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.
Guide price from US$1,390 per person
KARAKALPAKSTAN · 4 DAYS
Karakalpakstan and the Aral Sea
The Savitsky collection in Nukus, the ship graveyard at Moynaq, a night on the old seabed and the desert fortresses of Khorezm.
The trip
4 days, 3 places
Nukus, Aral Sea camp and Khiva.
Karakalpakstan is the far west of Uzbekistan and nothing like the Silk Road cities. Nukus holds the Savitsky Museum, a collection of Soviet avant-garde painting that survived because it was hidden here. Moynaq was a fishing port; its boats now sit on sand, 150 kilometres from the water.
We drive out across the old seabed to the shore the Aral Sea has retreated to, sleep in a yurt camp on the Ustyurt plateau, and come back through the ruined fortresses of ancient Khorezm. It ends in Khiva, so it joins any of our other trips.
Highlights
- The Savitsky Museum, the second-largest collection of Russian avant-garde art in the world
- The ship graveyard at Moynaq
- Sunset and sunrise on the shore of the Aral Sea
- Ayaz-Kala and Toprak-Kala, mud fortresses two thousand years old
The route
Where you go
- Nukus1 night
- Aral Sea camp1 night
- Nukus1 night
- Khivaend
- Length
- 4 days, 3 nights
- Starts and ends
- Tashkent to Khiva
- Group
- Private, 1 to 6 travellers
- Pace
- Full days
- 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
Fly to Nukus
Nukus · by air · night in Nukus · breakfast
The morning flight from Tashkent. An afternoon at the Savitsky Museum with a curator-trained guide, and the Mizdakhan necropolis outside the city at sunset.
Day 2
Moynaq and the Ustyurt plateau
Aral Sea camp · by car · night in Yurt camp · breakfast, lunch, dinner
North to Moynaq, three hours, to the ships on the sand and the small museum of the fishing fleet. Then by 4x4 across the dry seabed and up onto the Ustyurt plateau to the yurt camp above the present shore. Swim if you dare: the water is now saltier than the Dead Sea.
Day 3
Back to Nukus
Nukus · by car · night in Nukus · breakfast, lunch
Sunrise over the water. The long way back through Sudochye lake, where the birds are, and Kungrad. Dinner in Nukus.
Day 4
The fortresses of Khorezm, to Khiva
Khiva · by car · breakfast
Toprak-Kala, Ayaz-Kala and Kyzyl-Kala, the desert fortresses of the ancient Khorezmian kings, on the road east. Arrive in Khiva by mid-afternoon, or go straight to Urgench airport.
The price
What is included
Guide price from
US$790 per person
Per person, two travelling together. The final price depends on your dates, group size and hotels; we quote within a working day.
Included
- Two nights in Nukus and one in a yurt camp on the Ustyurt plateau, with breakfast
- The Tashkent to Nukus flight
- A private English-speaking guide throughout
- Private 4x4 and driver for the whole route
- Entrance fees, including the Savitsky Museum
- Full board at the camp
Not included
- International flights
- Lunches and dinners except where listed
- Travel insurance
- Tips
Questions
About this trip
How rough is the drive to the sea?
Four to five hours each way on tracks, in a proper 4x4. It is long and dusty rather than dangerous. The camp has beds, a shower and a cook.
Can we do it without the overnight at the sea?
Yes: a three-day version visits Moynaq as a day trip from Nukus and skips the plateau. The shore is the reason to go, though.
More trips
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Guide price from US$890 per person
UZBEKISTAN · 12 DAYS
Silk Road in depth
The four cities plus the Fergana Valley's silk and ceramics, Timur's birthplace at Shakhrisabz, and a night in a yurt in the Kyzylkum.
Guide price from US$2,190 per person
Plan this trip
Tell us your dates and who is travelling. We send a proposal for Karakalpakstan and the Aral Sea built around you, with a firm price, within a working day.
We reply within one working day. [email protected]