The Long Caravan: 12 Days Across Uzbekistan

Our driver meets you at the airport with your welcome kit and takes you to the hotel. Rooms are available from 14:00.

A full day in the capital, then an evening flight west to Nukus.

1. 09:30Tashkent city tour

   • Courage Monument to the 1966 earthquake
   • Kaffal Shashi Mausoleum and the Khast-Imam square
   • Chorsu Bazaar under its great green dome
   • A ride on the ornate Tashkent metro
   • Museum of Applied Arts, Navoi Opera Theatre and Amir Timur Square

2. 13:00Lunch break (at own expense)

3. 18:00Early dinner in Tashkent before the flight (at own expense): we land in Nukus late

4. 20:00Flight Tashkent – Nukus (about 1 h 40 min)

   • Flight times change by season; if there is no evening flight on your date, we take the early-morning flight on day 3 instead

5. 21:40Arrival in Nukus and transfer to the hotel

Morning at the Savitsky Museum, then across the desert to Khiva (about 230 km with the detours, 4–5 hours) with stops at two ancient sites.

1. 09:00Savitsky Museum of Art

   • Russian avant-garde paintings saved from Soviet censorship
   • Some archaeology and applied-art halls may be closed for renovation

2. Short drive around central Nukus

   • Monument to the poet Berdakh
   • Karakalpak Theatre

3. 12:15Lunch break (at own expense)

4. 13:00Drive to Khiva through ancient Khorezm

   • Chilpyk, a Zoroastrian tower of silence
   • Toprak-Kala, a 3rd-century royal city

5. 18:00Arrival in Khiva and check-in

A walking tour of Ichan-Kala in the morning, free afternoon in the walled city.

1. 09:00Walking tour of Ichan-Kala (about 5 hours)

   • Mukhammad Amin Khan and Mukhammad Rakhim Khan madrasahs
   • Kalta-Minor
   • Juma Mosque
   • Pakhlavan Makhmud Mausoleum
   • Islam-Khoja, the tallest minaret in Uzbekistan

2. Tea and coffee break

3. 18:00Optional: sunset from the walls of Kunya-Ark (watchtower ticket at own expense)

A long drive along the old caravan route (about 450 km, 6–7 hours with stops) to look over the desert and the Amu Darya. Arrival in Bukhara in the late afternoon.

1. 08:00Check-out and drive Khiva – Bukhara across the Kyzylkum

2. Good to know

   • Roadside cafés are simple: we will help you order a packed lunch the day before

3. 15:30Arrival in Bukhara and check-in

A full walking day in old Bukhara.

1. 09:00Walking tour of old Bukhara (6–7 hours)

   • Lyabi-Hauz and the Magoki-Attori Mosque
   • The trading domes
   • Poi-Kalyan: Kalyan Minaret, Kalyan Mosque and Mir-i-Arab Madrasah
   • Ulugbek and Abdulaziz Khan madrasahs
   • Ark Fortress and the Bolo-Hauz Mosque
   • Ismail Samani Mausoleum and Chashma-Ayub

2. 17:30Sunset tea on a rooftop facing the Kalyan Minaret

   • A TourEast addition

A short morning tour and a free afternoon, then folklore music in a 17th-century madrasah.

1. 09:30Chor-Minor and Sitorai Mokhi-Khosa, the Emir's summer palace (3–4 hours)

2. 19:00Folklore show at the Nadir Divan-Begi madrasah

Into the Kyzylkum Desert (about 290 km, 5–6 hours of driving), with the birthplace of Ibn Sino, a family of master potters and a holy spring on the way. A long day that ends by the campfire.

1. 08:15Check-out and drive to Afshona

2. 09:00Afshona, birthplace of Ibn Sino (Avicenna)

   • Small museum of the great physician and philosopher
   • A TourEast addition

3. 10:45Gijduvan: pottery master class and lunch with a family of potters

4. 13:30Drive to Nurata (about 170 km, 3 hours)

5. 16:15Nurata

   • Chashma complex and its sacred spring
   • Ruins of the Nur fortress, said to have been founded by Alexander the Great

6. 18:30Yurt camp: camel ride, dinner by the campfire and Kazakh folk songs

   • Washrooms at the camp are shared and simple; bring a towel

A morning by the lake in the desert, a picnic lunch, then the drive to Samarkand (270 km, about 5 hours).

1. 09:00Lake Aydarkul: walk and swim on the shore (bring a swimsuit in the warm months)

2. 12:30Picnic lunch by the lake

3. 13:30Drive to Samarkand (270 km, about 5 hours with a tea stop)

4. 18:30Arrival in Samarkand and check-in

The great monuments of Samarkand and the paper makers of Konigil, then your photo shoot on the Registan in the soft evening light.

1. 09:00Sightseeing tour of Samarkand (6–7 hours)

   • Registan Square
   • Gur-Emir, the mausoleum of Amir Timur
   • Bibi-Khanym Mosque
   • Shah-i-Zinda necropolis
   • Konigil village: paper made from mulberry bark

2. Tea and coffee break

3. 18:00Photo shoot on Registan Square with a professional photographer

   • A gift from TourEast; edited photos are sent after the tour

Siab Bazaar and free time for shopping, a farewell lunch, then the evening train to Tashkent.

1. 10:00Check-out (luggage stays at the hotel), Siab Bazaar and free time

2. 13:30Farewell lunch

3. 17:40Afrosiyob train to Tashkent (about 2 h 30 min)

4. 20:12Arrival in Tashkent and transfer to the hotel

Check-out by noon and transfer to Tashkent International Airport.