Please note, vegetarian food choices may be rather limited. If you are strictly vegetarian, or have any special dietary requirements, please notify us well in advance. In Uzbekistan, the availability of certain specialised products for restricted diets, eg gluten-free or dairy-free, is minimal or non-existent and we strongly recommend you bring these specialised dietary items from home.

Drinking water is included and will be provided in large containers for you to refill your bottle – please bring a reusable bottle with you.

Learn to cook shivit oshi, Khiva’s signature noodle dish, in a hands-on masterclass. Knead and roll the distinctive dill-green noodles before simmering a fragrant stew to crown them. Swap tips with your hosts and sit down to lunch to taste the fruits of your work.

Rooted in Khorezm’s kitchen traditions, shivit oshi highlights local herbs and family recipes passed between generations. The workshop blends technique and storytelling, turning a regional specialty into a flavorful window on everyday life.

Meet master miniaturist Davron Toshev to learn how artisans grind minerals to discover traditional pigments, outline scenes with hair-fine brushes, and gild delicate borders. Under guidance, try your hand at a simple motif, then share a homestyle lunch at the studio.

Rooted in Timurid-era aesthetics, miniature painting blends storytelling, geometry, and symbolism. The session illuminates the craft’s discipline and its revival in contemporary Uzbekistan.

Tour the Uzumfermer winery with a walk through vineyards and a guided cellar visit before you sample regional wines. A relaxed lunch pairs local dishes with varietals shaped by sun-baked slopes and cool evening breezes.

Winegrowing here blends Soviet-era expertise with modern methods, restoring a tradition that predates independence. Conversations with vintners reveal terroir, experimentation, and the future of Uzbek wine.

Visit a private Khorezm residence to visit a traditional courtyard house known locally as Ulli Khovli. Wander across cool brick floors beneath painted ceilings, study carved wooden pillars, and pause on the shaded aiwan (covered terrace) that frames the home’s quiet inner garden.

This intimate look at domestic design explains how architecture shaped family life and responded to desert climate—thick walls for insulation, deep eaves for shade, and seasonal spaces for hosting guests. It’s a human-scale counterpoint to the city’s grand monuments.

Visit Ayaz Kala, a lonely sentinel above the sands, and trace weathered walls that once guarded caravan routes. Climb to the ridge for vast desert horizons, pause for photos and reflection, and feel the wind press over ramparts that have faced centuries of steppe weather.

Part of a chain of Khorezmian desert fortress sites, Ayaz Kala evokes life on an exposed frontier—watchfires, distant dunes, and the vigilance that trade demanded. The setting illuminates Silk Road geography as vividly as any museum case.

Board a Soviet-era sleeper train and settle into four-berth compartments as steel rails sing through twilight. Curtains sway, tea glasses clink, and the car rocks gently while you cross the Kyzylkum Desert, absorbing the sense of Silk Road distance between oasis cities.

More than a transfer, this is time travel by carriage: functional fittings, timeless routines, and camaraderie in the corridor. The journey adds texture to the route—part nostalgia, part practical link across a vast landscape.

Join a guided city walk through Bukhara’s scholarly heart. Decode the brick geometry of the Ismail Samani Mausoleum, enter the Ark citadel that anchored emirs’ authority, and stand beneath the 12th-century tower of the Poi Kalyan ensemble before drifting toward Lyab-i-Hauz’s leafy pools.

Once a hub for merchants and theologians, Bukhara layers madrasa courtyards, trading domes, and quiet mosques. Stories of endowments, caravan taxes, and sacred scholarship animate the city’s lived-in elegance.

Attend a traditional folk performance staged inside a historic madrasah courtyard. Costumed dancers and musicians bring regional melodies to life, the courtyard’s arches amplifying lively music and dance beneath open skies and lantern glow.

Central Asian rhythms, poetic refrains, and silk brocade costumes connect trade-road influences with local storytelling. The intimate setting highlights Bukhara’s reputation for hospitality and performance culture.

Visit the Bahauddin Naqshbandi Ensemble, a revered Sufi pilgrimage site shaded by mulberry trees. Stroll through shaded courtyards, read calligraphed plaques, and observe quiet devotion as pilgrims move between tombs and prayer halls.

As the spiritual center of the Naqshbandi order, the complex embodies principles of inward remembrance and humble work. Your guide introduces key figures and practices, framing Sufism’s role in everyday belief across the region.

Ride the Afrosiyob high-speed train, a sleek bullet service linking Silk Road cities with modern efficiency. Watch desert steppe give way to orchards and domes while relaxing in comfortable reserved seats with panoramic windows.

The journey spotlights Uzbekistan’s rail renaissance—swift, smooth, and punctual—freeing more time for monuments and workshops once you arrive.

Step inside Gur-e-Amir to see Timur’s luminous tomb, stand on Registan Square between three grand madrasahs, and walk the mosaic-lined Shah-i-Zinda necropolis. Visit Hudjum Silk Carpet Factory to meet weavers counting knots, then view Ulugbek’s Observatory, where a monumental sextant advanced medieval astronomy.

Tilework glitters with cobalt and gold, while natural-dye carpets reveal patient artistry. Together, they chart Samarkand’s blend of imperial ambition, science, and craft.

Share a home-style dinner at Antica B&B, tasting Uzbek plov and seasonal salads baked alongside tandoor-fresh non bread. In a leafy courtyard, exchange stories with your hosts and enjoy a relaxed, convivial setting.

Often joined by local heritage advocates, this heritage conversation frames everyday dining within Samarkand’s preservation efforts—how families safeguard recipes, restore homes, and keep traditions alive amid a dynamic city.

Visit the Meros paper workshop to watch mulberry bark softened, beaten, and pressed from mulberry bark to paper using water-powered tools. Under artisan guidance, try the process yourself and burnish a sheet to a satin sheen using river stones.

These centuries-old techniques revive Samarkand’s famed paper, once prized across the Islamic world. The workshop highlights sustainable materials, skilled hands, and the patience behind beautiful, durable sheets.

Ride the Tashkent Metro to admire chandeliered halls and mosaicked vaults before emerging at Amir Temur Square and the earthquake memorials around the Monument of Courage. Your guide decodes station motifs, materials, and Soviet-era design language woven into the capital’s identity.

Rebuilt after 1966, Tashkent fuses monumental planning with leafy boulevards. Photography—once restricted—is now welcomed, encouraging close study of craftsmanship and symbolism.

Go behind the scenes at the Alisher Navoi Theatre, exploring ornate foyers and Uzbek ornamental details crafted by master artisans. When schedules allow, peek into rehearsal spaces and understand how acoustics, sets, and costumes converge for performance.

Designed by Alexey Shchusev, the building anchors Tashkent’s cultural life. This rare special access offers context few independent visitors receive, illuminating craft traditions within a grand Soviet-era landmark.

Explore the walled oasis of Ichan Kala on foot as you join a guided walking tour through mud-brick lanes and sunlit courtyards. Step into the Kunya Ark fortress, admire the Juma Mosque’s forest of columns, and look up at the slender Islam Khodja Minaret while hearing tales of khans, merchants, and scholars.

Khiva’s UNESCO-listed core reveals centuries of Silk Road exchange in turquoise-glazed tilework and intricately carved wood. Your guide interprets religious, civic, and domestic spaces, helping you read the city’s fabric—an immersive primer to Central Asian architecture and urban life.