Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in 8 days: desert castles and the Seven Lakes

Highlights

• A full day in Khiva’s Ichan-Kala
• Toprak Kala and Ayaz Kala, with a tea break in a yurt
• The Kyzylkum desert road along the Amu Darya
• Bukhara, “the Noble”, in a full day
• The Seven Lakes of the Shing valley, Tajikistan
• Samarkand by night and the high-speed train to Tashkent

By trainBy road

1. 1 KhivaDays 2–3 By road → Desert fortresses of Khorezm
2. 2 Desert fortresses of Khorezm By road → Bukhara
3. 3 BukharaDays 3–5 By road → Samarkand
4. 4 SamarkandDays 5–7
5. 5 Seven Lakes (Haft Kul) By train → Tashkent
6. 6 TashkentDays 7–8

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

1. Day 1Flight to Urgench

   Departure on an international flight to Urgench.

2. Day 2Urgench – Khiva30 km, early check-in

   Arrival at Urgench international airport, meet our team and transfer to Khiva for breakfast and early check-in. A day in Ichan-Kala (UNESCO), the best-preserved city of the Silk Road. From the Ata Darvaza west gate, visit the Muhammad Amin Khan madrasah and Kalta Minor, the Kunya-Ark fortress with its reception hall, royal mosque and harem, the Juma Mosque with 213 carved wooden columns, the Tash-Hauli Palace, the Pahlavan Mahmud mausoleum, the Islam Khoja madrasah and minaret and the royal caravanserai.

3. Day 3Khiva – desert castles – Bukhara470 km

   Drive north-east to Ellik Kala, where the Oxus once flowed through a land of fortified towns abandoned when the river changed course. Visit Toprak Kala (1st century) and Ayaz Kala (3rd century BC), with a tea break in a yurt below Ayaz Kala.

   Continue across the Kyzylkum (“red sands”) desert on a road that follows the wide bed of the Amu Darya, Central Asia’s longest river, rising in the Pamir glaciers. Arrive in Bukhara for an evening walk in the old centre.

4. Day 4Bukhara

   A full day in Bukhara, the great centre of the Silk Road. Visit the Samanid mausoleum, the Chashma-Ayub mausoleum, the Bolo-Hauz mosque and the Ark citadel, the Poi Kalyan ensemble with the 12th-century Kalyan minaret, the Kalyan mosque and the Mir-i-Arab madrasah, and the Magoki Attori mosque, once a Zoroastrian temple. See the 16th-century trading domes, the twin madrasahs of Ulugbek and Abdulaziz Khan, the Chor Minor and the Lyabi-Hauz ensemble with the Kukeldash madrasah.

5. Day 5Bukhara – Samarkand270 km

   Drive to Samarkand, Marakanda to the Greeks, founded in the 5th century BC and taken by Alexander the Great in 329 BC. Visit Registan Square, the trading centre of medieval Samarkand, then the huge Bibi-Khanym mosque and the Siab Bazaar. In the evening, Samarkand by night with Registan Square and the Gur-Emir.

6. Day 6Samarkand – Seven Lakes (Tajikistan) – Samarkand

   Drive to the Tajik border and meet our Tajik team for a day at the Seven Lakes (Haft Kul), the lakes of Marguzor, called “the seven beauties of the Shing valley”. Each lake has its own colour and each lies higher than the last: Mijgon (1,598 m), Soya and Hushyor (1,701 m), Nofin (1,778 m), Khurdak (1,900 m), Marguzor (2,139 m) and Hazorchashma (2,400 m). Legend says they are the tears of a blacksmith’s seven daughters.

   Lunch in a rural restaurant by one of the lakes, then return to Samarkand.

7. Day 7Samarkand – Tashkent by fast train

   Visit the Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, the Ulugbek Observatory with its 15th-century sextant, the Gur-Emir, the family mausoleum of Timur, and a workshop that still makes silk paper the old way. Transfer to the station for the high-speed train to Tashkent.

8. Day 8Tashkent and departure

   Panoramic tour of Tashkent with Independence Square, Amir Timur Square and the Tashkent Metro, then transfer to the airport for your international flight.

Hotels, transport & meals

Gallery

Experiences on this tour

• Desert fortresses and a yurt campClay castles of ancient Khorezm, and lunch or a night in a yurt below Ayaz Kala.
• Seven Lakes day trip from SamarkandCross into Tajikistan for a day among the turquoise lakes of the Fann Mountains.
• High-speed train across UzbekistanRide the Afrosiyob between Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara.

Questions about this tour