Journey to the Past: Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva

Key highlights

What awaits you

Itinerary

Day-by-day program

1. 01

   Day 1 — Arrival

   • Samarkand
   • Arrival in Samarkand.
   • Airport meet and greet, hotel check-in from 14:00.
   • Free time without transport or guided services.
   • Samarkand is one of the world's oldest cities, capital of legendary Sogdiana — Marakanda, and later capital of Tamerlane's vast empire.
   • A museum city, the heart of Silk Road caravan trade, Samarkand has beautifully preserved the unique aura of Asian medieval times to this day.
   • Overnight at the hotel.
2. 02

   Day 2 — Excursion

   • Samarkand
   • Breakfast at the hotel.
   • Samarkand city tour: Central Asia's most famous square — Registan, surrounded by three monumental madrasahs — Sher-Dor, Tillya-Kori, and Ulugbek madrasah; Gur-Emir mausoleum — the grand dynastic tomb of Tamerlane, which served as a prototype for Humayun's tomb in Delhi and the Taj Mahal in Agra; Central Asia's largest cathedral mosque — Bibi-Khanym, executed with regal beauty;
   • Samarkand's largest market — Siab Bazaar; architectural ensemble of 11 medieval mausoleums — Shah-i-Zinda;
   • Ulugbek Observatory Museum, one of the most significant observatories of the Middle Ages, where underground a fragment of the giant sextant has been preserved
   • Overnight at the hotel.
3. 03

   Day 3 — Arrival

   • Samarkand – Gijduvan – Bukhara (280 km, 4.5 hrs)
   • Breakfast at the hotel.
   • Transfer to Gijduvan. Visit to the Narzullaev family — hereditary master potters.
   • Introduction to the Gijduvan pottery school, the process of making, firing, and painting ceramics.
   • Lunch at the potters' home: tasting of famous Gijduvan kebabs.
   • Transfer to Bukhara, another ancient city of Uzbekistan through which the Great Silk Road also passed.
   • Medieval Bukhara was one of the main political, cultural, and religious centers of the Middle East.
   • More than 140 architectural monuments are beautifully preserved here, including grand madrasahs, mosques, and the city's famous symbol — the
   • Kalon minaret, Ark Fortress, functioning medieval baths, and trading domes. The historic center of
   • Bukhara is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. On arrival in Bukhara, hotel check-in.
   • Bukhara city tour: Labi-Hauz ensemble — Bukhara's most famous square with an artificial pond, surrounded by Kukeldash madrasah, Nadir Divanbegi madrasah, a khanaka, the famous monument to Khoja Nasreddin, and many cozy cafés.
   • Visit to the 16th-century covered bazaar trading quarter with folk craft workshops.
   • Overnight at the hotel.
4. 04

   Day 4 — Excursion

   • Bukhara
   • Breakfast at the hotel.
   • Continued Bukhara city tour: Samanid Mausoleum — a dynastic tomb combining Sogdian and Islamic architectural traditions;
   • Chashma Ayub — an unusual mausoleum in the shape of an elongated prism, linked to biblical legends of the wandering Job; Bolo-Hauz complex — a monument of Bukhara's monumental Registan, consisting of a pool, minaret, and mosque decorated with 20 carved columns; citadel of ancient Bukhara, a «city within a city» — the ancient Ark Fortress; the oldest building on the ceremonial square, the central ensemble and main symbol of Bukhara — Poi-Kalon complex; stunningly beautiful Abdulaziz-Khan madrasah, richly decorated with intricate ornaments; strict and balanced Ulugbek madrasah;
   • Suburban sightseeing: summer residence of the last Bukharan emir — Sitorai Mokhi-Khosa Palace;
   • «Central Asian Mecca» — memorial complex of the famous philosopher and Sufi of the East
   • Bahauddin Naqshbandi
   • Overnight at the hotel.
5. 05

   Day 5 — Arrival

   • Bukhara – Khiva (440 km, 8 hrs)
   • Breakfast at the hotel.
   • Transfer to Khiva through the famous Kyzylkum Desert along the Amu Darya River.
   • The excursion follows the same road along which countless Silk Road caravans once slowly moved.
   • «Kyzylkum» translates from Turkic as «red sands».
   • The sand here truly has a reddish tint.
   • Several stops will be made along the way: at the Amu Darya
   • viewpoint and for a walk on the sand dunes.
   • Arrival in Khiva.
   • Walk through the historic district — Itchan Kala (18th century) — the inner part of Old Khiva, a state museum-reserve surrounded by a mighty fortress wall.
   • Overnight at the hotel.
6. 06

   Day 6 — Excursion

   • Khiva
   • Breakfast at the hotel. Khiva, more than 2,500 years old, is a vivid and almost untouched-by-time example of a medieval Eastern city.
   • Itchan Kala will appear as living streets from an Eastern fairy tale, where every building is a unique architectural monument and a separate attraction.
   • Khiva city tour (Itchan Kala): Pakhlavan Mahmud complex, considered a place of pilgrimage; Kunya-Ark Fortress — the heart of Itchan Kala, the rulers' citadel and another «city within a city»; Islam Khodja madrasah and minaret — symbol of the city, Khiva's tallest minaret (56.6 m), offering a fairy-tale view of the entire city; Tash-Hauli Palace — main residence of Khivan rulers; Alakuli Khan madrasah, housing the Avicenna Museum of Medical History; Juma Mosque — central and most unusual mosque of Khiva with 213 carved wooden columns; Muhammad Amin Khan minaret and madrasah — Khiva's largest madrasah and one of the largest in Central Asia
   • Overnight at the hotel.
7. 07

   Day 7 — Departure

   • Khiva – Urgench (40 km, 1 hr)
   • Breakfast at the hotel.
   • Group transfer from Khiva to Urgench airport for return flight.