the company says on its website.

Emma Witters, a 56-year-old tourist and YouTuber from the United Kingdom, has visited Afghanistan solo four times since the Taliban retook Afghanistan.

Witters felt “safe” as a female tourist security-wise and had a protective tour guide. But she did run into certain challenges, she said. Her attempt to travel from Kabul to the city of Kandahar on her first trip was unsuccessful when a bus driver refused to sell her a ticket because she was traveling as a solo female, she explained. Witters had to take a flight instead.

She first went to Afghanistan in August of 2022 on a nine-day private tour with a guide. She enjoyed trekking the country so much that she extended her stay.

She befriended Afghan women who showed her around. But Witters said it became difficult to travel to certain places with Afghan female friends when the Taliban banned women from entering some public places such as parks in 2022.

Overall, Witters said she had many “memorable experiences,” adding, “the people in Afghanistan have been some of the kindest people I met ever.” Her favorite area was Nuristan, a northeastern province bordering Pakistan that’s known for the breathtaking natural beauty of its rivers, mountains and greenery.

Another memorable experience for Witters was when she drove a car through a Taliban checkpoint in the province of Ghazni on her second trip in October 2022. Taliban officials at the checkpoint stopped her and she thought they would prevent her from driving, “but they didn’t. … It was fine,” she said.

The Taliban have banned women from taking long-distance road trips in Afghanistan on their own, requiring that a male relative accompany them for any distance beyond 45 miles.

‘Afghanistan is misunderstood’

Jacqueline Gonzalez, an American woman from Virginia, visited Afghanistan this past June on a 10-day private tour with Unchartered Afghanistan, she told CNN. She explored four cities: Kabul, Herat, Kandahar and Bamiyan. 

The country had been on her bucket list and, after learning more about other tourists’ experiences on YouTube, “the risk seemed like it was worth it,” she said.

“I had seen photos and videos, but experiencing it firsthand makes you wonder and realize how archaeologically grand and historic those sites are,” Gonzalez said, adding that seeing the remains of Buddha statues in Bamiyan and Band-e-Amir park were highlights.

Her most memorable experiences, however, were meeting Afghans, she said.

“The media hardly focuses on the generosity of Afghans and seeing firsthand the warmth and hospitable attitude of Afghans made me realize how much of the story of Afghanistan is missing from the media,” she explained. “Afghanistan is misunderstood.”

Although the country struggles with basic infrastructure and cannot accommodate large-scale tourism, Gonzalez believes Afghanistan has the potential to grow its industry with time.

“I hope to live long enough to see its infrastructure strengthen and for girls and women to have equal opportunity at life,” Gonzalez said.

An experienced traveler, she said it wasn’t her first time visiting a more conservative country.

“But it was my first time in a post-war country where women are expected to take on more traditional feminine and limited roles in society,” she said, adding it took some “adjustment” on her part.

She had minimal interaction with men besides her male tour guides and focused intently on her attire, manners and behavior, she said.

“I found that because I was foreign, I was treated with respect and was given special privileges that I hope local women could one day soon have,” she said.