Is Afghanistan high up on your travel bucket list but you’re not sure whether it’s safe to travel there? This short “Is it safe to travel to Afghanistan?” article will hopefully give you a better idea of the situation in the country and advice from someone who has actually travelled there recently.
Disclaimer: This is purely my personal experience of Afghanistan. I’m not an expert, and I wouldn’t recommend visiting the country unless you feel fully confident and have genuine reasons for wanting to go.
For context, I visited Afghanistan for 11 days in September 2024. I entered the country from Tajikistan at the Shir Kan Bandar border. This is the only border in Afghanistan where you can get a visa on arrival.
I originally planned to travel solo but, thankfully, met Jacob, an American traveller who also intended to visit Afghanistan around the same time as me. So we entered and travelled through the country together, and my god, I was so grateful for his company.
Halfway through the trip, we met Bart, a Belgian traveller who has visited 180+ countries (incredible, right?). We joined him on a road trip to reach the Minaret of Jam, travelling along Afghanistan’s most untravelled central road from Kabul to Herat.
I’ll go into more detail about how why I preferred to travel with them rather than solo later in the article.
Travel advisory Afghanistan
Naturally, safety is your main concern if you’re considering travelling to Afghanistan in 2025.
I understand—media coverage or country-specific travel advisories don’t exactly inspire confidence. I mean, the UK’s FCDO explicitly advises against all travel to Afghanistan, stating:
"You should not travel to Afghanistan. The security situation is volatile. Travel throughout Afghanistan is extremely dangerous and border crossings may not be open. There is a heightened risk of British nationals being detained in Afghanistan."
This comes in addition to recent reports, such as the tragic shooting of Spanish tourists in Bamyan in April 2024, as well as the introduction of new laws further suppressing women’s rights.
Yet, according to many locals I spoke to, Afghanistan feels the safest it has been in a long time, and here’s why:
Between 2001 and 2021, the Taliban controlled large parts of the country. Crime was at an all-time high, and the roads connecting major cities, like Kabul to Kandahar and Kandahar to Herat, were notoriously dangerous.
While the Taliban’s rule has brought devastating human rights violations—particularly for women—the country has become notably safer in terms of general security. Walking around Kabul, I felt pretty safe. After speaking to some locals and asking them about the crime here, they told me it’s low because of the harsh punishment enforced on perpetrators.
Also, the Taliban are eager to gain international recognition and attract investment. To this end, keeping the country safe and stable has become one of their top priorities.
My experience of entering Afghanistan
I entered Afghanistan with a British passport, and Jacob, whom I had met just a few weeks earlier, had an American passport. Afghanistan currently welcomes all nationalities, and obtaining a visa on arrival at Shir Kan Bandar border was pretty straightforward.
The most surreal part was being stamped out of Tajikistan and crossing the bridge to the Afghanistan side. The border posts are only a few hundred metres apart, but it felt like entering a different world.
Post coming soon: Visa On Arrival at Shir Kan Bandar Border
When we were eventually stamped into Afghanistan after three hours of paperwork, the border guard said to us: “Welcome to Afghanistan; it’s safe here.”
Hmm, make it of that what you will.
My experience travelling as a women in Afghanistan
I’m a passionate advocate for women travelling solo. That said, if you can help it, I do not recommend travelling to Afghanistan as a solo woman.
I’m sure if you’re reading this post, you’re aware of the situation for women in Afghanistan. Under Taliban rule, they have been stripped of basic human rights. Afghanistan is one of the only country in the world with a policy banning girls from going to school above the age of 13. Women are not allowed to work, except for a few sectors (the only woman I encountered working was in a SIM card shop because she needs to take photos of women without their veil on). Plus, women have to be chaperoned by a male when they are travelling more than 78km from their house. They are also banned from basically exercising outside, joining gyms, or even entering parks.
The situation is beyond outgrageous. This Amensty International article articulates the situation far better than I can.
Is it safe to walk the streets in Afghanistan as a woman?
Before going to Afghanistan, I was not sure what to expect. I wondered if I’d even be able to walk the streets alone. It turns out, I could, but it wasn’t comfortable.
Here, I should also mention that Afghanistan is a male-dominated society, and it’s rare to see a woman on the streets, let alone walking alone. So, on the occasions Jacob and I went off and did our thing for a few hours, I felt extremely vulnerable and stared at. Despite wearing a hijab and being fully covered, local men leered at me, and I felt extremely uncomfortable. I felt relief when Jacob and I were back together and thought to myself, I’m so happy I’m not travelling here solo.
But even when I was with Jacob, although the majority of men were incredibly respectful and kind, we encountered some who looked down on me as a woman. On more than one occasion, men would make comments to Jacob about my appearance, such as: “Your wife needs to cover up more; everyone can see her.” The picture above shows what I wore the entire time in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan's morality police
I also had three run-ins with mullahs, Afghanistan’s so-called morality police. Read more about them here.
Twice at checkpoints, they reprimanded me for not wearing a niqab. And then once again in the centre of Kabul, a group of them called me over to scold me for not covering my nose and mouth. Only when they realised I was a tourist they waved me on without humiliating me in the street.
This experience has really stayed with me. At the time, I turned to Jacob and said, “Imagine how they would’ve treated me if I was a local woman.” As I write this article, my heart aches for the women in Afghanistan who have no choice to remain and endure these conditions. I pray for future change.
Rules for female tourists in Afghanistan
If you’re a woman and want to visit Afghanistan and have no option to travel with a male companion, I’d advise buying a burqa. It’ll make you invisible from the inquisitive eyes of men, who if they you’re a tourist, will stare. It will also reduce the risk of the mullahs giving you a hard time.
And just to prepare you, as a female travelling in Afghanistan, you’ll have less access and rights as male tourists. As a female:
- You’ll have to sit in the family room of the restaurant. This is usually upstairs or in the back of the restaurant, covered with a curtain. Here, you can take your hijab off. It’s typical for young boys to serve you as they are still regarded as children and, therefore, can see you uncovered. On the ocassions there is no family room, you’ll be rejected from entering the restaurant. Thankfully, this never happened to me but I’ve heard of this happening to other travellers.
- You may be rejected from parks and lakes, i.e. Band-e-Amir National Park and Qargha Reservoir. Bart and Jacob both told me that they were happy to travel with as they got to have a glimpse into the experience of female tourists in Afghanistan. For example, we were rejected from entering mosques, the lake at Band-e-amir National Park, and Qargha Lake because of me.
- You’ll have to wear a long dress covering everything but your hands and feet and a hijab at ALL times.
Which areas of Afghanistan are safe for tourists?
Unfortunately, advising you on the safest areas to travel to in Afghanistan is difficult because the security situation can change fast. But generally, the regions of Bamyan, Mazar-e-Sharif and Herat, and parts of Kabul are secure and safe.
The best you can do is wait til you reach Afghanistan and ask locals what they think of specific areas. But be aware of what group they come from. Afghanistan is incredibly diverse, populated by many ethnolinguistic groups: the Pashtun, Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks and Turks. For example, we met Turkmen in Kabul who told us to avoid Panjshir, a Pashtun-dominated area, but then later in the day, we met a Pashtun family who said to us that we HAD to visit Panjshir. You get my drift.
Likewise, some places we visited in Afghanistan had notoriously bad reputations both within the country and globally. However, when we got there, they turned out to be incredible. Take Kandahar, for example—our experience there was amazing, and we were welcomed with overwhelming hospitality. But on the international stage, and within Afghanistan itself, it’s known as the place where the Taliban was formed.
Tips to staying safe in Afghanistan
After visiting Afghanistan in September 2024, here are my top tips for staying safe while travelling there:
- Ask locals what they think of certain areas (keeping in mind their prejudices).
- Avoid walking alone at night (Jacob and I did this one night and instantly regretted it).
- Wear local clothing and try to blend in as much as possible.
- Never tell locals where your hotel is or where you plan to travel unless you trust them.
- Be careful when taking photos—always ask their permission. I heard of an American traveller getting into trouble with the locals (and rightly so) when he took a photo without their permission.
- Make an effort to understand Afghanistan; it’s a deeply conservative country, so be respectful.
- Bring enough cash: International cards aren’t accepted in Afghanistan, so carry enough cash to exchange for AFN. USD is king in Afghanistan, and you’ll get better rates for large, crisp notes at money exchangers.
So, is it safe to travel to Afghanistan?
I hope this short article gave you a better idea of whether travelling to Afghanistan as a tourist is safe. Personally, the idea of travelling to Afghanistan was scarier than the actual reality. The people of Afghanistan are some of the kindest and most hospitable people I’ve met on my travels. Most are so grateful and happy to see tourists (as opposed to aid workers) travelling through their country.
Aside from my experience with Afghanistan’s morality police, I felt that the Taliban were concerned about keeping us safe. At every checkpoint, they checked our travel permits and passports, and at no point did we experience threatening behaviour from them.
That being said, the Taliban’s enemy is ISIS. They operate on a small scale and are responsible for what happened to the Spanish tourists in Bamyan. So, although Afghanistan is currently the safest it has been in a long time, it comes with risks and is definitely not a safe travel destination per se.
To get up-to-date travel information on the safety and security situation in Afghanistan, my biggest advice would be to join the Afghanistan WhatsApp chat. It’s full with locals and travellers currently travelling in Afghanistan. If you contact me via Instagram, I can ask for you to be added to the Whatsapp chat.
