Aral Sea & Silk Road: 9 Days

Airport transfer and check-in. After a rest, a short city tour depending on your arrival time: Independence Square, Amir Timur Square, Chorsu Bazaar and a few Metro stations.

Morning flight to Nukus and a drive north to Moynaq, once a fishing port, to see the ships stranded in the sand. The local museum can be added. Continue across the Ustyurt Plateau to a yurt camp near the shore of the Aral Sea for dinner and the night.

An early walk for the sunrise if you like, breakfast at the camp and the drive back south. Stop at the Mizdakhan necropolis, one of the oldest burial grounds in the region, and the ruined fortress of Gyaur-Kala beside it, then on to Nukus for the night.

Drive to Khiva and start exploring Itchan Kala, the walled inner town: the turquoise Kalta Minor minaret, the Kunya-Ark citadel, the Tash Hauli palace and the Juma Mosque with its forest of carved wooden columns. Time to wander the lanes in the evening light.

A full day on the road, about 6 to 7 hours, crossing the Amu Darya river and the Kyzylkum Desert. Check in and take a first walk through Bukhara's old town in the late afternoon.

Morning in the old city: Lyab-i Hauz, the Po-i-Kalyan complex with the Kalyan Minaret and Mosque and the Mir-i-Arab Madrasa, the Ark fortress and Chor Minor. In the afternoon, the train to Samarkand.

A full day: Registan Square, the Gur-e-Amir Mausoleum, the Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, the Ulugbek Observatory, the Bibi-Khanym Mosque and Siyob Bazaar.

Over the mountains to Shakhrisabz, the birthplace of Amir Timur: the huge gate of the Ak-Saray palace, the Dorus-Saodat and Dorut-Tilovat complexes and the old centre. Lunch at your own choice. On the way back, see Samarkand paper being made by hand in Konigil.

Transfer to Samarkand International Airport for your flight.