Central Asia occupies the heart of the Eurasian land mass and is continental in climate, characterised by hot, dry summers and cold, bitter winters.
The low-lying desert regions of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan are best visited from April to June and from late August to November, in the pause between the weather’s worst extremes.
The summer months of July and August are extremely hot. This is when the bazaars are at their most bustling and is also the ideal season to explore the more mountainous areas, including much of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, where the high altitude winters linger long and block travel through high passes.