Uzbekistan Silk Road Self-Launched: Tashkent to Khiva in 8 Days

Land at Tashkent airport and take the official taxi/Yandex Go to a guesthouse in the old town (roughly 30,000-50,000 UZS / £2-3.50). Drop bags and walk the Old City: Hazrati Imam complex (Hast Imam), Barak Khan Madrasa, the Hazrati Mosque and the Islamic Centre with its famous Uthman Quran — all free to enter the courtyards. Lunch at Chorsu Bazaar: non bread fresh from the tandyr, somsa and kebabs for under £4. Ride a few stops on the Soviet-era Tashkent Metro (1,700 UZS / ~£0.11 per ride — pay with a transport card or cash) to Kosmonavtlar and Alisher Navoi stations. Optional: Applied Arts Museum (£2) and the Museum of Victims of Political Repression. Most nationalities (UK, EU, most Western passports) enter Uzbekistan visa-free for 30 days — check your passport rules before booking flights.

🚌Airport taxi/Yandex Go £2-3.50; metro rides ~£0.11 each

🛏Old-town guesthouse or budget hotel in Tashkent (double/twin £18-25, dorm £8-12)

• →Hazrati Imam complex & Islamic Centre (free)
• →Chorsu Bazaar food crawl
• →Tashkent Metro station-hopping
• →Applied Arts Museum (£2, optional)

Book the Afrosiyob high-speed train on railway.uz in advance (2h10m, economy ~£10-13; buy 2-4 weeks ahead as it sells out). Arrive Samarkand, check into a guesthouse in the old town, then walk the monuments yourself: Gur-Emir Mausoleum (Timur's tomb, ~£2.50), the Registan ensemble — Ulughbek, Sherdor and Tilla-Kori madrasas (~£5 combined ticket) — and Bibi-Khanum Mosque opposite the bazaar. Browse Siab Bazaar for dried fruit, halva and non. Evening option: sunset from the Registan viewing platform or a cheap chayhana dinner (plov and salad ~£4).

🚌Afrosiyob train Tashkent-Samarkand ~£10-13; local taxis £1-2

🛏Samarkand guesthouse near Registan (£15-22 for a double)

• →Afrosiyob high-speed train
• →Gur-Emir Mausoleum (£2.50)
• →Registan Square combined ticket (£5)
• →Bibi-Khanum Mosque & Siab Bazaar

Start early at Shah-i-Zinda, the extraordinary tiled avenue of mausoleums (£2) — best in morning light before tour groups. Continue to Ulughbek's Observatory (the surviving sextant, £2) and the Afrosiyob Museum (£2) with its 7th-century murals. Afternoon: take a taxi or marshrutka 20 minutes out to Konigil village for the Samarkand silk-paper workshop where mulberry bark is beaten by hand — free to visit, buy a sheet of paper for a few pounds. Return via the Hazrat Khizr Mosque viewpoint. Book a self-guided audio tour or a cheap half-day local guide via GetYourGuide (~£15-25) if you want context. Evening: the Registan light-and-sound show runs most nights in season (modest ticket, ~£2-3) — check at the ticket office.

🚌Shared taxi/marshrutka to Konigil ~£1; local taxis £1-2

🛏Samarkand guesthouse (£15-22 double)

• →Shah-i-Zinda necropolis (£2)
• →Ulughbek Observatory (£2)
• →Afrosiyob Museum (£2)
• →Konigil silk-paper workshop (free)
• →Registan evening light show (~£3)

Take the morning Sharq or Afrosiyob train Samarkand-Bukhara (1h30-2h, ~£6-9) — a cheap, comfortable alternative to the operator's van. Alternatively, shared-taxi via Shahrisabz to see Ak-Saray Palace, but it adds 4+ hours. Check into a guesthouse inside the old city, ideally a converted madrasa. Self-guided walking loop: Lyab-i Hauz pond with its mulberry trees and teahouses, the three trading domes (Taki Sarafon, Taki Telpakfurushon, Taki Zargaron for carpets, knives and jewellery), the Jewish quarter with its synagogue, then Poi Kalyan — Kalyan Minaret, Kalyan Mosque and Mir-i-Arab Madrasa. Finish at the Ark Citadel (£2.50) and the Ismail Samani Mausoleum in the park. Dinner at a rooftop restaurant around Lyab-i Hauz (~£5-7 with tea).

🚌Train Samarkand-Bukhara ~£6-9; walking + local taxis £1-2

🛏Bukhara old-city guesthouse/madrasa conversion (£15-25 double)

• →Lyab-i Hauz & trading domes
• →Jewish quarter & synagogue
• →Poi Kalyan complex
• →Ark Citadel (£2.50)
• →Ismail Samani Mausoleum
• →Rooftop dinner at Lyab-i Hauz

Morning taxi or marshrutka to Sitorai Mohi Xosa, the Emir's summer palace 4km out of town (£3 entry). Combine with a stop at Chor-Bakr necropolis and the Bahauddin Naqshbandi mausoleum, the holiest Sufi site in Uzbekistan — free, quiet and atmospheric. Afternoon back in town: Chor Minor's four-towered gate (£1.50), the old hammam (Bozechi or Sarrafon, ~£8-10 for a scrub and steam — a great budget splurge) and a wander through the backstreets. In the evening, catch the folk music and dance show in the courtyard of Nadir Divan Begi Madrasa (small ticket, ~£4-6, buy on the door).

🚌Shared taxi/marshrutka to Sitorai Mohi Xosa ~£1-2 each way; local taxis £1-2

🛏Bukhara old-city guesthouse (£15-25 double)

• →Sitorai Mohi Xosa Summer Palace (£3)
• →Bahauddin Naqshbandi mausoleum (free)
• →Chor Minor (£1.50)
• →Traditional hammam (£8-10)
• →Nadir Divan Begi folk show (£4-6)

There's no train to Khiva, so do as locals do: share a taxi or minivan from Bukhara's shared-taxi stand. Bukhara-Khiva is ~450km through the Kyzylkum desert, 6-7 hours, roughly £15-22 per person when the car is full (or ~£60-80 to charter the whole car solo — worth splitting with guesthouse-mates). Ask your guesthouse to arrange it the night before and confirm the price upfront. Optional stop at Rabati Malik caravanserai (11th century) en route. Arrive Khiva late afternoon, check into a family guesthouse inside the walls of Ichan Kala, and watch sunset from the city walls (~£2.50 for a multi-monument ticket). Evening: Khiva noodle soup (tukhum barak) and a rooftop view of the minarets. Yurt-camp night outside the city is also possible if arranged locally (~£20-30 with dinner), though most travellers prefer the walled town.

🚌Shared taxi/minivan Bukhara-Khiva ~£15-22 per person

🛏Khiva guesthouse inside Ichan Kala (£12-20 double)

• →Desert crossing via shared taxi
• →City walls at sunset (£2.50)
• →Optional Rabati Malik caravanserai stop
• →Khiva noodle dinner

Spend the full morning exploring Ichan Kala on the combined monument ticket (£5-6 for 12 sites): Juma Mosque with its 200 carved wooden pillars, the Islam Khodja minaret with the best rooftop view in town (climb it, ~£2), the Kuhna Ark fortress, Tosh-Hovli Palace and the Pahlavan Mahmud mausoleum. Stop at the wood-carving and silk-carpet workshops inside the walls — genuine hand-work at fair prices. Mid-afternoon take a taxi to Urgench airport (~30 min, £6-8 shared) and fly to Tashkent with Uzbekistan Airways (1h20m, ~£35-50 booked ahead) — far quicker than the 14-hour shared-taxi/wait-for-a-train slog back. Late dinner in Tashkent and one last night near the old town.

🚌Taxi Khiva-Urgench airport ~£6-8; domestic flight Urgench-Tashkent ~£35-50

🛏Budget hotel near Tashkent old town (£18-25 double)

• →Ichan Kala combined ticket (£5-6)
• →Juma Mosque wooden pillars
• →Islam Khodja minaret climb (£2)
• →Craft workshops
• →Domestic flight back to Tashkent

Depending on your flight time, use the morning for anything you missed: the Navoi Opera House exterior, the Amir Timur Museum (£3), or a last Chorsu Bazaar breakfast of non and qaymak. Pick up cheap souvenirs — ceramic bowls, sheep-wool slippers, dried apricots — at Chorsu rather than the airport. Take a Yandex Go taxi to the airport (£2-3.50) two to three hours before your flight. If your flight is late, leave bags at the guesthouse and pay for a late checkout or luggage storage (~£3-5).

🚌Yandex Go taxi to airport £2-3.50

🛏None (departure day) — or add a cheap guesthouse night if your flight is early next day

• →Amir Timur Museum (£3, optional)
• →Chorsu Bazaar souvenir shopping
• →Airport transfer