Charming Discoveries Tour to Uzbekistan

Day 1: Arrival in Tashkent

(Sightseeing tour duration: 5-6 hours)

Arrive in Tashkent. STANTOURS driver will meet you at the Tashkent International Airport. (If you are arriving by an early morning flight, extra night at the hotel may be needed).

Start sightseeing from the Old City part of Tashkent. Visit Khast Imam - a cultic architectural complex and the religious center of Tashkent where the world famous Uthman Quran has been preserved. Khast Imam complex consists of Barak-Khan Madrasah, Tillya Sheikh Mosque, Muyi Muborak Madrasah, Kaffal Shashi Mausoleum, New Khazrati Imam Mosque and the Muftiate building. Drive to Chorsu Bazaar - one of the oldest bazaars in Uzbekistan.

After exploring the bazaar STANTOURS will arrange a lunch at the Central Asian Plov Center. Plov is cooked in a giant, wood-fired kazans. Enjoy your plov!

Have a short Tashkent metro ride. Visit Independence Square, Alisher Navoi State Academic Bolshoi Theatre, Amir Timur Square and Monument of Courage. Drop off at the hotel. Free time. Overnight at the hotel.

Day 2: Tashkent → Nukus → Muynak → Nukus

(Tour duration: 10-12 hours)

05:00 Transfer to the Domestic Airport.
07:15 Flight to Nukus.
08:55 Arrive in Nukus. Transfer to Muynak (200 km) with a driver. En Route to Muynak visit Ancient Complex Mizdakhan. The ancient complex keeps a lot of secrets and even mystical legends and beliefs. There is a small madrasah called sometimes “World Clock”, which served as the burial place of one of the saints. According to the legend every year, this building loses one brick from the masonry, and when the building collapses, the world will come to the end. Visit Muynak Museum and the "Cemetery of ships" - former Sea port of Muynak.

Today tourists arrive in Muynak in great numbers to see the cemetery of ships – corroded iron bulks amid the Aralkum desert, a new desert that has formed on the bottom of the former Aral Sea. Visit Local History Museum and the former port of Muynak. You can enjoy watching the endless desert that was once a sea. Drive back to Nukus. Overnight at the hotel.

Day 3: Nukus → Chilpiq Kala → Kyzyl Kala → Toprak Kala → Ayaz Kala → Khiva

(Tour duration: 5-6 hours)

Breakfast at the hotel.
09:00 Recommended to visit Savitsky Art Museum in Nukus.
13:00 Drive to Khiva (260 km). En Route to Khiva, visit ancient fortresses of Khorezm - Chilpiq Kala, Kyzyl Kala, Toprak Kala and Ayaz Kala. Arrive in Khiva. Check in. Free time. Overnight at the hotel.

Day 4: Khiva

(Sightseeing tour duration: 4-5 hours)

Breakfast at the hotel.
09:00 Start your walking sightseeing tour in ancient Khiva. Explore the walled inner town of the city of Khiva - Itchan Kala. Visit Mukhammad Aminkhan Madrasah, Mukhammad Rahimkhan Madrasah, Kalta-Minor, Kunya-Ark, Juma Mosque, Tash-Khovli Palace, Minaret of Islam-Khoja, Pakhlavan Makhmud Mausoleum. Free time. Overnight at the hotel.

Day 5: Khiva → Urgench → Bukhara

(Free day)

Breakfast at the hotel.
12:00 Check out. Free time.
16:20 Transfer to Urgench train station (30 km).
18:15 Transfer to Bukhara by night train.
00:13 (+1) Arrive in Bukhara and transfer to the hotel. Overnight at the hotel.

Day 6: Bukhara

(Sightseeing tour duration: 4-5 hours)

Breakfast at the hotel.
09:00 Start sightseeing tour. Visit Lyabi-Khauz ensemble, surrounding the pool on three sides, consists of the Kukeldash Madrasah - the largest madrasa in the city, on the north side of the pool, and two religious edifices built by Nodir Devon Begi: a khanqah (a lodging house for itinerant Sufis) and a madrasa, which stand on the west and east sides of the pool respectively.

Visit Magoki-Attori Mosque (today, the mosque is used as a carpet museum), Chor-Minor Madrasah (alternatively known as the Madrasah of Khalif Niyazkul), Trade domes (there are four trading domes have only survived up to now), Ulugbek and Abdulazizkhan madrasahs, Miri-Arab Madrasah, Kalyan Minaret - one of the most prominent landmarks in Bukhara, Kalyan Mosque, Ark Fortress and Bolo-Khauz Mosque. Free time. Overnight at the hotel.

Day 7: Bukhara → Gijduvan → Nurata → Yurt Camp

(Tour duration: 6-7 hours)

Breakfast at the hotel.
09:00 Drive to Gijduvan. Visit the ceramics workshop in Gijduvan. Drive to Nurata.
13:00 Arrive in Nurata. Start your self-guided walking sightseeing tour in Nurata town. Visit Complex Chashma Spring and Namazgah Mosque. Go up to the hills to visit the remains of the Fortress of Alexander the Great.

Drive to Lake Aydar. Enjoy swimming and walking along the lakeshore. Drive to the Yurt Camp. Overnight in the Yurt Camp.

Day 8: Yurt Camp → Lake Aydar → Sentyab/Hayat Village

(Tour duration: 6-7 hours)

Breakfast in the Yurt Camp.
09:00 Drive to Lake Aydar. Walking along the lakeshore. Drive to Sentyab village.
13:00 Arrive in Sentyab/Hayat village. Lunch at the guest house. Enjoy your free time for walking and hiking. The surrounding area is rich in various flora and fauna, some of which are listed in the Red Book. Dinner with the host. Spend a night in a traditional guest house to experience the charm of local life.

Day 9: Sentyab/Hayat Village → Majrum → Samarkand

(Tour duration: 6-7 hours)

Breakfast.
09:00 Drive to Majrum village (10 km). Walk up to a thousand year old tree - Biota Orientalis.

Drive to Samarkand (210 km).
13:30 Arrive in Samarkand. Transfer to the hotel. Free time (we recommend visiting Gur-Emir and Registan to see a night view). Overnight at the hotel.

Day 10: Samarkand → Tashkent

(Sightseeing tour duration: 5-6 hours)

Breakfast at the hotel.
09:00 Visit Gur-Emir Mausoleum, Registan Square - The Pearl of Central Asia, Bibi-Khanum Mosque and Siab Bazaar - the largest market in Central Asia and the most visited place after Registan. After exploring the bazaar STANTOURS will arrange a lunch at the Plov Center.

Continue sightseeing. Visit Khazrat Khizr Mosque - the first mosque of Samarkand, Mausoleum of the first President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov, Shakhi-Zinda Necropolis and Ulughbek Observatory - one of the most significant observatories of the Middle Ages. Visit the Meros paper mill in Konigil village.

16:10 Transfer to the train station.
17:35 Transfer to Tashkent by high-speed train Afrosiyob.
20:08 Arrive in Tashkent. Transfer to the hotel. Free time. Overnight at the hotel.

Day 11: Tashkent → Chimgan → Tashkent

(Tour duration: 6-7 hours)

Breakfast at the hotel.
09:00 Transfer to Chimgan Mountains (Western Tien-Shan Mountains, 92 km) with a driver. Take a scenic chairlift ride. Transfer to the shore of the Charvak Reservoir. Visit unique petroglyphs and rock carvings made by prehistoric people. Make some photo stops along the way to take in the views. Transfer back to the hotel in Tashkent. Free time. Overnight at the hotel.

Day 12: Departure from Tashkent

Breakfast at the hotel.
12:00 Check out. Free time.
Transfer to the Tashkent International Airport according to the flight time.