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The Grand Journey across Uzbekistan
All four Silk Road cities in eleven days, with a night in a yurt beside Lake Aydarkul and a day in Shakhrisabz, the town where Timur was born.
- Duration
- 11 days
- Route
- Tashkent to Khiva to Bukhara to Nurata and Aydarkul to Samarkand to Shakhrisabz to Samarkand to Tashkent
- Best season
- April–May, September–October
- From
- Price on request
Along the route
Tashkent
Plane trees and an ancient Qur’an
Where the journey begins and ends
Khiva
A whole town inside its walls
- Tashkent to Urgench
- Domestic flight, about 1 hour 10 minutes in the air.
- Urgench to Khiva
- Private car with driver, about 40 minutes.
Bukhara
Two thousand years, on foot
- Khiva to Bukhara
- Private car with driver, across the Kyzylkum, 6 to 8 hours of driving.
Nurata and Aydarkul
A spring, a desert, a lake
- Bukhara to Aydarkul
- Private car with driver, about 4 hours 30 minutes.
Samarkand
Blue domes over Timur’s capital
- Aydarkul to Nurata
- Private car with driver, about 1 hour.
- Nurata to Samarkand
- Private car with driver, about 2 hours 45 minutes.
Shakhrisabz
Timur’s birthplace, beyond the pass
- Samarkand to Shakhrisabz
- Private car with driver, over the Takhtakaracha pass, about 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours.
The way back
- Shakhrisabz to Samarkand
- Private car with driver, over the Takhtakaracha pass, about 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours.
- Samarkand to Tashkent
- Afrosiyob high-speed train, about 2 hours 10 minutes.
Most first journeys to Uzbekistan ask you to choose between the cities. This one does not. Eleven days is enough for all four Silk Road towns, taken in the order the road itself suggests, from west to east: Khiva first, small and walled, then Bukhara, then Samarkand, with the desert and a night in a yurt between them. Tashkent opens and closes the journey. Everything that matters happens in between.
The days have a rhythm. Two nights in Khiva, two in Bukhara, three in Samarkand, so that each city has a morning without a plan. The drive across the Kyzylkum is long, and meant to be. A town approached by land arrives more slowly, and the Amu Darya is worth the stop. At Aydarkul the evening belongs to a camel, a fire and a sky with nothing in front of it. Shakhrisabz, over the pass from Samarkand, is a quieter day: the surviving portal of Timur’s palace, and the road back through the hills.
A private guide in your language is with you in every city, and your travel designer in Tashkent stays a message away. The trains, the flight, the hotels and the desert camp are arranged before you land and then left unmentioned. If you would rather add a day in the Fergana Valley or stay longer in Bukhara, say so. This route is where we begin.
Night by night
Tashkent · 1 night
Khiva · 2 nights
Bukhara · 2 nights
Aydarkul · 1 night
- Day 6
Road · about 4 h 30
- Day 6
Samarkand · 3 nights
Tashkent · 1 night
- Day 10
Train · about 2 h 10
- Day 10
Departure
- On the move
- 5 moves
- Train · about 2 h 10
- Road · 17 h 55 – 20 h 55
- Flight · about 1 h 10 in the air
- The longest day
- Day 4 · 6–8 h by road
- Stays
- 6 · at most 3 nights in one
Typical times, not a timetable, and your designer confirms each one. A flight counts its time in the air; a day trip, both ways.
Day by day
- 01Day 1
Arrival in Tashkent
Your private guide meets you at the airport. The afternoon is given to the old city: the Hazrati Imam complex, Chorsu Bazaar and a few stations of the metro.
- 02Day 2
Fly to Khiva
A morning flight to Urgench, then a short drive to Khiva. A first walk inside Itchan Kala towards evening, when the lanes are quiet.
- 03Day 3
Khiva
A whole day inside the walled town, taken slowly, ending with sunset over the minarets.
- 04Day 4
Across the Kyzylkum to Bukhara
A day’s drive across the Kyzylkum desert, with a stop on the bank of the Amu Darya. Bukhara by evening.
- 05Day 5
Bukhara
A day on foot: the Ark, Po-i-Kalyan, the trading domes and the evening at Lyabi-Hauz.
- 06Day 6
Bukhara to a desert yurt
Drive to Nurata and on to a yurt camp beside Lake Aydarkul. A camel ride towards dusk and a night under the desert sky.
- 07Day 7
Nurata to Samarkand
The Chashma spring at Nurata in the morning, then the road to Samarkand and a first sight of the Registan.
- 08Day 8
Samarkand
The Registan, Gur-e-Amir, Shah-i-Zinda and Bibi-Khanym, with time to sit still in each.
- 09Day 9
Day trip to Shakhrisabz
Over the Takhtakaracha pass to the town where Timur was born and the ruins of his Ak-Saray palace. Back in Samarkand for the evening.
- 10Day 10
Train to Tashkent
A free morning in Samarkand, then the high-speed train to Tashkent.
- 11Day 11
Departure
Transfer to the airport.
What is included
- Ten nights, in hotels and one night in a yurt camp, with breakfast
- All transfers
- Domestic flight and train tickets
- A private guide in English or Russian (other languages on request)
- Entrance fees on the programme
Not included
- International flights
- Lunches and dinners
- Travel insurance
- Tips
Month by month on this route
- January · Typical high / low 6° / −6°
- Cold: the whole route · Ask about January
- February · Typical high / low 9° / −4°
- Cold: the whole route · Ask about February
- March · Typical high / low 15° / 2°
- Unsettled: the whole route · Ask about March
- April · Typical high / low 23° / 9°
- Best: the whole route · Ask about April
- May · Typical high / low 30° / 13°
- Best: the whole route · Ask about May
- June · Typical high / low 35° / 17°
- Good: Tashkent, Samarkand, ShakhrisabzHot: Khiva, Bukhara, Nurata and Aydarkul · Ask about June
- July · Typical high / low 38° / 19°
- Hot: the whole route · Ask about July
- August · Typical high / low 36° / 17°
- Hot: the whole route · Ask about August
- September · Typical high / low 30° / 12°
- Best: the whole route · Ask about September
- October · Typical high / low 22° / 6°
- Best: the whole route · Ask about October
- November · Typical high / low 14° / 1°
- Cold: the whole route · Ask about November
- December · Typical high / low 8° / −3°
- Cold: the whole route · Ask about December
Typical conditions by month. Long-run averages, not a forecast — real days land either side.
What it costs
Price on request. A guide and a vehicle are one cost shared across the party, so the per-person figure depends on how many of you there are. Tell us your dates and party size and the proposal will carry a price.
This itinerary is a starting point. Your designer confirms every hotel, train and price with you.
ABC Tour · +998 71 269-01-95 · quality@abc-tourism.uz
Photo credits: abctour.uz/en/credits/
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Want a different route?
Tell us your dates and interests. We will plan the journey around them.