- Stay in the best located hotels, at walking distance to top UNESCO sites;

- Visit the unique citadel – Ichan Kala in Khiva;

- Evening walk in Bukhara and Khiva to see how empty and magical they become after incredibly busy and crowded days;

- Get lost in local oriental bazaars where the whole space is covered with people selling anything, women with golden teeth selling fruits, men sitting and chatting in teahouses all around, very agreeable noise and colors of oriental bazaars and the unique feeling that you can be the only foreigner among thousands of people in the bazaar;

- This tour is private and it will be organized only for you, your family, friends.

Customizable, private guided trip of Uzbekistan, specially designed & tailor-made by local experts

 

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.

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Day 2. SIGHTSEEING IN TASHKENT (private guided)

After breakfast and some time for rest, you will start your journey full of cultural discoveries in Tashkent. In the morning we invite you to visit the most traditional and ancient part of Tashkent – Khastimam, where you will visit the old madrasahs, mosques, minarets, and mausoleums of Central Asian Silk Road architecture. During the visit, you can visit the biggest bazaar of Tashkent – Chorsu Bazaar. You can also visit:

• A couple of beautiful stations of the metro of Tashkent; Pakhtakor and Alisher Navoi are 2 stations of metro decorated in cultural/traditional style;
• The place Mustakillik Maidoni, the park Amir Temur and the museum of Applied Arts.

Overnight in Tashkent.

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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, and Observation tower (optional);
• 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 its unique architecture and 213 wooden columns.

Option: A La Carte dinner in the restaurant Terrassa with a beautiful view over the monuments of the city. You can also see a very typical folklore show in the madrasa Allakuli Khan.

Overnight in Khiva.

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

After breakfast, you will take a long and enjoyable drive towards Bukhara through the desert – Kyzylkum. The highlights of the day: encountering some of the rare camels in the desert, and enjoying the beautiful panoramic view of the Amu Darya River.

*You can have lunch in a desert teahouse on the road where we will recommend you enjoy delicious shashlik – kebabs.

You will arrive in Bukhara by the end of the day. Free time.

Overnight in Bukhara.

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Day 5. THE SAINT BUKHARA (visits on foot)

Bukhara used to be the biggest Central Asian marketplace for the Silk Road traders and you will really feel it when you see an uncountable number of small bazaars and caravanserais all around the old city. Today you will be walking around Bukhara to visit its most wonderful monuments. The guided 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;
• Chor Minor;
• The monuments of the Lyabi Khauz complex.

Option: The Uzbek traditional food Plov is also recognized by UNESCO as a cultural heritage of the Uzbek people.  In Bukhara, you can have a typical dinner with Plov in a traditional house.

Overnight in hotel

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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

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Day 7. TRANSFER TO SAMARKAND VIA SHAHRISABZ (320km)

Deep into the south to the road of caravans

In the morning depart Bukhara and drive to Samarkand via Shakhrisabz (275 km, 4 hrs).
Stop in Shakhrisabz for a guided city tour. Visit the ruins of the palace Ak Saray, and the architectural complexes Darut-Tilovat and Darus-Saodat. In the afternoon you will continue the drive to Samarkand (90 km, 2 h.*). Arrive in Samarkand, and check in to the hotel.

Overnight at the hotel.

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Day 8. SAMARKAND - The highlight of the trip

Have a good breakfast and depart for exploring Samarkand. Go to see the golden mausoleum of warlord Tamerlane, the majestic Registan place and its magnificent madrasahs, the Taj Mahal of Samarkand – Bibi Khanum mosque, the bazaar Siab and the fantastic necropolis Shakhi Zinda.

At night (after dinner) we can invite you to a Samarkand by Night tour to see a few monuments of the city.

Overnight in Samarkand

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Day 9. SAMARKAND

After breakfast, you will have time to visit the final attraction in Samarkand: the Samarkand Silk Paper workshop, the Observatory of Ulugh Beg, and the Afrosiyob museum.

16:00 transfer to the train station to take the Afrosiyob High-Speed train Samarkand – Tashkent (17:00). Arrive in Tashkent (19:10) and transfer to your hotel.

Overnight in Tashkent.

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Day 10.  DEPARTURE FROM TASHKENT

Early breakfast. Transfer to the International Airport of Tashkent.

 

*The end of our services!

Hope to see you in the land of the sun, the crossroads of the Silk Road. Good Luck!