Uzbekistan & Tajikistan in 14 Days: Khiva, Bukhara, Samarkand, the Seven Lakes, Khujand and the Fergana Valley

About this trip

Day by day

• Arrival in Tashkent

  Your driver meets you at Tashkent airport with a name sign and takes you to your hotel. The rest of the day is free; if you arrive early, take an evening walk along Amir Timur Square and Broadway.

• Tashkent

  A full day with your guide: the Hazrati Imam complex, home of one of the oldest Qurans in the world, Kukeldash Madrasah and Chorsu Bazaar under its blue dome. After lunch, the most beautiful metro stations and the modernist buildings of the 1960s–80s, now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

• High-speed train to Khiva

  The 07:00 high-speed train across the Kyzylkum desert, arriving in Khiva in the afternoon (about 7 h 40 min). Your driver takes you to your hotel, and you watch the sunset over Ichan Kala from the city walls.

• Khiva

  Ichan Kala with your guide: the Kalta Minor minaret, the Kunya-Ark citadel, the Juma Mosque with its forest of carved wooden columns, Tash Hauli palace and the Pakhlavan Mahmud mausoleum. The late afternoon is free.

• Train to Bukhara

  The morning train from Khiva to Bukhara (about 4–5 hours). In the afternoon, a first walk with your guide around Lyab-i Hauz, the old trading domes and the Magoki Attori mosque.

• Bukhara

  A full day in the old city: the Kalyan minaret and mosque, the Mir-i Arab madrasah, the Ark fortress, the Bolo Hauz mosque, the 10th-century Samanid mausoleum and the four towers of Chor Minor.

• Afrosiyob train to Samarkand

  The Afrosiyob high-speed train to Samarkand (about 1 h 30 min). In the afternoon, Gur-e-Amir, the tomb of Amir Timur, and the Registan in the late afternoon light.

• Samarkand

  The tiled avenue of Shah-i-Zinda, the vast Bibi-Khanym mosque, Siab Bazaar and Ulugh Beg's 15th-century observatory. The evening is free.

• Into Tajikistan: Sarazm and the Seven Lakes

  A one-hour drive to the Jartepa–Sarazm border, where your Tajik guide and 4WD meet you on the other side. Visit Sarazm, a UNESCO site settled 5,500 years ago, and Panjakent bazaar, then drive up the Shing valley past the turquoise lakes. Dinner and the night at a guesthouse by Marguzor, the sixth lake.

• Over the mountains to Istaravshan and Khujand

  A morning by the lakes, then back down the valley and north over the Shahriston pass to Istaravshan, one of the oldest towns in Tajikistan: the Mug Teppa fortress hill, the Kok Gumbaz madrasah and the old bazaar with its knife makers. Continue to Khujand in the evening (about 8 hours with stops).

• Khujand, then across to Kokand

  A morning in Khujand, founded by Alexander the Great: the fortress on the Syr Darya, the Panjshanbe bazaar and the Sheikh Muslihiddin complex. In the afternoon, the drive to the Patar–Andarkhon border and on to Kokand, about 3 hours. The night in Kokand.

• Kokand and Rishtan

  The palace of Khudoyar Khan with its tiled facade and the Juma Mosque with its 98 wooden columns. Then Rishtan, where potters have made the valley's famous blue ceramics for centuries: watch a master at work in his family workshop. The night in Fergana or Margilan.

• Margilan and the train to Tashkent

  The Yodgorlik silk factory, where ikat is still dyed and woven by hand, and the Kumtepa bazaar when it is open. In the afternoon, the train back to Tashkent (about 4 hours), or by car over the Kamchik pass. The night in Tashkent.

• Departure

  Transfer to Tashkent airport for your flight.