I do not know for UK citizens, but in June/July 2014 we, as Croatian citizens, had a tourist Visa for Turkmenistan without a guide.
Try contacting Artem at Travelnotoria. He sent us letters of invitation, and, after we gave him our planned itinerary (Ashgabat-Kow Ata-Darvaza-Dashoguz-Konye Urgench), we were free to ride on our own. Excellent service from them, you just have to let them book your hotels.
It is quite possible to cross Turkmenistan in five days, especially the way we did it, but we wanted to be sure that in case something unexpected happens we have enough extra visa time.
The same was in Iran, no guide necessary, only nice and extremely friendly people, and, when we applied for the Visa at the Iranian Embassy, nobody seemed to care where we plan to go.
As I have mentioned in another thread, I would think twice before planning a ferry across the Caspian sea. We met some travelles who, once they boarded, have waited for almost a week at sea. That might be an exception, but sitting in a boat for days and not knowing what is going on seems like an experience I would rather avoid.
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