Four Crowns: Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva

Your driver meets you at Tashkent airport and takes you to the hotel; rooms are ready from 14:00. In the afternoon your guide shows you the capital, from the religious heart of the old city to the Soviet-era centre, travelling part of the way on the ornate metro.

1. Meeting at Tashkent airport and transfer to the hotel

   • Early check-in before 14:00 is subject to availability. If you land after about 13:00, part of the city tour moves to the morning of day 8

2. 14:30Tashkent city tour (about 4 hours)

   • Khast-Imam complex, home of the 7th-century Quran of Caliph Uthman
   • Chorsu Bazaar under its green dome
   • Tashkent metro from the old city to Kosmonavtlar station
   • Museum of Applied Arts
   • Navoi Opera Theatre and Amir Timur Square

3. 18:30Return to the hotel

A morning high-speed train takes you to Samarkand in about two hours. Your Samarkand guide meets you at the station for a full day among the monuments of Timur's capital.

1. 06:50Transfer from the hotel to Tashkent North railway station

   • Early breakfast at the hotel, or a breakfast box if the restaurant opens later

2. 07:30Afrosiyob high-speed train Tashkent – Samarkand (about 2 h 15 min)

   • Train 766. Times follow the railway timetable and are confirmed with your tickets

3. 09:43Arrival in Samarkand; your guide meets you at the station

   • Luggage stays in the car until check-in

4. 10:15Samarkand sightseeing tour (about 6 hours)

   • Registan Square and its three madrasahs
   • Bibi-Khanym Mosque
   • Siab Bazaar (closed on Mondays; on a Monday the bazaar moves to day 3)
   • Shah-i-Zinda, the avenue of tiled mausoleums
   • Gur-Emir, the tomb of Amir Timur and his descendants

5. 13:30Lunch break (at own expense)

   • Your guide can suggest a place for Samarkand plov

6. 17:30Check-in at the hotel

A shorter morning on the north-eastern edge of the city: the ancient site of Afrasiab, the observatory of Ulugbek and the village of Konigil, where paper is still made from mulberry bark by hand. The afternoon is free, with the car and driver at your disposal.

1. 09:00Afrasiab Museum

   • The 7th-century Sogdian murals known as the Ambassadors' Painting

2. 10:00Ulugbek Observatory

   • The underground arc of the 15th-century sextant and a small museum

3. 10:45Mausoleum of Saint Daniel (Khoja Doniyor)

   • A long, five-domed tomb above the Siab stream

4. 11:30Konigil village and the paper mill (about 20 min drive)

   • Watch the whole process, from soaking the bark to polishing the sheets with a stone

5. 13:30Free time; car and driver at your disposal

   • If day 2 fell on a Monday, your guide takes you to Siab Bazaar before lunch. Optional: the Registan lit up after dark

About four hours by car across the Zarafshan valley, with a stop at the 11th-century caravanserai of Rabat-i-Malik. In the afternoon, a first walk through the old town of Bukhara.

1. 08:30Drive Samarkand – Bukhara (270 km, about 4 hours; about 5 hours by minivan)

2. 10:45Stop at Rabat-i-Malik

   • The portal of an 11th-century caravanserai and the domed water cistern across the road

3. 13:00Arrival in Bukhara, lunch break (at own expense) and check-in

   • Rooms are usually ready from 14:00; luggage can wait at the reception

4. 15:00Old Bukhara walking tour (3–4 hours)

   • Poi-Kalyan: Kalyan Minaret, Kalyan Mosque and Mir-i-Arab Madrasah
   • Magoki-Attori Mosque
   • Ulugbek and Abdulaziz Khan madrasahs
   • The trading domes
   • Lyabi-Hauz ensemble
   • Chor-Minor, the gatehouse with four towers

The fortress, the oldest mausoleum in the city and two places outside the walls: the summer palace of the last Emir and the shrine of Bahauddin Naqshband. In the evening you have dinner with a local family.

1. 09:00Bukhara sightseeing (5–6 hours)

   • Ark Fortress, residence of the Bukhara emirs
   • Bolo-Hauz Mosque and its carved wooden columns
   • Samanid Mausoleum, 10th century
   • Chashma-Ayub Mausoleum
   • The museums inside the Ark are reported to close on Wednesdays: on a Wednesday the Ark is visited first on the afternoon of day 4, and the rest of the day-4 walk moves to this morning

2. 12:30Lunch break (at own expense)

3. 13:30Sitorai Mokhi-Khosa, the Emir's summer palace (15 min drive)

   • Russian and Central Asian decoration under one roof

4. 15:00Bahauddin Naqshband memorial complex

   • One of the most important Sufi shrines in Central Asia

5. 16:30Free time

6. 19:00Dinner with a local family

A long day on the road that follows the old caravan route through the Kyzylkum desert and along the Amu Darya, about 6–7 hours with stops. Cafés on the way are few and simple, so the hotel can prepare a packed lunch on request.

1. 08:00Drive Bukhara – Khiva (about 450 km, 6–7 hours with stops)

   • Most of the road has been rebuilt; minivans take a little longer. From June to August the desert is often above 40 °C

2. 12:00Stop at a viewpoint over the Amu Darya

3. 13:00Lunch stop at a roadside café or packed lunch (at own expense)

4. 15:00Arrival in Khiva and check-in

   • Evening free to walk the walls of Ichan-Kala at sunset

A walking day inside Ichan-Kala, the walled inner town of Khiva. Afternoon free, then a short drive to Urgench airport and the evening flight back to the capital, landing in Tashkent late in the evening.

1. 08:45Hotel check-out

   • Luggage stays at the reception until the airport transfer; late check-out on request

2. 09:00Ichan-Kala walking tour (about 4 hours)

   • Muhammad Amin Khan and Muhammad Rakhim Khan madrasahs
   • Kalta-Minor, the unfinished turquoise minaret
   • Juma Mosque and its forest of carved wooden columns
   • Tosh-Khovli Palace
   • Pakhlavan Makhmud Mausoleum
   • Islam-Khoja Minaret, the tallest in Khiva

3. 13:00Lunch break (at own expense)

   • Your guide can suggest a courtyard restaurant inside the walls

4. 14:00Free time in Khiva

   • We suggest an early dinner in Khiva before the flight (at own expense): you reach the Tashkent hotel late

5. Transfer to Urgench airport (35 km, about 40 min)

   • Timed to the flight

6. Flight Urgench – Tashkent (about 1 h 30 min) and transfer to the hotel

   • Flight times change by season and are confirmed when you book. If no evening flight runs on your date, you fly on the morning of day 8 and night 7 is spent in Khiva

Check-out by 12:00. Free time until your transfer to Tashkent International Airport.

1. 12:00Hotel check-out

2. Transfer to Tashkent airport

   • Timed to your flight