Day trips from Bukhara

Distance: 4–15 km; a half day by car.

Three sights just outside the city make an easy and rewarding half day. The emir’s summer palace, Sitorai Mohi-Hosa, mixes Bukharan craft with Russian taste. The shrine of Bahauddin Naqshband, founder of the Naqshbandi Sufi order, is the most important pilgrimage site in the region. The necropolis of Chor-Bakr is laid out like a small town of family tombs.

Distance: varies; a full day by car.

Bahauddin Naqshband is the last of the Seven Saints (Yetti Pir), a line of Sufi masters of the Naqshbandi tradition buried in villages around Bukhara. Pilgrims visit all seven tombs, traditionally in a set order, in one or two days. For visitors interested in Sufism and rural life, it is an unusual way to see the oasis, its villages and its living faith. A guide who knows the shrines and their stories is essential.

Distance: about 45 km north-east; 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Gijduvan is famous for its ceramics, with warm brown, yellow and green glazes quite different from the blue pottery of Rishtan. Family workshops welcome visitors to watch the potters at work, see the kilns and buy directly from the makers; some have small museums of old pieces. The town also has an Ulugbek madrasah (1433), the third of the madrasahs built by Timur’s astronomer grandson, and the shrine of the Sufi master Abdul Khaliq Gijduvani. Gijduvan lies on the road to Samarkand and Nurata, so it can also be visited on a transfer.

Distance: about 30 km north; 30–40 minutes.

In the small town of Vobkent stands a slender brick minaret of the late 12th century, around 39 metres high, decorated with bands of patterned brick and inscriptions, a smaller relative of the Kalyan minaret. It is a short detour that combines well with Gijduvan or the road to Khiva.

Distance: about 50 km south-west; around 1 hour.

Paykend was a wealthy town of merchants on the Silk Road, inhabited from around the 4th century BC until it was abandoned around the 11th–12th century when its water supply failed. Excavations have revealed a citadel, city walls, houses, a mosque and remains of earlier temples. A small museum on site shows finds such as coins, glass, ceramics and jewellery. It is atmospheric and little visited; combine it with a stop on the way to the Turkmen border or simply as a half-day trip.

Distance: about 40 km north-west; around 1 hour.

The ruins of Varakhsha, a residence of the pre-Islamic rulers of Bukhara, stand on the edge of the desert. Its famous wall paintings are in museums; on site you see eroded mud-brick mounds. Best for archaeology enthusiasts.

Distance: about 100 km north-east; around 1.5–2 hours.

On the old caravan road towards Samarkand stand the ruins of Rabati Malik, an 11th-century royal caravanserai of which the grand entrance portal survives, and across the road a covered water cistern, the sardoba, with a brick dome over a deep reservoir. Further on is the city of Navoi. These make good stops on a road transfer between Bukhara and Samarkand rather than a separate trip.

Distance: about 200 km north-east; 3–4 hours.

The town of Nurata has the remains of a fortress attributed to Alexander the Great and a holy spring with sacred fish, around which a pilgrimage complex has grown. Beyond it, the Nuratau mountains shelter villages where homestays welcome visitors, and to the north, on the edge of the Kyzylkum desert, yurt camps stand near Lake Aydarkul. A night in a yurt camp, with a camel ride, a swim in the lake in summer, dinner around the fire and an extraordinary starry sky, is a highlight of many trips. It works best as an overnight stop between Bukhara and Samarkand.

Fast trains reach Samarkand in about 1.5–2 hours, so a day trip is technically possible, but Samarkand deserves at least two nights. See things to do in Samarkand and day trips from Samarkand.

For almost all of these trips, a car with a driver is the most practical option; public transport to the sites is slow or non-existent. In summer, leave early to avoid the midday heat, and carry water: many sites have no shade or facilities. Bring your passport, as there are police checkpoints on some roads. Dress modestly at shrines. We arrange cars, drivers, guides and yurt camp stays for all these trips.