Your exploration of Tashkent begins this morning with a full-day sightseeing tour. With the help of your experienced guide, you will visit the Centre for Islamic Civilisation in Uzbekistan, where the world’s oldest Quran – the Uthman Quran dating to the 7th century – is carefully preserved. You will also visit the Khast Imam Complex, the religious heart of the city. From here you will stroll through the bustling Chorsu Bazaar, a covered market brimming with spices, dried fruits, fresh bread, and the lively chatter of local traders. Nearby stands the Kukeldash Madrasah, the largest 16th-century madrasah in Tashkent. After lunch, the tour proceeds to the modern part of the city. You will see Independence Square, framed by fountains and important government buildings including the Senate of the Republic. Your guide will also take you to the Amir Timur Square and the Tashkent Metro, one of only two underground systems in Central Asia, famous for its lavishly decorated stations. The sightseeing tour will conclude with a visit to the Museum of Applied Art of Uzbekistan, which houses over 7,000 exhibits of handmade embroidery, skull-caps, jewelry, carpets, and other fine examples of Uzbek craftsmanship.

A full day devoted to exploring Samarkand’s remaining treasures. You will start at the Shah-i-Zinda Necropolis, one of the most mystical monuments of the city – a narrow avenue of shimmering tiled mausoleums dating from the 11th to the 19th century, built in honour of royal persons and nobles. From there you will visit the imposing Bibi-Khanym Mosque, once one of the largest mosques in the Islamic world, commissioned by Timur after his Indian campaign. Just across the road lies the colourful Siab Bazaar, where you must try the famous Samarkand non – the round flatbread baked in a tandoor oven, considered the best in all of Uzbekistan. In the afternoon, the tour proceeds to the Ulugh Beg Observatory, built in the 1420s by the astronomer-king Ulugh Beg, who catalogued over 1,000 stars with remarkable accuracy. You will also visit the Afrasiyab Museum, which preserves unique 7th-century Sogdian wall paintings, and the Samarkand Silk Paper Workshop, where craftsmen still produce paper by hand using ancient mulberry-bark techniques.

The full day is dedicated to exploring Bukhara’s most important historical and cultural sights. Your city tour begins at the Ismail Samani Mausoleum, a 10th-century masterpiece of baked-brick architecture and the oldest surviving monument in the city. Nearby you will see the Chashma Ayub Mausoleum, associated with the Biblical Job, and the elegant Bolo Hauz Mosque with its slender carved wooden columns. The tour proceeds to the mighty Ark Fortress, which served as the residence of Bukhara’s emirs for over a millennium, and then to the Poi-Kalyan Complex – featuring the famous Kalyan Minaret (1127), once used as a landmark for caravans crossing the desert, the Kalyan Mosque, and the Mir-i-Arab Madrasah. You will continue to the Magoki-Attori Mosque, one of the oldest in the city, and the contrasting pair of the Ulugh Beg and Abdulaziz Khan Madrasahs. The tour concludes at the Lyab-i Hauz Ensemble, a shaded plaza built around a 17th-century pool, flanked by the Kukeldash Madrasah and the Nadir Divan-Begi Madrasah and Khanaka. In the evening, you may enjoy a folk show with national dances and live music in the courtyard of the Nadir Divan-Begi Madrasah (optional, at own expense).