Tashkent, Samarkand, Gijduvon and Bukhara: 7-day sightseeing tour

Day-by-day itinerary

1. Day 1

   Tashkent greets without haste: on the first day there are no excursions and transfers, only check-in and time for yourself. The city itself is not a postcard, but a layered pie: Zoroastrian traces, medieval buildings, monumental buildings of the late 19th century and the newest quarters. You can simply go for a walk in the modern part and feel how epochs connect here. Night at the hotel.

2. Day 2

   The main impression of this day is the Old City and pilaf. In the morning — Hast Imam Square with the manuscript of the Uthman Quran and the oldest monuments of Tashkent, then Chorsu Bazaar under a huge dome, where spices, products and handicrafts lie side by side. Authentic mahallas with adobe houses and narrow streets let you feel the real Old Tashkent. Lunch at "Besh Qozon" is a separate event: you can see the whole process from frying meat to adding rice, and pilaf here is cooked over open fire with chickpeas and yellow carrots. After — Independence Square and Amir Temur Square. Dinner with mashkhurda and khanum. Night at the hotel.

3. Day 3

   Transfer to Samarkand by high-speed train — and immediately different air. Lunch with Samarkand kebabs on the coals of fruit trees, marinade of only spices and onions. Further — Registan Square with three madrasahs: Sher-Dor, Tillya-Kari and Ulugh Beg. Separately worth noting is the Gur-Emir Mausoleum, the tomb of Tamerlane, which became the prototype for the mausoleums of Humayun in Delhi and the Taj Mahal in Agra. In the evening — dinner in a national house and a manti master class. Night at the hotel.

4. Day 4

   The second day in Samarkand is about scale and craft. Bibi-Khanym Cathedral Mosque, Siab Bazaar, Shahi-Zinda ensemble of eleven mausoleums, the Ulugh Beg Observatory Museum with a fragment of a giant sextant underground and the Afrasiab History Museum. Lunch at "Panjab" — Samarkand pilaf is served in layers, so everyone assembles their own portion. Then — the artisans' village "Konigil" with silk paper production and ceramic workshops. The finale of the day is the "Bagizagan" winery with a story about five generations of winemakers and a tasting. Dinner with dimlama. Night at the hotel.

5. Day 5

   A day of transfer, but not about the road, but about hands. On the way to Bukhara — Gijduvon, a craft center with distinctive ceramics. In the Narzullaev workshop you can sit at the potter's wheel yourself and make something under the guidance of a master. Lunch right there, with Gijduvon kebabs from local lamb. Further — Bukhara, one of the oldest cities in the world on the Great Silk Road, with more than 140 preserved monuments. In the evening — Lyabi-Hauz ensemble with a pond, Kukeldash and Nadir Divan-Begi madrasahs, a monument to Khoja Nasreddin, covered bazaars of the 16th century. Dinner with kazan-kabob. Night at the hotel.

6. Day 6

   The most intense day of the trip, and it is entirely about Bukhara. Samanid Mausoleum, Chashma Ayub, Bolo-Hauz complex with carved columns, Ark Fortress, Poi-Kalyan ensemble with Kalyan Minaret, Kalyan Mosque and Mir-i Arab Madrasah. Lunch in a chaikhana with shurpa balaza and dolma. After — Abdulaziz Khan Madrasah and Ulugh Beg Madrasah. Closer to evening — tea drinking in the tea house "Spices of the Silk Road" with spices and Bukhara sweets, and then a master class on Bukhara pilaf "Oshi-Sofi" with an oshpaz. Dinner. Night at the hotel.

7. Day 7

   The last day is only breakfast and transfer to Bukhara airport. The program ends, but the feeling remains that in a week you have passed through several epochs and dozens of streets. The road home.