Ashgabat has an opera and ballet theatre, which shows both Russian and European works and a drama theatre.
The bazaar, where it is said that everything on earth is on sale and where the whole country seems pilgrimage to on Sundays, it is surely a tourist must.
If you are in the city centre you can see a majestic statue of Lenin. While in the western part of Ashgabat, on a pedestal made of large and small rocks placed in the middle of a pool, stands the statue of Makhtumquli, the important 18th century Turkmenian thinker and poet.
Great place in Ashgabat is the Turkmen Fine Arts Museum, noted for its impressive collection of wonderful Turkmen carpets. One of the carpets on display, among the largest and heaviest in the world, covers an area of 193.5 square meters and weighs 885 kilograms.
Very interesting is also the Turkmen History Museum, which displays a great amount of artefacts dating back to the Parthian civilisation.

Merv presents the visitors with many archaeological wonders like the Erk Kala, the Gaur Kala, the Sultan Kala, the Mohammed Ibn Saiyad M...