Day 1 (Fri, 12 Sep 2025): Arrive into Urgench with Turkish Airlines – Drive to Khiva (30 kms)



Early morning arrival into Urgench. Upon arrival, please clear the immigration formalities, collect your luggage and make you way to the exit where you will be met by our representative and transferred to your hotel in Khiva. Check in to your hotel (your room will be available for immediate occupancy).

Late morning, start your tour of Khiva. It is a city meant for walking. It is compact, well looked after and basks in a beautiful desert light. This walking tour takes in all the major sights of the Ichan Kala - the citadel - where we will see the truncated Kalta Minor minaret, the Kunya Ark, the Madrasah Rakhimkhon, the Mausoleum of Pakhlavan Makhmud and Islam Khodja minaret - from the latter you will get a view of the entire town around you and the desert beyond. As you walk around you relive the history around you - the town is thought to date back more than 2,000 years. What you see now would not be dissimilar to the city that the Russian army stormed in 1873 in their conquest of Central Asia. The ravages of modern development have been largely kept away from the citadel itself, which adds to its charm.

Late afternoon, continue to the Friday Mosque and Tashauli Palace, including the harem, before returning to your hotel.

Overnight in Khiva, Hotel Malika Kheivak (Breakfast)

Day 2 (Sat, 13 Sep 2025): Khiva

After breakfast, continue with your excursion with your guide. Visit the textile centre, “Operation Mercy” in the Ichan Kala. At Operation Mercy, local ladies weave

Timurid design silk rugs and embroider traditional Suzani textiles with silk dyed in natural colours.

You will also get to see the carpet weaving process. You can spend time at the centre, talking to the artisans and learning about the history of these ancient crafts.

Lunch will be at the centre, and you will get see and participate in the cooking of their National Dish, called Plov.

Return to your hotel after lunch and spend the rest of the day is at leisure.

Overnight in Khiva, Hotel Malika Kheivak (Breakfast and Lunch)

Day 3 (Sun, 14 Sep 2025): Khiva - Bukhara by road (470 kms, 6-7 hours)

Transfer to Khiva railway station, where you will board your train to Bukhara (it will be a journey through the desert).

Morning drive to Bukhara via the famous Kizil Kum (Red sands) desert. The Great Silk Road once routed through Bukhara and Khiva, across desert - along the path of the modern road that we will use. You will see the desert flora and fauna: unique saksaul trees and other vegetation, and different kind of mammals. Stop en-route at Amudarya riverbank (the fabled ‘Oxus’ of Antiquity).

On arrival check into your hotel.

Overnight in Bukhara, Hotel Paradise Plaza (Breakfast)

Day 4 (Mon, 15 Sep 2025): Bukhara

After breakfast, leave for a walk around the old town with your guide and explore Bukhara. Walk through the surviving Jewish part of the old city; stroll around the ancient domes which have interesting shops featuring new and old pieces of art, from hand-made shoes to local ceramics. You can find traditional metallic embroidery still being done in the small madrasas.

Visit Ark Fortress, Balakhauz Mosque and the Mausoleum of Ismail Samanid - Chashma Ayub.

Dinner (a traditional meal) will be at a local Uzbek home, that of Rakhmon Toshev – one of the best Suzani makers in Uzbekistan. You will be able to visit his workshop and see his great collection of antique Suzanis (handmade tapestries) with a lot of colourful patterns. You will be able to learn about the ancient Suzanis and their history over dinner.

Overnight in Bukhara, Hotel Paradise Plaza (Breakfast and Dinner)

Day 5 (Tue, 16 Sep 2025): Bukhara - Samarkand by train (15:50-17:25, schedule subject to change)

Continue exploring the incredible city of Bukhara, one of the most famous cities of medieval Islamic times, and home to hundreds of registered monuments. On today's tour you will visit some of the main highlights (listed below), as well some lesser-known sights along the way. Lab-i-khauz ensemble - modern centre of traditional Uzbekistan; Madrassah Nadirkhon Devanbegi, Khanaga, Mogaki Attari mosque, Poi Kalon Minaret and Mosque, and Madrassahs Aziz Khan and Ulugbek.

Afternoon transfer to the railway station to board your train to Samarkand.

On arrival you will be met at the station and transferred to your hotel.

Overnight in Samarkand, Hotel Kosh Hovuz (Breakfast)

Day 6 (Wed, 17 Sep 2025): Samarkand

Start your excursion after breakfast.

Visit the highlight of the city, Registan Square. From there, continue to Gur Emir- Amir Timur’s Mausoleum; Bibi-Khanum Mosque which is famous for the lectern which used to hold the Holy Koran of Caliph Osman, and stroll through the local market.

Later, visit the “Happy Bird” art gallery, housed in a historic, caravanserai building from the previous century. Luxury Uzbek handmade carpets, traditional clothing, mottled pottery, vintage jewellery, paintings, Suzanis embroidered with ingenious patterns, figurines, and graphics adorn the art gallery.

Enjoy an outdoor dinner at the home of Ilkhom Ibragimov, where you will have the opportunity to taste more of Uzbek home-cooked food and authentic Uzbek hospitality.

Overnight in Samarkand, Hotel Kosh Hovuz (Breakfast and Dinner)

Day 7 (Thu, 18 Sep 2025): Samarkand – Gus Village – Samarkand (100 kms, round trip)

Visit an embroiderer's house at the village Gus which is 50 kms from Samarkand. Here you can learn more about the art of creating Suzanis, their significance and history. Lunch will be with the hosts.

Return to Samarkand after lunch.

Overnight in Samarkand, Hotel Kosh Hovuz (Breakfast and Lunch)

Day 8 (Fri, 19 Sep 2025): Samarkand – Tashkent by train (17:28-19:44, schedule subject to change)

Start your morning with a visit to the Shahi Zinda necropolis. Later, continue to Ulugbek’s Observatory constructed by Ulugbek (Grandson of the Great Amir Temur) in 1428-1429.

Also visit the ancient settlement of Afrosiab, which is situated on the spurs of Chupan-Ata hills to the north-east of present-day Samarkand. According to the legend, it was here, on the banks of the river Siab, that the Turanian king and hero Afrosiab, a character of the folk epic ‘Shahnama’, founded the town that became the capital of Sogdiana.

Later you will head to Konigil village (10 km from Samarkand) to visit the paper-making workshop. For a long time, Samarkand was famous as a centre of a high-quality paper manufacturing. In the workshop of a talented master, you will see how the rind of the mulberry tree turns into paper. Here you will be able to try your hand at the unique process of hand-made paper production: cleaning tree branches from the bark, polishing paper with a stone and painting it.

Transfer to the railway station to board your train to Tashkent. On arrival you will be met at the station and transferred to your hotel.

Overnight in Tashkent, Lotte City Hotel (Breakfast)

Day 9 (Sat, 20 Sep 2025): Tashkent – Margilan by train (17:20 - 22:20, schedule subject to change)

Today morning you will visit the Sanat Art Museum, an important museum for traditional Uzbek textiles, as well as other objects of art. Then visit the Chorsu Bazaar and sample all the chaikhana food.

Later transfer to the railway station to catch the train to Margilan. You will be transferred to your

hotel on arrival.

Overnight in Fergana Valley, Hotel Grand Fergana (Breakfast)

Day 10 (Sun, 21 Sep 2025): Margilan (Fergana Valley)

Margilan is famous for its wonderful and fine silks. Marghilanian silk was in great demand in Baghdad, Cairo and Athens and one of the important trade items of the Great Silk Road. It is still the most important silk production centre in Uzbekistan as well as Central Asia and probably the only place you can find master weavers making hand-woven ikat.

You will visit a workshop where the original handmade method of silk ikat production is still in use. You will also visit Yodigarlik silk processing factory and Saidahmad Hoja Ehsan Madrasa where you can find craftsmen and block print masters working, creating velvet ikat, adras ikat and silk rugs.

Time permitting, you will also get to meet the Master Weaver, Rosuljon Mirzaakhmedov who was awarded by UNESCO for promoting and preserving the art of weaving the particularly complicated and luxurious velvet ikat.

A must visit, if you are there on a Sunday, is the Margilan Sunday Market. It is a very local market and like being in a time capsule. Here you can get everything, from food to fabrics. You can also visit Rishtan – the centre of unique, glazed ceramic production in Uzbekistan. Later in the afternoon, continue to Kokand where we will visit the major sights: Khudayar Khan Palace, Jommi Mosque, Narbutabey and Dasturkhanchi Madrassah, Royal Cemetery and Khaidarov Workshop (Museum of Kokand Woodcraft).

Return to your hotel.

Overnight in Fergana Valley, Hotel Grand Fergana (Breakfast)

Day 11 (Mon, 22 Sep 2025): Fergana - Departure

You will be transferred to the airport for your departure flight.