Discover Uzbekistan: A Journey Through Time

Day 1 — Arrival in Tashkent

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Arrive in Tashkent and settle into your hotel. Depending on flight timings, the Delhi group will check in earlier and head for an unhurried lunch—an introduction to Uzbek hospitality. Travellers from Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bangalore join by late afternoon.

In the early evening, begin to sense the city’s layered history with a gentle walk through the Hazrati Imam Complex and its surrounding neighbourhoods. As dusk falls, the wide, open spaces of Amir Timur Square offer a first glimpse of Tashkent’s Soviet-era imprint.

The day closes with an orientation dinner featuring a mix of Uzbek, Lebanese, and Moroccan dishes.

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Day 2 — Mountains & Metro, Tashkent

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An early start takes you to the Chimgan Mountains, where a light hike introduces the crisp air and broad valleys that sit just outside the city. The route is gentle, with time to pause, look out over the ridgelines, and enjoy a picnic lunch in the meadows if weather allows.

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Returning to Tashkent, the day shifts tone underground. The metro — once designed as a network of nuclear shelters — is an unexpected gallery of mosaics, marble, and sculptural detail. Dinner is relaxed and reflective after a day of contrasts.

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Day 3 — Into the Heart of the Silk Road: Samarkand

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Begin with a packed breakfast and an early high-speed train through the Zarafshan Valley. Samarkand arrives quickly: a city both ancient and continually reinventing itself.

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Your first steps are into the Gur-e-Amir Mausoleum, where the geometry, scale, and colour speak for themselves. Lunch follows in a local restaurant before a quiet stroll along University Boulevard, a broad, tree-lined reminder of Samarkand’s Soviet chapters.

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After checking into your hotel and taking a short pause, return to the city’s most iconic space: Registan Square. As evening settles, the light show animates the facades, revealing centuries of artistry in shifting colour. Dinner with live Uzbek music brings the day to a gentle close.

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Day 4 — Sacred Spaces & Living Traditions, Samarkand

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The morning begins at Shahi Zinda, where narrow passages reveal a sequence of mausoleums glazed in blues and greens. It is one of the city’s most contemplative walks.

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Move on to Siab Market, a lively sweep of produce, nuts, bread, and sweets — a chance to see Samarkand at its most everyday. After lunch, two workshops offer a window into craft: a carpet atelier run by women weavers, followed by a silk-paper studio keeping an old method alive.

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The evening is spent in a family home for dinner, followed by the Eternal City cultural performance — a gentle coda of dance and storytelling.

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Day 5 — Bukhara’s Old-World Quiet

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A morning train carries you west to Bukhara, a city long shaped by merchants, scholars, and travellers. After lunch and check-in, the Old City reveals itself slowly: narrow lanes, a blacksmith’s workshop, a caravanserai touched by centuries of trade, and the quieter corners of the Jewish quarter.

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As the light softens, the Poyi Kalon Ensemble stands tall against the sky, its minaret and domes forming one of Central Asia’s most recognisable silhouettes.

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Dinner is at Lyabi Hauz, where the still water and old mulberry trees frame an easy evening outdoors.

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Day 6 — Ceramics, Palaces & the Journey Back

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Begin in Gijduvan, a town known for its ceramic tradition. A family-run workshop shows the craft at close range — glazes, kilns, and designs shaped over generations.

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Returning to Bukhara, visit the Summer Palace, where Russian and Persian influences meet in unexpected ways. A simple lunch follows before an afternoon at the Suzani Museum and the local bazaar.

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By early evening, transfer to the station for the train back to Tashkent, arriving late. Dinner is arranged before turning in for the night.

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Day 7 — A Gentle Farewell to Tashkent

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After checking out, leave your luggage at the hotel and spend the morning at Chorsu Market. Its blue dome shelters rows of spices, fruit, nuts, and everyday essentials — a place where the city feels grounded and familiar.

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Continue to Independence Square and the Shastri Memorial, a quiet nod to Indo-Uzbek ties. Lunch is flexible, and the afternoon is left open for personal wandering, shopping, or rest.

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Those who wish may end the evening with a performance at the Alisher Navoi Opera and Ballet Theatre. A farewell dinner follows before the transfer to the airport.

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Day 8 — Departure

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An early-morning flight home, with the week’s stories still settling.

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OPTIONAL EXTENSION: JOURNEY TO KHIVA

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The Desert Road to Khiva

For those continuing west, the journey to Khiva begins by road across the Karakum and Kyzylkum deserts — a long, shifting landscape with two simple breaks along the way.

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Arrive by late afternoon and settle into a small hotel inside the walled city. An evening walk reveals Khiva at its quietest, just as the light fades behind minarets and mud-brick walls. Dinner overlooks the skyline; the city feels almost theatrical in the dusk.

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Inside the Walls of Itchan Kala

Spend the morning inside Itchan Kala, the medieval walled city and a UNESCO site. The day moves through citadels, mosques, and minarets — the Kunya-Ark, the Kalta Minor, and the shadowed columns of the Juma Mosque. Everything sits within a walk’s reach.

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After lunch, transfer to the airport for the flight back to Tashkent, where a farewell dinner is arranged before your international departure later that night.

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