Uzbekistan: The Golden Road to Samarkand (Specialist-led Tour)

Arrive in Tashkent and check in to the Hotel Inspira-S (or similar). Our travel specialists will be delighted to assist with flight arrangements if required.

A morning at leisure. After an introductory lecture and welcome lunch, take a city tour to see the highlights of Tashkent, including Kukeldash madrasa, the Museum of Applied Arts, Muyie Mubarak library and Tillya Sheikh mosque. In the afternoon, fly to Nukus and overnight at Jipek Joli Inn (or similar).

Morning tour of the Karakalpakstan State Museum of Art, which houses the collection of Igor Savitsky, who secreted away thousands of Russian avant-garde and post-avant-garde paintings during the Stalinist Soviet period. Besides this rare and extensive collection of art (second only to St Petersburg), he also collected thousands of Uzbek artefacts, textiles and jewellery. Tour the museum with a local specialist. En route to Khiva, stop at Chilpak to see the fourth-century Zoroastrian Tower of Silence. Stay for 2 nights at Feruzkhan Hotel (or similar).

Full-day tour of the old walled city of Khiva, capital of Khorezm between the 16th and 20th centuries, and one of the most remote of the Silk Road cities. Visits include the Kunya Ark fortress, the original residence of the Khiva khans; the beautifully decorated Tash Hauli (stone palace); the Friday Mosque; and madrasas (theological colleges), which now house museum collections. Also visit a UNESCO-listed silk carpet workshop.

Full-day drive to Bukhara (7-8 hours) through the Kyzylkum desert, stopping at the Amu Darya river, known as the ‘Oxus river' in the ancient world. Stay at Emir Hotel (or similar) for 3 nights.

Take a full-day walking tour of Bukhara, visiting the Persian Samanid brick mausoleum, the Chashmai Ayub, known as Job's Well, and the Bolo Hauz mosque. Visit the trade domes, madrasas and traditional Bukharan bazaars. Continue to the Poi-Kalyan complex, which includes the towering Kalyan minaret and the twin-domed Mir-i-Arab madrasa.

Visit the architectural ensemble around the Lyab-i-Hauz pool, fed by the waters of the royal canal. Continue to the Chor Minor, a curious four-towered gatehouse, and the Sitora-i Mokhi-Khosa, the summer palace of Bukhara's last emir. Then visit the Fayzulla Khodjaev Museum, set in the house of a wealthy merchant and showing aspects of life in the early 20th century.

Continue to the Balyand mosque, a jewel of 16th-century architecture, and the imposing Ark fortress of the Bukhara emirs. Walk down the narrow streets of historic Bukhara to the old Jewish quarter to see one of the city's hidden gems, the Jewish synagogue, which houses a collection of ancient torahs dating back approximately 600 years.

Drive to Vabkent to see the minaret commissioned in the 12th century by one of Bukhara's rulers. Continue to Gijduvan, renowned for its traditional ceramics, and see the Abdul Khaliq Gijduvani shrine. Finally, en route to Samarkand, take the royal road to the 11th-century Rabati Malik caravanserai (a trading route stop-off). Once in Samarkand, check into Wellfort Hotel (or similar) for 3 nights.

Drive to the ancient deserted site of Afrosiyob on the outskirts of Samarkand, where a settlement once thrived until it was destroyed by Timur. Archaeological finds are housed in the Afrosiyob History Museum. Continue to the observatory of Ulugbek, Timur's astronomer grandson, and see the Bibi Khanum mosque, built by Timur for his favourite wife. End the day at the magnificent Gur-Emir mausoleum, where Timur is buried beneath the fluted blue domes.

Drive to Shahrisabz, birthplace of Timur, who commissioned an enormous palace here, the ornamented audience chamber of which remains. Return to Samarkand via theTakhtakarachi pass.

Visit the Shah-i-Zinda necropolis and the Samarkand Museum of History, Culture & Art. In the afternoon, travel by rail to Tashkent. After a farewell dinner, overnight at the Inspira-S Hotel (or similar).

Tour ends in Tashkent.