Uzbekistan: Heart of Central Asia

Arrive in Tashkent and check into your hotel.

Enjoy a tour of the capital, stopping at the medieval Khast Imaan Complex, and the newly appointed UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Chorsu Bazaar and the resplendent Soviet-era Kosmonavtlar metro station.

Transfer to the airport and fly to Urgench. Visit the ancient fortresses of AyazKala and Toprak-Kala before taking an afternoon's drive to Khiva via Ulli Khovli, a well-preserved, antique mud-brick courtyard home.

Enjoy a full-day tour of Khiva, to see the Kunya Ark, Islam Khoja minaret, Tash Hauli palace and visit a local bakery.

Take the Jaloliddin Manguberdi highspeed train to Bukhara, Later, check into your hotel.

Tour of the city, visiting Chor Minor mosque, the Poi-Kalyan complex, the surviving trading domes, and Lyab-i-Hauz – once the city's principal source of water. In the evening, enjoy dinner and a plov cooking demonstration.

Continue your tour of Bukhara, with visits to The Ark, a vast fortress whose foundations date back 2,000 years; the summer palace of the city's final emir; and the 10th century Samanid mausoleum, decorated with of Zoroastrian symbols.

Drive to Shahrisabz, birthplace of Timur, and visit the summer palace, mosques and mausoleums. Continue to Samarkand.

Take a full-day tour of Samarkand, visiting Registan Square, the Ulugbek observatory, Siyob Bazaar, Hazrat Khizr Mosque, and the Bibi Khanum mosque.

Continue your tour of Samarkand. Visit the Gur-Emir mausoleum, the final resting place of several members of the Timurid dynasty, including Timur himself. Other sights include Afrasiab Museum, Shah-iZinda necropolis and the Khodja Doniyor mausoleum. After lunch, stop in at a silk carpet factory before returning to your hotel for the evening.

Enjoy a later start, then visit one of Samarkand's renowned silk paper workshops and join a wine tasting. Later, travel by rail to Tashkent.

Tour ends in Tashkent.