Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in 12 days: from Khujand to Khiva

Highlights

• Khujand, founded by Alexander the Great as Alexandria Eschate
• The National Museum of Antiquities in Dushanbe and its 14 m sleeping Buddha
• Ancient Penjikent and the 5,500-year-old site of Sarazm (UNESCO)
• All seven lakes of the Shing valley, up to Hazorchashma at 2,400 m
• Samarkand, Bukhara and a full day in Khiva

By airBy trainBy road

1. 1 TashkentDays 1–3 By air → Khujand
2. 2 KhujandDays 3–4 By road → Dushanbe
3. 3 DushanbeDays 4–5 By road → Penjikent
4. 4 PenjikentDays 5, 7
5. 5 Seven Lakes (Haft Kul) By road → Samarkand
6. 6 SamarkandDays 7–8 By train → Bukhara
7. 7 BukharaDays 8–10 By road → Khiva
8. 8 KhivaDays 10–12 By road → Urgench
9. 9 UrgenchDay 12

Positions are exact; lines show the order of the route, not the road.

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5
6. 6
7. 7
8. 8
9. 9
10. 10
11. 11
12. 12

1. Day 1Arrival in Tashkent

   International flight to Tashkent. Meet our team and transfer to the hotel.

2. Day 2Tashkent

   Sightseeing in Tashkent, almost entirely rebuilt after the 1966 earthquake. The Khast-Imam complex with the Barak Khan madrasah, the Kaffal Shashi mausoleum and the Juma mosque, the Chorsu Bazaar, then the modern city with the Navoi Opera and Ballet Theatre, Independence Square, Amir Timur Square and the Tashkent Metro.

3. Day 3Tashkent – KhujandAbout 170 km

   Drive to the Uzbek–Tajik border and through customs; meet our Tajik team and continue to Khujand, founded by Alexander the Great in 329 BC as Alexandria Eschate, “the farthest Alexandria”, on the Syr Darya (the Jaxartes of the Greeks). Visit Tajikistan’s second city and capital of the Sughd region, with the central mosque, the lively Panjshanbe bazaar, the mosque and madrasah of Sheikh Muslihiddin and the Timur Malik fortress with the central park.

4. Day 4Khujand – DushanbeAbout 300 km, 5–6 hours

   Drive through the mountains and valleys of Tajikistan to Dushanbe. Visit the National Museum of Antiquities, home of the 14-metre Buddha in Nirvana (usually closed on Mondays), walk along Rudaki Avenue, see the Ismail Samani monument and the Botanical Garden.

5. Day 5Dushanbe – Penjikent270–300 km, 5–7 hours

   Cross the mountains on the scenic road to Penjikent in the fertile Zeravshan valley. Founded in the 5th century AD, it was one of the great centres of Sogdian civilisation and is often called the “Pompeii of Central Asia”. Visit the Rudaki Museum and the ruins of ancient Penjikent, with the fortified city, the frescoed palace and the old Zoroastrian temples.

6. Day 6Sarazm and the Seven Lakes

   Visit Sarazm (UNESCO), one of the oldest settlements in Central Asia, about 5,500 years old, with traces of early farming, metal-working and trade. Then an excursion into the Seven Lakes of Marguzor in the Shing valley, each a different shade from turquoise to deep blue and emerald, Mijgon, Soya, Hushyor, Nofin, Khurdak and Marguzor up to Hazorchashma at about 2,400 m. Return to Penjikent.

7. Day 7Penjikent – Samarkand

   Cross the Tajik–Uzbek border, meet our Uzbek team and drive to Samarkand. Visit Registan Square with the Ulugbek, Sher-Dor and Tilla-Kari madrasahs, the huge Bibi-Khanym mosque that Timur built for his favourite wife and the Siab Bazaar.

8. Day 8Samarkand – Bukhara by train

   A full day in Samarkand with the Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, the Ulugbek Observatory, the Gur-Emir mausoleum of Timur and a workshop where silk paper is still made by hand. Evening train to Bukhara.

9. Day 9Bukhara

   A full day in Bukhara with the Samanid mausoleum, Chashma-Ayub, the Bolo-Hauz mosque, the Ark citadel, the Poi Kalyan ensemble, the Magoki Attori mosque, the 16th-century trading domes, the twin madrasahs of Ulugbek and Abdulaziz Khan, the Chor Minor and the Lyabi-Hauz ensemble.

10. Day 10Bukhara – Khiva450 km

    Drive to Khiva across the Kyzylkum (“red sands”) desert, along the edge of the wide bed of the Amu Darya. Check in at the hotel in Khiva.

11. Day 11Khiva

    A full day in Ichan-Kala (UNESCO), from the Ata Darvaza west gate to the Muhammad Amin Khan madrasah and Kalta Minor, the Kunya-Ark, the Juma Mosque, the Tash-Hauli Palace, the Pahlavan Mahmud mausoleum, the Islam Khoja madrasah and minaret, the Palvan Darvaza east gate, the Ak mosque, the Allakuli Khan and Kutlimurad madrasahs and the royal caravanserai.

12. Day 12Khiva – Urgench and departure

    Transfer to Urgench international airport for your flight home (for example via Istanbul).

Hotels, transport & meals

Gallery

Experiences on this tour

• Seven Lakes day trip from SamarkandCross into Tajikistan for a day among the turquoise lakes of the Fann Mountains.

Questions about this tour