Silk Road Express: 7 Days

Airport pick-up and check-in. After a rest, a short introduction to the capital with your guide: the Hazrati Imam complex, home of one of the oldest Qurans in the world, the domes of Chorsu Bazaar and a ride on the Tashkent Metro, known for its decorated stations.

Morning flight to Urgench (about 1 hour 40 minutes) and a 40-minute drive to Khiva. In the afternoon, a walk through Itchan Kala, the inner town behind clay walls: the unfinished Kalta Minor minaret, the Kunya-Ark citadel and the Juma Mosque with its forest of carved wooden columns. Stay for sunset on the walls.

A full day on the road, about 450 km and 6 to 7 hours, following the Amu Darya river and the old caravan route through the Kyzylkum Desert, with photo stops and lunch at a roadside café. Arrive in Bukhara in the late afternoon.

A walking day in Bukhara's old town: the Lyab-i Hauz pool and its madrasas, the covered trading domes, the Magoki Attori Mosque, the Kalyan Minaret and Po-i-Kalyan square, the Ark fortress, the Bolo Hauz Mosque and the 10th-century Samanid Mausoleum.

A free morning for the bazaars and craft workshops of Bukhara, then the Afrosiyob high-speed train to Samarkand (about 1 hour 40 minutes). In the evening, see Registan Square lit up.

A full day in Samarkand: the three madrasas of Registan Square, Gur-e-Amir, Timur's own mausoleum, the huge Bibi-Khanym Mosque, Siyob Bazaar and the tiled street of tombs at Shah-i-Zinda. Evening high-speed train to Tashkent (about 2 hours 10 minutes).

Breakfast and transfer to Tashkent International Airport.