NarminTour

Tips & routes

Traveler's blog

Classic Uzbekistan, the Silk Road and practical tips — choose a tour with confidence.

Shah-i-Zinda: how to see more than the turquoise passage in a photograph
Cities
6 min

Shah-i-Zinda: how to see more than the turquoise passage in a photograph

In photographs Shah-i-Zinda often looks like a narrow passage between bright facades. On site it is an ensemble of mausoleums with historic and religious meaning, not one decorative building. It deserves its own part of getting to know Samarkand. The ensemble stands on its own, near ancient Afrasiab, not on Registan square. As you move, the whole view gives way to a portal, then to one ornament, then to the space between the buildings.

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Zaamin: how to plan a rest among mountains and juniper woods
6 min

Uzbekistan·15 Oct 2026

Zaamin: how to plan a rest among mountains and juniper woods

After several days of sightseeing you may want mountains and some unplanned time. Zaamin, in Jizzakh Region, is one such direction. It is known for its landscapes, including juniper woods, called archa locally. The word Zaamin does not explain the trip. A mountain hotel, a walk on a path agreed in advance, and visits to separate sites are different activities. Choose the content of the rest first, and only then build the road around it.

Nurata and the Chashma complex: a stop with a reason of its own
6 min

Routes·15 Oct 2026

Nurata and the Chashma complex: a stop with a reason of its own

Nurata is often mentioned only as a way to Aydarkul or to a yurt camp. The town deserves more than that: it has its own reason for a stop. The Chashma complex — a spring and the historic buildings beside it — is a subject of its own. It is a revered place, and a visit has to respect people who did not come for a tour. Nurata is in Navoi Region. Putting it into a trip changes the logic of the road. It is no longer a supposedly short detour “on the way”, but its own calculation of stops and time.

Termez: Buddhist heritage and another view of Uzbekistan’s history
6 min

Cities·15 Oct 2026

Termez: Buddhist heritage and another view of Uzbekistan’s history

If Uzbekistan began for you with the Registan, Bukhara and Khiva, Termez changes the historical view. Archaeology and the traces of Buddhist culture come first, beyond the familiar image of the madrasa. Build the trip around that interest, not around the wish to add another city. Ruins are clearer when you know what stood there, and when a museum can explain the finds.

Fortresses of ancient Khorezm: how to plan a trip to Ayaz-Kala and Toprak-Kala
6 min

Routes·15 Oct 2026

Fortresses of ancient Khorezm: how to plan a trip to Ayaz-Kala and Toprak-Kala

In Khiva, history surrounds you with streets and gates. At the fortresses of ancient Khorezm the feeling is different: an open horizon and the parts of the structures that survive. Ayaz-Kala and Toprak-Kala are in Karakalpakstan and belong to ancient Khorezm. They can add to a Khiva trip, but they have to be planned by the real road, not by pins on a map. These fortresses are not inside Khiva and not inside Itchan Kala.