SAMARKAND · BUKHARA · 5 DAYS
Samarkand and Bukhara
The two great cities in a long weekend: two nights in each, linked by the Afrosiyob train, from and back to Tashkent.
Guide price from US$890 per person
UZBEKISTAN · 8 DAYS
Classic Uzbekistan
Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva in eight days: the four Silk Road cities, by high-speed train and across the Kyzylkum desert.
The trip
8 days, 4 places
Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva.
This is the trip most people mean when they say Uzbekistan. Four cities, each with a different character: Tashkent, the capital, for its bazaars and metro; Samarkand for the Registan; Bukhara for an old town you can walk end to end; and Khiva, a walled city that looks the way it did two centuries ago.
Trains do most of the work. The Afrosiyob high-speed service links Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara in a morning. The one long drive, from Bukhara to Khiva across the Kyzylkum desert, is part of the point: it is the stretch of road where the Silk Road feels like one.
Highlights
- The Registan at golden hour, when the tilework turns from blue to gold
- Shah-i-Zinda, a street of mausoleums in Samarkand
- A full day on foot in Bukhara's old town, 140 monuments and no traffic
- The Kyzylkum desert road and the Amu Darya crossing
- Sunset from the city walls of Khiva
The route
Where you go
- Tashkent1 night
- Samarkand2 nights
- Bukhara2 nights
- Khiva2 nights
- Length
- 8 days, 7 nights
- Starts and ends
- Tashkent
- Group
- Private, 1 to 12 travellers
- Pace
- Steady
- Best months
- April to May, September to October
- Updated
- October 2026
Day by day
The itinerary
Marker above the line: a day in one place. Marker cut by the line: a day that moves.
Day 1
Arrive in Tashkent
Tashkent · night in Tashkent · dinner
Your driver meets you at the airport. After a rest, an afternoon in the old city: the Khast Imam complex, which holds one of the oldest Qurans in the world, Chorsu Bazaar under its blue dome, and a ride on the metro, where every station is decorated differently.
Day 2
Afrosiyob train to Samarkand
Samarkand · by train · night in Samarkand · breakfast
The high-speed train takes a little over two hours. Check in, lunch in the old town, then the Registan: three madrasas around one square, best seen first in the late afternoon when the sun is low on the tiles.
Day 3
Samarkand
Samarkand · night in Samarkand · breakfast
Gur-e-Amir, Timur's mausoleum, in the morning light. Bibi-Khanym Mosque and the Siab Bazaar beside it. Shah-i-Zinda, the necropolis, after lunch, and the remains of Ulugh Beg's observatory, where a fifteenth-century astronomer measured the year to within a minute.
Day 4
Train to Bukhara
Bukhara · by train · night in Bukhara · breakfast
Ninety minutes by train. The afternoon starts at Lyabi-Hauz, the pool at the centre of the old town, and the trading domes around it, where the lanes are still named for what was sold under them.
Day 5
Bukhara
Bukhara · night in Bukhara · breakfast
The Ark fortress and the Bolo Hauz mosque opposite it. Poi Kalyan: the minaret that Genghis Khan spared, the mosque and the Mir-i-Arab madrasa. Magoki-Attori, the oldest mosque in the city, and Chor Minor. In the afternoon, the summer palace of the last emir on the edge of town.
Day 6
Across the Kyzylkum to Khiva
Khiva · by car · night in Khiva · breakfast, lunch
About 450 kilometres and six to seven hours by private car, with stops. The road runs through the Kyzylkum desert and crosses the Amu Darya into Khorezm. Arrive in time for a walk on the walls of Itchan Kala as the light goes.
Day 7
Khiva
Khiva · night in Khiva · breakfast
Itchan Kala, the walled inner city, on foot: Kalta Minor, the unfinished turquoise minaret; Kunya-Ark; the Juma Mosque with its 213 carved wooden columns; the Tash Hauli palace; and the Islam Khoja minaret, which you can climb for the view over the roofs.
Day 8
Fly to Tashkent and depart
Tashkent · by air · breakfast
Half an hour to Urgench airport and a short flight to Tashkent, timed to connect with your international departure. If your flight leaves late, we add an afternoon in Tashkent or a final night.
The price
What is included
Guide price from
US$1,390 per person
Per person, two travelling together, mid-range hotels. The final price depends on your dates, group size and hotels; we quote within a working day.
Included
- Seven nights in hand-picked hotels and guesthouses, with breakfast
- A private English-speaking guide in each city
- Private car and driver for every transfer, including the Bukhara to Khiva drive
- Afrosiyob train tickets, Tashkent to Samarkand and Samarkand to Bukhara
- The Urgench to Tashkent flight
- Entrance fees to every site in the itinerary
- Airport meeting on arrival and transfer on departure
- A local SIM card with data
Not included
- International flights
- Visa fees, where a visa is needed
- Lunches and dinners except where listed. Budget US$8 to 15 a meal; we recommend places
- Travel insurance
- Camera fees at a few monuments, paid on the spot
- Tips for guides and drivers
Questions
About this trip
Is eight days enough?
For the four cities, yes. You get a full day in each of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva plus the arrival afternoon. If you want the Fergana Valley or a night in the desert, see the twelve-day Silk Road in depth.
Train or car between the cities?
Train where it runs: it is faster and more comfortable than the road. Bukhara to Khiva is the exception. There is a slow train, but the drive takes the same time and lets you stop in the desert.
Can we reverse the route or start in Khiva?
Yes. Flying into Urgench and ending in Tashkent works well if your international flights suit it, and it puts the long drive early.
What hotels do you use?
Small hotels and guesthouses in the old towns, chosen because we have stayed in them. We can quote for a higher category on request.
More trips
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UZBEKISTAN · 12 DAYS
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Guide price from US$2,190 per person
FERGANA VALLEY · 4 DAYS
Fergana Valley crafts
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Plan this trip
Tell us your dates and who is travelling. We send a proposal for Classic Uzbekistan built around you, with a firm price, within a working day.
We reply within one working day. [email protected]