Aral Sea to Samarkand: 13 Days
Nukus – Moynaq – Khiva – Bukhara – Samarkand, Uzbekistan
13 Days / 12 Nights
Max 10 People
Moderate
Tour Guide
Meals Included
Description
A journey for travellers who want more than the postcard views. It starts in Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan's far north-west: the Savitsky Museum in Nukus with its famous collection of banned Soviet-era avant-garde art, the hilltop necropolis of Mizdakhan, and Moynaq, once a busy fishing port on the Aral Sea, where rusting ships now stand in the sand.
From there the route follows the Silk Road south: the clay fortresses of ancient Khorezm, Khiva, the desert road to Bukhara, Samarkand and Shakhrisabz. Days in Karakalpakstan involve long drives on quiet desert roads; the rest of the trip is easy.
Not included: international flights, lunches and dinners, travel insurance, camera fees at some monuments, tips and personal expenses.
Itinerary
Airport pick-up, check-in and a free day to rest after the flight.
A full day in the capital: the Hazrati Imam complex, Chorsu Bazaar and the Kukeldash Madrasa in the old town, the Museum of Applied Arts, Independence and Amir Timur squares, and a ride through the decorated metro.
Morning flight to Nukus. Visit the Savitsky Museum, which holds one of the world's largest collections of Russian avant-garde art alongside Karakalpak jewellery and textiles. In the late afternoon, drive out to the Mizdakhan necropolis and the ruins of Gyaur-Kala on the hills outside the city.
About 3 hours north to Moynaq, a fishing town the Aral Sea has left far behind. See the ship graveyard on the old seabed and the small local museum, which tells how the sea disappeared. Return to Nukus in the evening.
Drive south through the Elliq-Qala oasis, stopping at Toprak-Kala, a palace-city of the ancient Khorezm kings, and at the hilltop towers of Ayaz-Kala above the Kyzylkum. Arrive in Khiva in the late afternoon.
A full day in Itchan Kala: the Kunya-Ark citadel, the Juma Mosque, the Tash Hauli palace, the Pahlavan Mahmud Mausoleum, the Kalta Minor and Islam Khoja minarets. Free evening in the old town.
About 450 km by road along the Amu Darya and through the desert, arriving in Bukhara in the late afternoon.
Lyab-i Hauz, the trading domes, the Magoki Attori Mosque, the Kalyan Minaret and Po-i-Kalyan, the Ark fortress, the Bolo Hauz Mosque and the Samanid Mausoleum.
Morning at the Sitorai Mokhi-Khosa summer palace and the Bahauddin Naqshband complex. Free afternoon for Bukhara's craft workshops and tea houses.
Morning train to Samarkand. In the afternoon, Registan Square and the Gur-e-Amir Mausoleum, and Registan again after dark if you wish.
Shah-i-Zinda, the Bibi-Khanym Mosque, Siyob Bazaar and the Ulugh Beg Observatory, then the Meros workshop in Konigil village, where paper is still made by hand from mulberry bark.
Day trip over the Takhtakaracha Pass to Shakhrisabz: the Ak-Saray palace, the Kok Gumbaz Mosque and the Dorus Saodat complex. Back in Samarkand for the evening high-speed train to Tashkent.
Breakfast and transfer to Tashkent International Airport.
What's Included
- 12 nights in 3-star or boutique hotels, double or twin rooms
- Daily breakfast
- Flight Tashkent – Nukus (economy)
- High-speed train tickets Bukhara – Samarkand and Samarkand – Tashkent
- Private air-conditioned car or minivan with driver, including the Moynaq and Kyzylkum drives
- English-speaking local guide in each city
- Entrance tickets to the sites in the programme, including the Savitsky Museum
Tour Map
- 1Tashkent
- 2Nukus
- 3Mizdakhan necropolis
- 4Moynaq ship graveyard
- 5Toprak-Kala
- 6Ayaz-Kala
- 7Khiva
- 8Bukhara
- 9Samarkand
- 10Shakhrisabz
- 11Return to Tashkent
Reviews
No reviews yet. Have you taken this tour? Be the first to share how it went.
You can also review us on Tripadvisor, where we are listed as Jahongir Premium Tours.