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Uzbekistan in Depth
Fifteen days for the whole country: the four Silk Road cities with the desert between them, a day in Shakhrisabz, and the potters and silk weavers of the Fergana Valley at the end.
- Duration
- 15 days
- Route
- Tashkent to Khiva to Bukhara to Nurata and Aydarkul to Samarkand to Shakhrisabz to Samarkand to Tashkent to Fergana Valley 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.
Fergana Valley
Silk and clay beyond the mountains
- Tashkent to Fergana Valley
- Private car with driver, over the Kamchik pass, about 5 hours.
The way back
- Fergana Valley to Tashkent
- Fast train through the Kamchik tunnel, about 4 hours 15 minutes.
This is the longest journey the house publishes. It is for someone who will come to Uzbekistan once and wants the whole country, at a pace that leaves mornings without a plan. Fifteen days covers the four Silk Road cities, the desert between them, a day in Shakhrisabz and, at the end, the Fergana Valley, for the potters of Rishtan and the looms of Margilan. Nothing is trimmed to fit. Where a shorter journey gives Bukhara a day, this one gives it two; where it gives Tashkent an afternoon, this one gives it a day.
The shape is the one the Grand Journey follows, from west to east: a flight out to Khiva, then overland through Bukhara, a night in a yurt beside Lake Aydarkul and on to Samarkand, with the capital at either end. Four nights are added. One in Tashkent at the start, for the day in the capital. A third in Bukhara, so that the workshops of the old town and the shrine of Bahauddin Naqshband outside it have a day of their own rather than an hour each. And a night in the Fergana Valley, with a second night in Tashkent beside it, because the valley over the Kamchik pass is reached from the capital: the road into it and the train out of it both start and finish there. So the valley comes last, after the train has brought you back from Samarkand, and the farewell dinner is the evening you return from Margilan.
Fifteen days is long, and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise. Two weeks in a dry country, with five days that are mostly road or rail, asks for rest: an hour in the shade after lunch, a morning left open in Samarkand, an evening in Bukhara with nothing fixed. The itinerary is built with those in it, not around them. If it is still more than you want, your travel designer will take days out rather than squeeze what remains, because a city seen at a run is not seen. The flight, the trains, the car and the yurt camp are booked before you arrive. What is left to decide, each morning, is how much of the day to use.
Night by night
Tashkent · 2 nights
Khiva · 2 nights
Bukhara · 3 nights
Aydarkul · 1 night
- Day 8
Road · about 4 h 30
- Day 8
Samarkand · 3 nights
Tashkent · 1 night
- Day 12
Train · about 2 h 10
- Day 12
Fergana Valley · 1 night
- Day 13
Road · about 5 h
- Day 13
Tashkent · 1 night
- Day 14
Train · about 4 h 15
- Day 14
Departure
- On the move
- 7 moves
- Train · about 6 h 25
- Road · 22 h 55 – 25 h 55
- Flight · about 1 h 10 in the air
- The longest day
- Day 5 · 6–8 h by road
- Stays
- 8 · 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 and brings you to your hotel. The rest of the day is yours; the city can wait until tomorrow.
- 02Day 2
Tashkent
A day in the capital. The old city around Hazrati Imam and Chorsu Bazaar in the morning, then a few stations of the metro and the Museum of Applied Arts in the afternoon.
- 03Day 3
Fly to Khiva
A morning flight to Urgench, about 1 hour 10 minutes in the air, and a short drive to Khiva. A first walk inside Itchan Kala towards evening, once the day visitors have gone.
- 04Day 4
Khiva
A whole day inside the walls, at the town's own pace: the Juma mosque and its carved wooden columns, the palaces of the khans, and a climb to the ramparts for the light at the end of the day.
- 05Day 5
Across the Kyzylkum to Bukhara
The long road east across the Kyzylkum, 6 to 8 hours of driving, with a stop on the bank of the Amu Darya. You reach Bukhara as the light goes.
- 06Day 6
Bukhara on foot
The Ark fortress first, then the Kalyan minaret and the square of Po-i-Kalyan, the trading domes in the afternoon, and the pool at Lyabi-Hauz as the evening comes.
- 07Day 7
Bukhara: workshops and shrines
The workshops of the old town in the morning, where gold is embroidered on velvet and miniatures are painted. In the afternoon the Samanid mausoleum and, outside the city, the shrine of Bahauddin Naqshband. The evening has no plan.
- 08Day 8
Nurata and a desert yurt
Drive to Nurata, about 3 hours 30 minutes, for the Chashma spring and the mosque beside it. On to the yurt camp beside Lake Aydarkul, an hour further, and a camel towards dusk.
- 09Day 9
Aydarkul to Samarkand
The lake in the morning, then the road back through Nurata and on to Samarkand, about 2 hours 45 minutes from the town. A first sight of the Registan in the evening.
- 10Day 10
Samarkand
Gur-e-Amir, where Timur is buried, then the stairway of Shah-i-Zinda, the Bibi-Khanym mosque and Siab Bazaar beside it.
- 11Day 11
Day trip to Shakhrisabz
Over the Takhtakaracha pass, about 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours each way, to the town where Timur was born. The two surviving pylons of his Ak-Saray palace, the quiet streets around them, and the road back to Samarkand for the evening.
- 12Day 12
Train to Tashkent
A free morning in Samarkand: the Ulugh Beg observatory, or nothing at all. In the afternoon the high-speed train to Tashkent, about 2 hours 10 minutes.
- 13Day 13
Over the Kamchik pass
A car with driver over the Kamchik pass into the Fergana Valley, about 5 hours. The Khudayar Khan palace in Kokand on the way in, then the potters of Rishtan at their wheels. Night in the valley.
- 14Day 14
Margilan and the train back
The silk workshops of Margilan in the morning, the pattern tied into the threads before they reach the loom. The train back through the Kamchik tunnel, about 4 hours 15 minutes, and a farewell dinner in Tashkent.
- 15Day 15
Departure
Transfer to the airport for your flight home.
What is included
- Fourteen nights, in hotels and one night in a yurt camp, with breakfast
- All transfers
- The domestic flight and every train ticket
- A car with driver on the road days
- 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, Shakhrisabz, Fergana ValleyHot: 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.