The Orient Silk Road Express
From Tashkent to Samarkand to Tashkent
Your route
Tashkent – Buchara – Khiva – Samarkand-Tashkent
Day 1 Departure
Flight from your airport of departure to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. After arriving in Tashkent you will be lead to your centrally located first class hotel.
Day 2 Tashkent, the Green Oasis
On your sightseeing tour you’ll experience the green oasis of the Steppe: the Madrasah Kukeldash, the Kavoj and Amir Timur monuments and the typical brickearth houses. In the evening you will attend the famous Tashkent Navoy Opera (depending on the schedule). Afterwards your Private Train departs. (BLD)
Day 3 Shakhrisabz, home of Tamerlane
Today you will experience a folklore performance in the unique tradition of this region and get to know the inhabitants in their authentic everyday life. A friendly welcome is guaranteed! Next you will follow the Great Silk Road and arrive in the green city, the birthplace of Tamerlane. Here, in Shakhrisabz (UNESCO-World Heritage Site) you’ll tour the monumental memorials of the barbaric Mongol Prince and also have the opportunity to watch the thriving bustle of this lively town. In the evening you'll depart on your Private Train to Bukhara. On board: Uzbek wine tasting. (BLD)
Day 4 Bukhara, the Noble
Situated in the middle of the Kyzyl Kum desert, Bukhara features about one thousand monuments, which recall the halcyon days of the Great Silk Road. Foreign spices, furs and especially silk fabrics were stored and handled in the caravansaries. In the old city (UNESCO-World Culture Heritage) you'll see the Kaljan Minaret and the Labi-Hauz Ensemble. In front of the Nasreddin Hodja monument you’ll listen to some anecdotes about this legendary character. You’ll have dinner in the courtyard of a Madrasah with musical accompaniment, local dances and a presentation of colourful national costumes. You'll spend the night in a centrally located upper middle-class hotel in Bukhara. (BLD)
Day 5 Mausoleum of the Samanid
Today, you’ll experience Bukhara in an all-day tour program, including lunch. Bukhara is a large, unique and authentic art museum that maintains its old oriental face. In the morning, we guide you to the magnificent Mire-e-Arab Madrasah and the most beautiful and precious building in Central Asia, the Samanid Mausoleum. Then you'll take a tour through the fortress Ark. You'll see there the coronation hall and visit the summer residence of the last Emir. At the end of your stay you’ll meet the Imam of Bukhara. Departure of the train will be in the evening and you will spend the night in your compartment. (BLD)
Day 6 A Fairy Tale of 1001 Nights
After breakfast you will go to the Southern border of the seven river lands, in the oasis of Khiva. When you look upon the mighty city wall of Khiva with its gates and bastions of clay, take you toanother world: Around the Kalta Minor Minaret life still pulses today as it did in old times, and on a tour you see palaces, mosques,
minarets, mausoleums and Koran schools show you what medieval oriental urban development must have been like. You will enjoy lunch in the atmosphere of the former SummerPalace of the Emir. Overnight in your Private Train. (BLD)
Day 7 Samarkand––Intersection of Cultures
After breakfast your Private Train will arrive in Samarkand. Today you experience the historical prominence of Samarqand, the most beautiful city in the world in Tamerlane’s time: the city of tombs Shah-e-zende (“the living Shah”), the excavation sites of Afrosiab and the Registan Square present an impressive collection of Central Asian architecture. You’ll spend the next two nights in a first class hotel in Samarqand. (BLD)
Day 8 Samarkand, the Magnificent
You visit a silk carpet factory and an Uzbek craftsman’s family, see paper manufactured from mulberry bark, the observatory of Ulug Beg, the ruins of the Bibi Khanum Mosque and the palace-like Gur Emir Mausoleum. (BLD)
Day 9 Samarkand to Tashkent
In the morning you can enjoy Samarkand, until your Private Train departs for Tashkent around noon with spectacular landscape alongside the route. In the afternoon you will arrive in Tashkent. Overnight in a first class hotel. (BLD)
Day 10 Return home
Return flight from Tashkent. End of the journey. (B)
Highlights of the tour
UNESCO's World Heritage:
1. Itchan Kala: The inner town of the old Khiva oasis
2. Historical Centre of Bukhara
3. Samarkand––Crossroads of Cultures
4. Historical Centre of Shakhrisabz
Distinctive capitals:
ü Tashkent: the cultural centre of Central Asia
Places that made History:
Registan: the most beautiful square of the Orient
Ulug Bek observatory
Ark Fortress in Bukhara
Everyday life in Central Asia:
The making of traditional art objects: silk and carpets
Valuable cultural insights: lectures, fairy tales and information about history and regional traditions
Lunch in the summer palace of an Emir
Our service––Your benefit
Lernidee tour guide
Experienced local guides
1 overnight in an upper middle class hotel in Bukhara
4 overnights in first class hotels in Tashkent and Samarkand
4 overnights on the Private Train according to the booked category
All meals according to program (B = breakfast, L = lunch, D = dinner)
Sightseeing program including all entrance fees
Guided transfers according to program
Sightseeing tours/guided walks in Tashkent, Shakhrisabz, Bukhara, Khiva, Samarkand
Traditional welcome in the train stations of Bukhara and Samarqand
Lunch/dinner in a Madrasah with folklore
Wine and Vodka tasting
Special features
- No inner-Asian flights
- No long bus rides on bad and dusty roads
- Safe, clean and well maintained: your Private Train
- Your luggage remains on board during the entire trip
- All cars air-conditioned while the train runs
- Excellent food meeting high hygienic standards
- After dinner restaurant cars operate as bars
Entry requirements: Visa for Uzbekistan should be obtained on your own.
Health: No vaccinations are prescribed
Not included: Flights, tips, beverages, visa fees
Minimum number of participants: 60
Program and expenses are subject to modifications and amendments