Is the Konorchek Canyon, Issyk-Kul Lake & Burana Tower Day Trip From Bishkek Worth It?

Back in May 2014, when we started traveling full time, we went 25 months without really stopping. One or two nights in most places, sleeping on trains and buses, moving on before we’d even worked out where the good coffee was. It was EXHAUSTING. These days we do it differently. Here in Bishkek, we picked a base for 4 nights and built day trips out from it instead, and this tour, three sites in one go, is exactly that kind of day out. No rental car. No route planning. No marshrutka, lack of schedules to figure out and wait around. Just a pickup, a driver called Nur Ali, and a very long day. Here’s how it actually went, and whether it’s worth doing yourself.

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The Quick Verdict

Is it worth it? The short answer: yes, mostly. We booked the All in One Day Konorchek Canyon, Issyk-Kul Lake & Burana Tower tour with Magic Tours KG, and got an early, uncrowded tower climb, a truly empty canyon viewpoint (and hike), and an exploration in a windswept lakeside town that most international visitors skip entirely. It’s a long day, 12 hours door to door, and nobody mentions the holding onto a rope and scrambling up and down rocks until you’re doing it. But for three completely different sites with zero logistics of our own to arrange, yes, it’s well worth it.

What’s Actually Included

• Return transport from Bishkek in a small-group vehicle (max 15 people). There were FOUR of us.
• A guide, Nur Ali, English and Russian speaking
• Entry fees to Burana Tower and Konorchek Canyon
• A traditional Kyrgyz lunch
• Bottled water and scenic photography stops
• NOT included: personal expenses, souvenirs, or extras beyond the set itinerary.

The Day Trip – Burana Tower, Konorchk Canyon & IssyKul Lake

This is the day as it happened for us, at about 12 hours door to door.

We were picked up in Bishkek and joined two fellow travelers already in the van, a couple of German lads (one originally Dutch, now Berlin-based) who turn out to be hardcore Hertha Berlin supporters, shirts and all. There’s a game on later that day. I don’t have the heart to tell them Hertha last won the German championship in 1931.

The Burana Tower

Our first stop is the Burana Tower, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) out of the city. We arrive around 09:20. It’s all that’s left of Balasagun, an ancient city that was part of the Karakhanid khaganate from the 9th to the 11th century. The Mongols sacked it in 1218, it had largely vanished by the 14th century, and later the Russians took its bricks for other buildings. Restoration only started in the 1970s.

What you actually see now is the tower itself, originally a 45-meter (147 feet) minaret and now standing at 25 meters (82 feet), in a field with the Tian Shan mountains behind it, if the smog in the background clear. Balbals, carved grave markers also called Kurgan Stelae, are scattered around the grounds. This isn’t a burial site itself, it’s an open-air museum where they’ve been gathered from elsewhere.

You can climb the tower. An external staircase gets you partway, then it’s a spiral internal staircase with uneven steps and no lighting. “Go now,” Nur tells us, “before the groups arrive.” We do. By the time we leave, the parking lot is full of tour buses and minivans, and I don’t fancy our chances of a quiet climb if we’d arrived an hour later.

There’s more about visiting the Burana tower, how to get there independently, and the history in my guide to the Burana Tower here.

We had around 90 minutes on this tour to spend at the Burana Tower, during which time we visit the museum and Nur Ali tells us all about the history of the place. There’s a toilet break here – the toilets in the parking lot are free and were clean, when we were there. And we hop back in the SUV and head to our next stop.

Konorchek Canyon

Next up is Konorchek Canyon, a hike up a mostly dry riverbed through red sandstone that isn’t advertised as involving hauling yourself up steep rock with a rope in places. It does. Nobody mentions that part in the marketing.

The scenery, red rock and that particular light, reminds me of a smaller, quieter version of Utah’s national parks. On the way up to the viewpoint we see NOT A SINGLE PERSON. We have the whole place to ourselves.

On the way back down we pass a group of maybe 15 to 20 people heading up. Peace shattered for someone else, not us. That’s what an early start does for you.

Issyk-Kul Lake at Balykchy

Our last stop is Issyk-Kul Lake, specifically Balykchy at the western end. Issyk-Kul is huge, 180 kilometers (110 miles) long and up to 60 kilometers (37 miles). It is technically the second largest mountain lake in the world after Lake Titicaca.

Nur describes Balykchy as a spot for “local tourists,” and he’s not wrong, it’s windy and mostly shut up for the season. There’s a decommissioned airliner being converted into a restaurant, and a row of concrete palm trees, which is about as random as it sounds.

Lunch, included in the tour, is here too. We’re in the SUV for short time before stopping for lunch – which is included – and we share family style, a selection of kebabs, Kyrgyzstan food and tea. Always tea.

Most of the lake’s actual tourism happens around Cholpon-Ata (my guide on how to get there is here), a former Soviet resort town further along the north shore with B&Bs and holiday homes, not Balykchy, but we don’t have time to get there on this day trip.

We have time to stop off along the way and buy some kumis – fermented mares milk, that we first drank in Mongolia back in 2014, its one of the specialties of Central Asian nomadic food. We’ll save drinking it until we get back to Bishkek.

We’re back in Bishkek about 12 hours after we left, and Nur drops us off before heading home to do it all again tomorrow.

Logistics of the All in One Day Konorchek Canyon Issyk-Kul Lake, Burana Tower

We were picked up at around 08:00, and were back in Bishkek, dropped just round the corner from the Brewster pub for a pizza dinner at 20:00.

Lunch was included, entry fees to the Burana Tower, there was nothing else to pay for unless you wanted snacks in Balykchy. There are public toilets for free at the Burana Tower, and there are paid for toilets at the beach in Balykchy.

We didn’t spend anything beyond the tour price itself on this visit. Lunch and entry fees are included, so budget mainly for souvenirs if you want them. We spent the equivalent of a few cents on icecreams in Balykchy

Is 12 Hours Too Long for a day trip?

When we plan a day like this, the real question is always how long we actually want at each stop. A quick photo? A couple of hours? This tour answers that for you: about an hour at Burana Tower, a few hours’ hike at Konorchek, then lunch and a wander at Balykchy, with a lot of driving in between. After 25 months of one-night stops early in our travel life, we deliberately shifted to basing ourselves somewhere for several nights and doing trips like this instead, and it’s exactly why that works.

You’l get to visit three very different, worthwhile sites, with zero logistics of your own, and be back in your own bed in Bishkek that night. The trade-off is real drive time, a full day, and some unadvertised rope work at the canyon. If you’re comfortable with a long day and a bit of scrambling, yes, it’s worth the 12 hours. If you’d rather take these three sites slowly, do them independently instead.

This day trip was short compared the one we did in Kazakhstan – a 17 hour marathon, that included lakes, canyons, hiking and a vehicle breakdown. Read about it here.

Who This Tour Is (and Isn’t) Right For

This tour suits some travelers a lot more than others.

• Good fit: if, like us, you’d rather base yourself in one place, Bishkek, for several nights and do day trips than keep moving on
• Good fit: hikers comfortable with some rope-assisted scrambling on the Konorchek Canyon section, it’s not a long hike, but its also a little unstable (and muddy) underfoot)
• Possibly not a fit: anyone with real difficulty climbing. Burana Tower’s internal staircase is unlit, uneven, and spiral, and there’s rock scrambling at the canyon too
• Possibly not a fit: if you specifically want Issyk-Kul’s more developed north shore at Cholpon-Ata rather than the quieter, “local tourism” west-end town of Balykchy this tour visits. Read our guide to visiting Issyk-Kul Lake for the fuller picture.

How It Compares to Other Options

We haven’t found another Bishkek operator selling this exact three-site combo together in one day, For us, it was the perfect option. There was no working out how to link three sites in three different directions ourself.

Although of course we did, to see which way to visit was best for us and our timeframe.

You can also do the Issyk-Kul portion independently. A seasonal train runs Bishkek to Balykchy in July and August only, leaving just before 08:00 and back at 19:00. If you’d rather see these sites on your own schedule, read our guides to Konorchek Canyon, Burana Tower and Issyk-Kul Lake, or read my guides to day trips from Bishkek and things to do in Bishkek.

FAQs about the All in One Day Konorchek Canyon Issyk-Kul Lake, Burana Tower

Here you go. The answers to the questions that don’t fit anywhere else in this post.

Is this tour worth it?

Yes, if you’re comfortable with a long day and some rope-assisted scrambling. You’ll get to see three very different sites, with a guide who knows what he’s doing, and zero logistics of your own to arrange. You can read other reviews here.

How long is the trip?

It’s about 12 hours door to door from Bishkek, and that’s not just our experience, others report the same timeframe.

Is lunch included?

Yes, a traditional Kyrgyz lunch in Balykchy is provided.

What does “Issyk-Kul” actually mean?

Issyk-Kul means “warm lake.” It’s a reference as to why the lake never freezes despite sitting at 1,607 meters (5,272 feet). Guides here reference the lake’s mineral and salt content, though other sources say that its either (thermal or geothermal activity) as the real cause.

How deep is Issyk-Kul Lake?

Issyk-Kul is the 8th deepest lake in the world, behind Lake Baikal in Siberia.

Can I visit these three places independently instead?

Yes. See our individual guides to Konorchek Canyon, Burana Tower and Issyk-Kul Lake, plus the seasonal Bishkek-Balykchy train (July and August only) as one independent option for the lake portion.

Final Verdict: Is a 12 hour day Worth It to see Burana, Konorchk & Issyk-Kul?

So, was it worth it? Yes, with conditions. We got an empty canyon viewpoint, an unhurried tower climb before the crowds, and a odd little tourist town with concrete palm trees we’d never have found on our own. What we didn’t get was a short day. Twelve hours, real drive time, and some unadvertised rope work at Konorchek that nobody warns you about. If that trade sounds fine to you, and it does to us, then book it here. If you’d rather take these three sites slowly and separately, do that instead, our individual guides will get you there. For a base-and-day-trips kind of traveler, which is exactly what we are these days, this one earns its place. We’d do it again.

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