Uzbekistan holds the great Silk Road cities, and each of our three tours includes an Uzbekistan tour of about a week. In Tashkent we see Khast-Imam Square, Chorsu Bazaar and the Metro. Samarkand has Registan Square with the Ulugbek, Sher-Dor and Tilla-Qori madrasahs, the Gur-e Amir Mausoleum, the Bibi-Khanym Mosque and the Shah-i-Zinda Necropolis. In Bukhara we walk from Lyabi-Hauz to the Po-i-Kalyan Complex and the Ark Citadel and cook plov with a local family. Khiva’s walled inner city, Ichan-Kala, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, reached by a 460 km drive across the Kyzyl-Kum Desert.
Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva: the Silk Road cities where every one of our Central Asia tours spends its final week.
Best time to visit Uzbekistan
- Spring and autumn are the usual seasons for Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva
- Summer in the desert cities is hot, so sightseeing starts early
Uzbekistan highlights on our tours
- Samarkand: Registan, Gur-e Amir, Bibi-Khanym and Shah-i-Zinda
- Bukhara: Lyabi-Hauz, Po-i-Kalyan, the Ark Citadel and a plov master class
- Khiva: Ichan-Kala, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Tashkent: Khast-Imam Square, Chorsu Bazaar and the Metro
- The drive across the Kyzyl-Kum Desert along the Amudarya
Uzbekistan travel: common questions
How many days in Uzbekistan do the tours include?
The 3 Stans Discovery spends Days 7–14 in Uzbekistan, the Four Stans Odyssey Days 7–9 and 11–18, and the Long Road Through the 5 Stans Days 12–19, each with Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva.
How do we travel between the Silk Road cities?
By train from Tashkent to Samarkand (3 Stans and 5 Stans) or from Samarkand to Bukhara (Four Stans), by road for the other legs, and on the 3 Stans and Four Stans tours by flight from Urgench, near Khiva, back to Tashkent.
Is there a cooking class?
Yes. In Bukhara a local family welcomes us for a plov master class and dinner on all three tours.
Uzbekistan tours
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan
3 Stans Discovery: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan & Uzbekistan
14 days / 13 nightsSilk Road & mountains
A 14-day 3 Stans tour from Almaty’s canyons and mountain lakes through Kyrgyzstan’s Issyk-Kul region to Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva on the Silk Road.
from $2643 per person (10–11 travellers, 3*)
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Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan
Four Stans Odyssey
18 days / 17 nightsSilk Road & mountains
An 18-day 4 Stans tour of Central Asia through Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan: canyons and mountain lakes, Khujand and Penjikent, the Seven Lakes, then Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva.
from $3145 per person (10–11 travellers, 3*)
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Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan
The Long Road Through the 5 Stans
22 days / 21 nightsSilk Road & desert
A 22-day 5 Stans tour from Bishkek to Ashgabat: Tash-Rabat and Issyk-Kul, Charyn Canyon and Almaty, Dushanbe and Iskanderkul, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, then the Darwaza Gas Crater.
from $3490 per person (10–11 travellers, 3*)
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