Arrive Tashkent
In and settled. If you land early enough, the metro stations before dinner.
Uzbekistan
The Silk Road
Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva
The four Silk Road cities, joined by high-speed rail instead of eight-hour drives. Early access at Shah-i-Zinda, a working silk workshop in Bukhara, and Khiva as the quiet finish.
Suits
- Architecture and photography
- Second-time visitors to Central Asia
- Anyone who has seen the Registan in a photograph and not believed it
Day by day
Tashkent
Khast Imam, Chorsu bazaar, and plov at a centre that closes when the cauldron is empty. Evening train south.
Samarkand
Registan in the morning, Gur-e-Amir after, and Bibi-Khanym when the crowds thin.
Shah-i-Zinda early
Arranged for the first hour with a photographer who knows how the light moves down the avenue. Ulugh Beg’s observatory after.
Rail to Bukhara
Late morning train. Afternoon walking the old city, which takes twenty minutes to cross and three days to understand.
Bukhara
Poi Kalyan, the Ark, and a silk and suzani workshop where the family still dyes by hand.
Bukhara to Khiva
The long, flat drive across the Kyzylkum, which is part of the point. Into Itchan Kala before sunset.
Khiva
A walled city you can see in a day and should stay in for two. Rooftops at sunset.
Return to Tashkent
Fly or rail back east, last evening free.
Depart
Transfer to the airport.
What's included
- All accommodation as listed, with daily breakfast
- All internal transfers by private, air-conditioned car with a professional driver
- Licensed English-speaking guide for every sightseeing day (Russian on request)
- All entrance fees named in the day-by-day
- A single named trip designer, reachable by WhatsApp for the whole journey
- 24/7 on-trip support line covering your time zone
Not included
- International flights, unless the journey says otherwise
- Visas, visa fees and travel insurance (we prepare the paperwork; the fees are yours)
- Lunches and dinners other than those named
- Anything personal — minibar, laundry, spa, tips
- Optional experiences marked as add-ons