Aral Sea & Uzbekistan Legends – 12 Days (Self-Launched)

Arrive and check into a guesthouse or budget hotel in the centre (Yunusobod or near Amir Temur Square). Buy a transport card or just pay cash on the metro (~1,500 UZS per ride) and ride the gloriously ornate Soviet-era stations. Walk the Khast Imam ensemble to see the Barakhan Madrasah and the 7th-century Osman Quran, then dive into Chorsu Bazaar for plov and non bread. In the afternoon hit the Applied Arts Museum and Independence/Navoi Theatre squares. Airport transfer by Yandex Go app is around £4–6.

🚌Arrive Tashkent; airport transfer by Yandex Go (~£5); metro and walking around the city (~£1)

🛏Budget guesthouse or 3-star hotel in Tashkent (£20–28)

• →Self-guided metro station crawl
• →Khast Imam Complex & Barakhan Madrasah
• →Osman Quran
• →Chorsu Bazaar food wander
• →Applied Arts Museum (£2)
• →Amir Temur / Navoi Theatre Square

Book the morning Uzbekistan Airways flight Tashkent–Nukus (HY 015, ~07:15–08:55; ~£55–75 one way, book well ahead). From Nukus airport hire a shared 4x4/van with driver for two days to the Aral Sea — this is the only bit of the trip worth organising through a local Nukus agency, roughly £90–120 per vehicle split between passengers (post on a travel forum or the hostel noticeboard to share). Drive north-west across the Ustyurt Plateau via Kungrad, stop at the shrinking Lake Sudochie and its abandoned fish factory and fishermen's houses, and reach the shore for sunset. Dinner at a yurt camp and night in a yurt.

🚌Flight Tashkent–Nukus ~£60; two-day shared 4x4 with driver from Nukus ~£50–60 per person

🛏Yurt camp at the Aral Sea shore (£15–20, usually with dinner and breakfast)

• →Lake Sudochie stop
• →Abandoned Soviet fish factory
• →Ustyurt Plateau viewpoints
• →Sunset on the former seabed
• →Yurt camp dinner

Up early for sunrise over the Aral Sea (in many places you can walk out across what was the seabed). Drive on to Moynaq village to see the famous ship graveyard and the small museum, then south via the Uchsay gas plant ruins and the Mizdakhan necropolis and Gaur Kala fortress outside Nukus. Drop at your hotel in Nukus late afternoon. Evening stroll along the Savitsky Museum's street.

🚌Continuation of the shared 4x4 (£0 extra beyond day 2 arrangement or ~£10–15 top-up)

🛏Guesthouse in Nukus (£18–25)

• →Aral Sea sunrise
• →Moynaq ship graveyard & museum (~£2)
• →Uchsay gas plant
• →Mizdakhan necropolis
• →Gaur Kala fortress

Spend 2–3 hours in the Igor Savitsky Museum — the 'Louvre of the Steppe', home to a hidden collection of banned Soviet avant-garde art (entry ~£4–5). Then hire a car or shared taxi (~£25–35 for the day, sharable) to visit Chilpik and Ayaz Kala fortresses on the desert edge before rolling on to Khiva in the afternoon along the road (~2 hrs). Night inside or just outside the Ichan Kala walls.

🚌Car/shared taxi Nukus–Khiva with fortress stops ~£30–35 total

🛏Guesthouse inside Ichan Kala, Khiva (£20–28)

• →Savitsky Museum
• →Chilpik fortress (Zoroastrian tower of silence)
• →Ayaz Kala fortress
• →Sunset walk on Khiva's city walls

Buy the combined Ichan Kala ticket (~£8–10) covering the madrasahs, mosques and palaces — the Islom Hoja minaret, Juma Mosque's carved pillars, Tosh Hovli palace. Do it slowly on foot; the whole old city is compact. In the evening book a home-cooking dinner with a local family (ask your guesthouse — usually £6–9) for the same experience the tour includes.

🚌Walking all day

🛏Guesthouse in Khiva, night 2 (£20–28)

• →Ichan Kala combined ticket
• →Juma Mosque carved pillars
• →Tosh Hovli Palace
• →Kalta Minor minaret
• →Family home-cooked dinner (£7)

Take the morning train or shared taxi to Bukhara (train ~6–7 hrs, ~£9–12; shared taxi ~5 hrs, ~£12–15 per person). Before leaving Khiva, or on arrival in Bukhara, visit Sitorai Mohi Hossa, the last emir's summer palace, and the Bahauddin Naqshbandi necropolis, both a short marshrutka/taxi hop from the city (~£3 each way). Dump bags in a guesthouse in the old town and take an evening wander to Lyabi Hauz square.

🚌Khiva–Bukhara train ~£10 or shared taxi ~£13; local taxis to palaces ~£5

🛏Old-town guesthouse in Bukhara (£20–28)

• →Sitorai Mohi Hossa summer palace
• →Bahauddin Naqshbandi necropolis
• →Evening at Lyabi Hauz

A full walking day covers everything on the operator's itinerary and more: Chashmai Ayub and Ismail Samani mausoleums, Bolo Hauz Mosque, the Ark Fortress (entry ~£5), the bazaar, the Kalyan minaret and mosque, and the Ulughbek, Abdulaziz Khan and Nadir Divan Begi madrasahs, plus Chor Minor tucked behind the main square. In the evening catch the folklore music-fashion show in the courtyard of Nadir Divan Begi Madrasah (~£6–8, buy tickets on the gate).

🚌Walking; short taxi to Chor Minor ~£1

🛏Old-town guesthouse in Bukhara, night 2 (£20–28)

• →Ark Fortress
• →Ismail Samani & Chashmai Ayub mausoleums
• →Kalyan minaret & mosque
• →Bazaar browsing
• →Chor Minor
• →Nadir Divan Begi folk show (£7)

Hire a shared taxi or take a marshrutka/train combo to Shahrisabz, Timur's birthplace, to see the Ak-Saray palace ruins, the Kok Gumbaz mosque and the Dor ut-Tilovat complex (tombs of Jahangir and Timur's teacher). Then continue by shared taxi or marshrutka to Samarkand (~2–3 hrs, ~£5–8). Book a guesthouse near Registan. Cheap overnight option if you prefer the direct route: evening Afrosiyob train Bukhara–Samarkand (~£15).

🚌Shared taxi/marshrutka Bukhara–Shahrisabz–Samarkand ~£15 total

🛏Guesthouse near Registan, Samarkand (£20–26)

• →Ak-Saray palace ruins
• →Kok Gumbaz mosque
• →Dor ut-Tilovat necropolis
• →Dorussiadat tombs

Start at the Registan as it opens (combined ticket ~£8) — Sherdor, Tillakori and Ulughbek madrasahs. Then Gur Emir mausoleum, the enormous Bibi Khanum mosque and Siab Bazaar, finishing at Ulughbek's observatory and the Afrosiyob site museum. Optionally add a local guide for the Registan for £15–20 if you want the history woven together, or use an audio/self-guided map. Overnight in Samarkand rather than rushing back — every reviewer of the original tour wished for more time here.

🚌Walking and short taxis (~£3)

🛏Guesthouse in Samarkand, night 2 (£20–26)

• →Registan Ensemble
• →Gur Emir Mausoleum
• →Bibi Khanum Mosque
• →Siab Bazaar
• →Ulughbek Observatory (~£3)
• →Afrosiyob site museum

Ride the Afrosiyob train Samarkand–Tashkent (~2 hrs, ~£15), then take a shared taxi or the train onward over the Kamchik Pass to Kokand (~£5–8). Tour the Khudoyar Khan Palace and Juma Mosque, then continue to a guesthouse in Ferghana or Rishton and visit a ceramic master's workshop in Rishton, famous for its blue-glazed pottery — a short taxi from Ferghana (~£3) and free to watch, buy a bowl for a few pounds.

🚌Afrosiyob Samarkand–Tashkent ~£15; shared taxi/train Tashkent–Kokand ~£7; local taxis ~£5

🛏Family guesthouse in Ferghana or Rishton (£15–22)

• →Afrosiyob high-speed train
• →Khudoyar Khan Palace, Kokand (~£3)
• →Juma Mosque
• →Rishton ceramic workshop

Morning at the Yodgorlik silk factory in Margilan to see the full ikat process from cocoons to loom (small fee or free with purchase), plus the Margilan bazaar and mosque. Afternoon shared taxi or train back to Tashkent (~4–5 hrs, ~£8–10). Final evening for a plov dinner and a wander through the city's illuminated squares.

🚌Margilan–Tashkent shared taxi or train ~£9; local taxis ~£5

🛏Budget hotel in Tashkent (£20–28)

• →Yodgorlik silk factory, Margilan
• →Margilan bazaar
• →Margilan mosque
• →Farewell plov dinner

Last morning for the metro, a last Chorsu Bazaar run for spices and dried fruit, then a Yandex Go to the airport for your flight home. If your flight is late, the fine arts museum or the TV tower area fills a couple of hours comfortably.

🚌Yandex Go taxi to Tashkent airport ~£5

🛏None (departure day)

• →Chorsu Bazaar shopping
• →Optional Fine Arts Museum (~£3)