- Imagine staying in a boutique hotels with world famous monuments around;

- Enjoy the greatest variety of attractions Uzbekistan has to offer;

- Visit the best of Uzbekistan from treasures of Samarkand to private guided tours to the best places of Uzbekistan;

Best Private Tour of Uzbekistan with a local tour guide, specially designed & planned by a local Expert guide

12 Days Best of Uzbekistan Guided Tour of Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva, Shahrisabz & Fergana Valley. Enjoy traveling with an expert local guide and a private car with a driver. This tailor-made Best of Uzbekistan tour package is one of our favorite Uzbekistan Trips with selected exceptional activities.

Day 1. WELCOME TO UZBEKISTAN

Flight from Europe to Uzbekistan and arrival in Tashkent

Arrive in Tashkent, welcome at the airport, and transfer to the hotel for check-in. Time for rest. You will find our guide/driver with a sign, written your name/s.

Day 2. SIGHTSEEING IN TASHKENT (with a local guide)

After breakfast and some time for rest, you will start your Best of Uzbekistan Guided sightseeing journey full of cultural discoveries. In the morning we invite you to visit the most traditional and ancient part of Tashkent, where you will visit the old madrasahs, mosques, minarets, and mausoleums of Central Asian Silk Road architecture then we will move to see the best cultural attractions of Tashkent. During the visit you can visit:

• Barakhan Madrasa and the monuments of the Khastimam complex;
• Famous Chorsu Bazaar;
• A couple of beautiful stations of the metro of Tashkent; Pakhtakor and Alisher Navoi are 2 stations of metro decorated in cultural/traditional style;
• Square of Amir Temur & the Mustakillik Square.

Central Asian Plov Center is one of the best attractions of Uzbekistan. This is a place where you can see the preparation of the king of Uzbek cuisine – Plov and taste it.

Overnight in Tashkent.

Day 3. TASHKENT – URGENCH/KHIVA

Breakfast in the hotel. Early transfer to the Domestic Airport to catch a flight to Urgench (07:50). Arrive at Urgench airport at 09.20 and drive to Khiva (35 km), hotel check-in.

Today you will visit one of the most impressive places in all of Central Asia – the Ichan Kala citadel. With some 250+ monuments, this citadel is a museum under the open sky. The guided visits of the day:

• The west gate – Ata Darwaza;
• The blue minaret – Kalta Minor and its madrasa;
• The Ark citadel with its summer mosque, reception hall;
• The Observation Tower offers  a perfect panoramic view over the citadel and it can be one of the highlights of your day;
• The Tosh Khovli Palace with the Harem;
• The mausoleum of Pahlawan Mahmud with the biggest dome in the citadel;
• The madrasa Muhammad Rahimkhan;
• The woodcarving workshop which is the main craft of Khiva;
• The old slave market in the East Gate;
• The Juma mosque – a 1000-year-old mosque with unique architecture and 213 wooden columns.

Tip: An evening walk in the streets of Khiva can be one of the highlights of your trip. This is a 1001 Nights experience.

Overnight in Khiva.

Day 4. KHIVA TO BUKHARA (450km, 6-7hrs)

After breakfast, you will be transferred to Bukhara through the desert Kyzyl Kum (Red Desert). *This transfer can be made by train. The train is available 3 days a week (Tue, Fri, Su).

During the drive, you will stop to see a 3000-year-old fortress Guldursun Kala, a panoramic view of the Amu Darya River, and have lunch in a typical dessert restaurant. You will arrive in Bukhara by the end of the day. Time for rest at your hotel.

Before dinner, we invite you to take a short walk in the old city which will give you the first impression of this ancient city of the caravans.

Option: Just after leaving Khiva, you will stop in a small village where you can taste fresh Uzbek bread and see the preparation of Uzbek bread in a traditional clay oven - tandoor.

Overnight in Bukhara.

Day 5. BUKHARA (best of the old city, visits on foot with a local guide)

Breakfast at your hotel. Today you will visit some of the most beautiful monuments of Uzbekistan. Your day will be full of well-narrated stories, and the discovery of the culture and crafts of Bukhara which differs a lot from Khiva. The activities of the day:

• Mausoleum of Samanids (9^th century);
• Bolo Khauz – the mosque with 40 pillars and the citadel Ark;
• The complex Kalon with the biggest mosque, the biggest madrasa, and the highest minaret in the city;
• Famous Chor Minor with its 4 minarets;
• The monuments of Lyabi Khauz ensemble.

The highlight of the day: during the visits, we recommend having a drink on the rooftop of the restaurant Chashmain Mirob which offers a fantastic panoramic view of the architectural complex – Kalon.

Dinner with traditional dance and fashion show in the courtyard of the 19th-century madrasa in Bukhara.

Overnight in Bukhara.

Day 6. BUKHARA AND THE PALACES

Breakfast. Half-day tour to visit the monuments outside the city of Bukhara: the summer residence of the emirs of Bukhara – Sitorai Mokhi Khossa, Naqshbandi mausoleum – the center of Sufism of Central Asia.

In the afternoon you will have free time. During your free time, you can visit the Persian Miniatures workshop of master miniature painter Davlat Toshev; the workshop Oriental Puppets; and the photo gallery of a talented photographer Shavkat Boltaev where you will see amazing images from different parts of Uzbekistan which are off-tourist-routes.

If you would like to make a traditional “tea time”, we recommend you to go to the Silk Road Teahouse in the center of the old city where you can taste different sorts of tea (herbal tea, tea with saffron, ginger tea, etc.). Besides, you may go to one of the old Hammams near the trade dome Toqi Telpakfurishon for having a traditional, energetic massage and a hammam session.

Night in Bukhara.

Day 7. DRIVE TO SAMARKAND (260km, 4-5 hrs) 

Breakfast at the hotel. Drive to Samarkand. On your way to Samarkand, you can visit the Gijduvan Ceramics Workshop and Sardoba – a 600-year-old water reservoir of the caravans of the Silk Road.  

Upon arrival in Samarkand, you will be transferred to your hotel. In the afternoon you will visit 2 iconic monuments of the city: the Gur-Emir mausoleum and the majestic Registan Place with its three magnificent madrasas.

Option: If you still want to see more dances and music and traditional clothes, we recommend you the Show of traditional clothes from all history of Central Asia at the theatre El Merosi in Samarkand.

Overnight in Samarkand.

Day 8. SAMARKAND – the architectural highlight of Uzbekistan

Breakfast at the hotel. Today you will continue the visits in Samarkand with your local guide:

• The Shakhi Zinda necropolis and its 20+ mausoleums all in one place which are decorated differently from each other;
• Bibi Khanum mosque and the bazaar Siab;
• Samarkand Silk Paper Workshop and Samarkand Silk Carpets Workshop;
• Samarkand Winery Factory Khovrenko (optional);
• The Observatory of Ulugh Beg.

Samarkand is reputed for its small hidden eateries which specialize in cooking only one traditional meal. If you want to taste the real flavors of Samarkand, we can recommend you some specific teahouses of Samarkand.

In the evening, we will invite you to make a Samarkand by Night tour where you will rediscover Gur-Emir and Registan with absolutely different colors!

Overnight in Samarkand.

Day 9. SAMARKAND –  SHAKHRISABZ

Breakfast at the hotel and depart to Shakhrisabz (80km,). With its UNESCO sites, Shakhrisabz is one of the most visited in Uzbekistan. The visits to Shahrisabz:

• The crypt of Amir Temur and the mausoleum of his sons;
• The complex of the Blue Mosque with richly decorated mausoleums of the Saints;
• The impressive ruins of the White Palace of Tamerlane – Ak Saray.

After the visits, you will return to Samarkand through the picturesque Takhtakaracha mountain pass. 

Tip: the road to Samarkand passes through the mountain pass Takhtakaracha. Takhtakaracha is widely famous in Uzbekistan for its traditional cuisine – Tandir Meat (entire lamb cooked during long hours in a traditional clay oven and flavored with herbs from the mountains). If you are a meat lover, you should consider tasting the Tandoor/Tandir Meat before arriving in Samarkand.

Overnight in Samarkand.

Day 10. SAMARKAND – KOKAND (420 km)

Breakfast at the hotel. Drive to Fergana Valley, to the city of Kokand through beautiful Zerafsahn mountains, Steppes of Hunger, and picturesque mountain pass Kamchik (2300m).

You will arrive in Kokand in the afternoon. Upon arrival, you will visit the palace of Khudoyor khan and the mosque Jome. With amazing ceilings and beautiful colors of decorations, these 2 monuments are totally different from what you see in the rest of Uzbekistan.

After the visits, you will be transferred to a hotel in Kokand. Free time for rest.

Overnight in Kokand.

Day 11. KOKAND – MARGILAN – TASHKENT (410km)

Breakfast and morning drive to Rishton, to the village of ceramists. During the Soviet period, thousands of ceramists from Uzbekistan have been sent to work and live in this village and it still remained a center of ceramics in Uzbekistan. You will visit the family workshop of the famous ceramist – Rustam Usmanov. The works of Rustam Usmanov are considered one of the finest and most creative in the area.

After visiting the ceramics workshop you will continue the drive towards Margilan, the city of silk. You will visit the “Yodgorlik” Silk Factory in Margilan. Visiting the silk factory will be very interesting because you will see the full procedure of producing silk products; from the cocoons to dying, from embroidery to knitting, etc.

In the afternoon, you will be transferred to Tashkent. On the road, you will stop at the top of the Kamchik mountain pass for enjoying a great panoramic view of the mountains. You will arrive in Tashkent by the end of the day. Transfer to your hotel. Free time for rest.

Overnight in Tashkent.

Day 12. DEPARTURE FROM UZBEKISTAN

Morning transfer to the Tashkent International Airport.

*The end of our services!

The best tour of Uzbekistan in 12 Days awaits you. Hope to see you at the crossroads of the Silk Road. Good Luck!

Best time of year to visit Uzbekistan on the Best of Uzbekistan Private Guided Tour

Any time between March and June and late August through early November are good times to visit the best of Uzbekistan. However, the months of April, May, September, and October are the busiest months to travel to Uzbekistan with relatively the most comfortable weather throughout the country.