Uzbekistan · Private tour
Classic Silk Road
The full route travellers save years for
About this trip
Classic Silk Road is a private, 6-day journey through Tashkent · Samarkand · Shahrizabz · Bukhara, run by our own guides and drivers rather than subcontracted to a local agency. The Silk Road heartland, Samarkand, Bukhara and Shahrizabz, linked by high-speed rail.
You travel as your own group, no strangers, no fixed coach departure. The itinerary below is our recommended shape; a consultant can move a day, add a night or change a hotel before you commit to anything.
Pace: A few longer drives between cities, most days out sightseeing.
Day by day
The outline of this trip. Your consultant sends the full day-by-day programme, with timings, once your booking is confirmed.
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Day1
Arrive Tashkent, then the Tashkent City Tour.
Tashkent is where the Silk Road meets a modern capital. The Khast Imam complex keeps one of the oldest Qurans in the world, from the seventh century; Chorsu Bazaar sells everything under a vast blue dome; and the plov centre cooks Uzbekistan's national dish in cauldrons big enough to feed hundreds. As evening falls, the city shows its newer, brighter side.
Overnight in Tashkent -
Day2
Samarkand Tour.
Samarkand is the city the Silk Road was really about, and you reach it by high-speed train. There is the tiled square of Registan, where travellers have stopped in their tracks for six hundred years; a mosque raised for an empress; a lane of mausoleums so bright they look freshly painted; and the tomb of Amir Timur, the conqueror who built it all. Somewhere along the way, the bazaar tempts you with the smell of Samarkand bread.
Overnight in Samarkand -
Day3
Shakhrisabz Tour.
Shakhrisabz is Amir Timur's hometown, and he built it to prove it. The gate of his Ak-Saray palace still stands almost 40 metres high, its tilework faded but enormous. Around it are the family's memorial complexes, a blue-domed mosque built by his grandson Ulugh Beg, and quiet streets that see far fewer visitors than Samarkand, just over the mountain pass.
Overnight in Samarkand -
Day4
Bukhara Tour.
Bukhara has been a holy city for more than a thousand years, and its old centre still feels lived in. The Kalon Minaret has stood since 1127, so striking that Genghis Khan spared it; the fortress of the emirs looms over the old town; and the teahouses around the Lyabi-Hauz pool fill up at dusk. Beyond the walls are the summer palace of the last emir and the shrine of a Sufi saint pilgrims still visit.
Overnight in Bukhara -
Day5
Full day Bukhara: Ark Fortress, Poi Kalyan Complex, the domed bazaars. Overnight Bukhara.
Overnight in Bukhara -
Day6
Free morning, transfer to the airport for departure.
Departure
Where you stay
Choose your hotel level: the price above and the group table update to match. Prefer something different, or a family room? A consultant can reprice it.
- Wyndham Garden · 4-star · Tashkent, 1 night
- Hilton Garden Inn · 4-star · Samarkand, 2 nights
- Dendi Plaza · 4-star · Bukhara, 2 nights
What's included
Included in the price
- Loading from our booking system…
Not included
- International flights to and from the region
- Visa fees where your passport requires one
- Lunches and dinners unless stated in the itinerary
- Personal expenses, drinks and souvenirs
- Tips for your guide and driver
- Anything not listed under what’s included
How group size changes the price
A private tour splits the vehicle, the guide and the driver across your group, so the per-person price falls as the group grows. These are live figures for this exact itinerary.
Calculating…
Weather, month by month
Average daytime high, night-time low and rain days for the places this trip actually goes, from five years of recorded observations. Not a forecast, and not the capital's weather standing in for the mountains.
Best months for this trip: Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Oct.
Good to know
- Visas
- It depends on your passport: see visa rules for Uzbekistan, each linked to its government source. We will tell you what we know, but the requirement is yours to check against your own passport.
- Best time to go
- April–May and September–October. We run this trip outside those months too, prices and conditions change, so ask.
- Getting there
- International flights are not included. Most travellers fly into Tashkent; we meet you at the airport.
- Confirming
- The price you see is real, but it is a quotation until a consultant checks hotel and guide availability for your dates, normally within 24 hours.
Questions we get asked
Is this a group tour with other people?
No. Every trip on this site is private: your group, your vehicle, your guide, your dates. Nobody else joins you.
Can the itinerary be changed?
Yes. This is our recommended shape for 6 days, not a fixed product. Add a night, drop a day trip, change a hotel tier, a consultant reprices it before you commit.
Is the price per person or total?
Prices show per person based on two people sharing a double room, with the total alongside. Solo travellers and larger groups price differently, the table above shows how.
When do I pay?
Nothing is taken through this website. A consultant confirms availability, sends a written quote with the payment schedule, and only then do you decide.
What if the weather closes a mountain road?
It happens, mostly outside the months above. We offer the nearest equivalent we can arrange and explain any difference in cost, either way.
What travellers say
4.9 from 227 reviews on Google
Those reviews are from travellers on our Georgia trips, where we have run longest. We have not written reviews for Uzbekistan and will not invent them, so you are seeing our overall rating rather than feedback on this itinerary.
Book or ask about this trip
Choose your date and group to see your exact price, then request to book it. Nothing to pay now: a consultant confirms hotels and guides within 24 hours and sends a secure payment link. Or just send us a question.
