Europe to South Asia over land

This article is an itinerary.

Overview

There are several ways to go from Europe to South Asia overland.

All require some caution. Roads are poor in many areas and some are impassable in winter or in monsoon season. Various mountain and desert areas can be quite dangerous if appropriate care is not taken. So can some of the inhabitants. Most are friendly, curious and helpful, but the traveler needs some understanding of local customs and must take some care not to give offense.

Options

The Silk Road

All of the Silk Road routes travel through areas in which the political (and consequently security) situation can change within the blink of an eye, and really, things were far from perfect to begin with. The border areas of Iran-Pakistan, Pakistan-India, and obviously any border with Afghanistan in particular are currently quite hazardous. Consulting your countries' travel advisories and staying in tune with world news for signs of problems is a smart idea.

• Istanbul to New Delhi over land: Turkey - Iran - (Afghanistan) - Pakistan - India
• Alternatively: Turkey - Georgia - Azerbaijan - Turkmenistan - Uzbekistan - Kyrgyzstan - China - Pakistan - India
• Alternatively: Turkey - Georgia - Armenia - Iran - (Afghanistan) - Pakistan - India

See also Silk Road

Through Russia

There are many ways to go to South Asia through Russia, but since traveling in Afghanistan is hardly possible you'll have to go through Iran or China. That gives the following options:

Russia to Iran

• Through the Caucasus, then following the Silk Road
• Via Central Asia

Russia to South Asia via China

• From Russia to Central Asia, then into China in one of these ways:
  • Northwest China, road or rail from Almaty, Kazakhstan to Urumqi. See Moscow to Urumqi for details.
  • It may be possible to cross China's Western border further South, following the Silk Road toward Kashgar. This would involve some roads that have seen very few tourists.
  • From the North, road or Trans-Siberian Railway to Ulan Ude, into Mongolia to Ulaanbaatar and on into China
  • Trans-Siberian Railway all the way to Beijing
  • From the Northeast (if you want to visit Eastern Russia), Southwest from Vladivostok to Harbin
• From China, there are several routes toward South Asia
  • In the West, from Kashi, South over the Karakoram Highway into Pakistan
  • In the center, through Tibet to Kathmandu
  • in the South, from Kunming into Myanmar, but visas for this may be difficult
  • in the South, from Nanning into Vietnam