Uzbekistan Highlights: Tashkent, Samarkand & Bukhara

The journey

Overview

Unforgettable moments

Highlights

Your itinerary

Day by day

1. Day1
   Arrive Tashkent. Afternoon city tour+

   Your room is available for early check-in and rest before the afternoon sightseeing.

   At 2pm, we set out to explore. First is the Courage Monument, which marks the devastating 1966 earthquake that flattened much of the city. From here, we continue to the Khast-Imam Complex, the spiritual heart of Tashkent. The complex centres on the tomb of the city’s first imam, Abu Bakr Kaffal Shashi, and includes mosques, madrasahs and the Hazrat Imam Mosque, a grand 2007 addition flanked by two 53-metre minarets.

   We stroll through Independence Square, a broad ceremonial space that symbolises modern Uzbekistan, then take a ride on the Tashkent Metro, worth it for the decorated stations alone, each designed with its own Soviet-era artistic theme. Our afternoon ends at the Museum of Applied Arts, where embroidery, jewellery and hand-knotted carpets show the depth of Uzbek craft traditions.

   StayHampton by Hilton Hotel (or similar 4-star)MealsBreakfast, Dinner
2. Day2
   Train to Bukhara. Fortress, trading domes and Poi Kalyan+

   An early start this morning. We board the train to Bukhara (approx. four hours), watching the landscape shift from Tashkent’s outskirts to open plains and cotton fields.

   This afternoon’s half-day guided tour begins at the Ark Fortress, Bukhara’s oldest structure and ancient seat of power. For centuries, emirs governed from within these walls, receiving envoys and dispensing justice. From here, we walk through the trading domes, the brick-vaulted halls where Silk Road merchants once haggled over silks, spices and fine carpets. Craft stalls and small workshops still fill the arcades today.

   We pause at the Ulugbek Madrasah, the city’s oldest surviving theological college, built in 1417, and compare it with the more ornately decorated Abdul Aziz Khan Madrasah directly opposite. Together they form one of Bukhara’s classic paired ensembles. Our walk ends at Poi Kalyan Square, where we set eyes on the 'Foot of the great one' - the great minaret, the Kalyan Mosque and the Mir-i-Arab Madrasah create one of Central Asia’s most recognised architectural groups.

   StayDevon Begi Hotel (or similar 3-star)MealsBreakfast, Dinner
3. Day3
   Bukhara’s mosques, mausoleums and mulberry trees+

   This morning’s half-day exploration starts at Lyabi-Khauz Square, Bukhara’s favourite gathering spot. A wide pool reflects the surrounding madrasahs and ancient mulberry trees, while locals sit on wooden platforms sipping green tea. It’s a good place to get a feel for the city’s unhurried pace.

   From here, we visit the Magoki-Attori Mosque. The site has been a place of worship for well over a thousand years. We continue to the Bolo-Hauz Mosque, its carved wooden columns reflected in a pool at the entrance, then on to the Ismail Samani Mausoleum. Built around 905, it’s one of the earliest surviving examples of Islamic funerary architecture in Central Asia, and its baked-brick patterns change through the day as the light moves.

   A gentle walk brings us to Chashma Ayub (Prophet Job’s Well), where legend has it the prophet struck the ground with his staff and a freshwater spring appeared. The water still flows, and pilgrims have been coming here for centuries.

   The afternoon is free. Browse artisan stalls, revisit a favourite corner of the old town, or find a shaded tea house of your own.

   StayDevon Begi Hotel (or similar 3-star)MealsBreakfast, Dinner
4. Day4
   Emir’s Summer Palace, Gijduvon ceramics. On to Samarkand+

   We begin with the 19th-century Emir’s Summer Palace, Sitorai Mohi-Khosa. It’s a fascinating mix of Central Asian tilework and Russian-influenced reception halls, a reflection of how much was changing in the region’s final years of independent rule.

   From here, we continue to Gijduvon, a small town with a ceramic tradition stretching back centuries. At a family-run workshop, we watch master potters shape, paint and fire pieces by hand, using techniques passed down through six generations. The visit includes a traditional tea ceremony.

   We travel onward by road (approx. three hours) to Samarkand, the legendary capital of 14th-century warlord and empire builder, Tamerlane. Before dinner, we head to Registan Square after dark. Floodlights pick out the blues, golds and greens of the tilework across the three great madrasahs, and in the evening quiet, with the facades towering on three sides, the scale is hard to believe.

   StayAD Bellagio Hotel (or similar 3-star)MealsBreakfast, Dinner
5. Day5
   Samarkand: Shah-i-Zinda, Registan and plov dinner+

   A full day in Samarkand. We begin at the Shah-i-Zinda complex, a pilgrimage avenue of over 20 mausoleums decorated with some of the finest tilework in Central Asia. Each tomb has its own character. Cobalt, turquoise and deep blue designs line the facades, and the effect is incredible. There are a good number of steps here, and surfaces can be uneven.

   From here, we visit the Bibi-Khanym Mosque, commissioned by Tamerlane, on a scale intended to announce his capital’s power to the world. Its vast courtyard and towering portal are Timurid ambition set in stone. We then return to Registan Square in daylight, when the mosaics, arches and blue domes of the Ulugbek, Sher Dor and Tilla-Kari madrasahs show their full detail.

   This afternoon, we continue to the Gur-e-Amir Mausoleum, Tamerlane’s final resting place, where a ribbed dome in deep blues and turquoise caps a calm interior of patterned tiles and carved inscriptions. Then on to the Ulug Beg Observatory, built by Tamerlane’s astronomer-grandson, who charted over 1,000 stars with a precision that wouldn’t be matched in Europe for generations.

   This evening, we’re invited to a local family’s home for a plov dinner. Plov, Uzbekistan’s national dish, is layered with rice, carrots, onions and slow-braised meat, and sharing it at a family table is a relaxed way to end the day.

   StayAD Bellagio Hotel (or similar 3-star)MealsBreakfast, Dinner
6. Day6
   Free morning in Samarkand. High-speed train to Tashkent+

   A relaxed morning in Samarkand. Revisit a favourite spot, browse Siab Market for dried fruits, nuts and freshly baked non flatbread, or sit in a tea house and watch the city go about its day.

   In the late afternoon, we transfer to the station to board the high-speed Afrosiyob train back to Tashkent. Luggage space on the train is limited, so bags travel by road and will be waiting at the hotel on arrival. The train itself is smooth and comfortable, and the changing landscape outside the window marks the shift from Samarkand’s outskirts back to the wide boulevards of the capital.

   StayHampton by Hilton Hotel (or similar 4-star)MealsBreakfast, Dinner
7. Day7
   Tour ends in Tashkent+

   Your tour ends at the hotel after breakfast.

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   MealsBreakfast

Accommodation

Where you stay

Hotels are as planned; occasionally similar alternatives are used.

Peace of mind

What's included

• ✦6 nights’ accommodation
• ✦Meals Included: breakfast daily and 6 dinners
• ✦Itinerary as described
• ✦Services of guides and local representative
• ✦Flights from the UK can be added — ask your adviser