2 Weeks in Uzbekistan Itinerary: Khiva, Bukhara, Samarkand, Tashkent & the Aral Sea

A balanced and realistic itinerary for two weeks in Uzbekistan, featuring the Silk Road cities of Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand, the capital Tashkent, plus side trips to the Khorezm Desert, Republic of Karakalpakstan and Aral Sea.

For many travellers – myself included – Central Asia sits right on the fringe of familiarity. When the urge to dive into the region does take hold, it’s usually Uzbekistan that people turn to first.

Of the five republics bundled together as the ‘Stans’ (a problematic term I’ll retire here), Uzbekistan is undoubtedly the one whose tourism star is rising most rapidly. Simplified visas, streamlined transport and heavy investment in infrastructure make it a surprisingly easy place to travel – especially when compared to some of its neighbours.

Reimagining a Silk Road heritage for today’s tastes isn’t without its downsides, and with the already changing country on the cusp of what will quite possibly be a seismic shift, there’s never been a better time to go.

Uzbekistan has always been one of the names I reach for first when asked to list off my dream destinations. As a child, I was enchanted by tales of the Silk Road. As an avid photographer, I couldn’t imagine a better place to indulge in my favourite hobby.

Last autumn, my husband, my father and I spent nearly three weeks exploring Uzbekistan. In this guide, I offer a refined version of our itinerary, edited into a slow-paced but efficient 14-day route that I think captures the best of the country.

I have also included a few practical tips for getting around, tour recommendations based on the companies we used ourselves, and general tips for planning your own route.

→ More tips for visiting Uzbekistan in this dedicated guide

Uzbekistan itinerary overview

• Day 1: Arrive Urgench or Tashkent + transfer to Khiva – stay at Khiva Ibrohim Guest House
• Days 2-3: Khiva
• Days 4-5: Overnight tour to the Aral Sea, Moynaq & Nukus (Karakalpakstan) – stay at Discovery Yurt Camp
• Day 6: Transfer Khiva to Bukhara via the Three Fortresses
• Days 7-9: Bukhara – stay at DUSTON Boutique XIX century rooms
• Days 10-12: Samarkand + half-day trip to Shahrisabz – stay at Kosh Havuz Boutique Hotel
• Day 13: Tashkent – stay at Hotel Uzbekistan
• Day 14: Depart Tashkent

When to visit Uzbekistan

• Spring (March-May) and autumn (September-early November) are the best times to go. Expect mild days, crisp evenings, bright skies, and fewer crowds – though tourism is growing steadily with each passing year.
• Summer (June-August) is brutally hot, with daytime highs often exceeding 40°C, especially in Khiva and the surrounding desert.
• Winter (December-February) brings snow to some regions. Travel is still possible, but it’s a completely different experience – expect fewer visitors and a quieter, more subdued atmosphere.

Overall, I suggest you aim for the tail end of the shoulder seasons – late May or early November. These periods offer a nice balance between good weather and a quieter ambience.

We travelled in November – it was colder than expected around the Aral Sea, but very comfortable in the cities. Tashkent, in particular, put on a stunning display of autumn colours for us at the end of the month. We never had to queue to visit a tourist site, and never had to reserve a table at a restaurant. We did find that some businesses and museums had already closed for the season (especially in Tashkent), but it was nothing we couldn’t manage.

Choosing your direction of travel

Unlike most Uzbekistan itineraries, you’ll notice that mine starts in Khiva and ends in Tashkent. There are several reasons why I recommend travelling in this direction.

First, Khiva is the highlight of Uzbekistan in many respects (this is certainly my opinion). The small, slow-paced city makes for a gentle introduction – it immerses you in an almost perfect version of the Silk Road without being too busy or overwhelming. By contrast, the modern capital – with its outbound connections – works great as an ending.

If you’re travelling in shoulder season, weather is an important consideration. We travelled in November, and it was already quite cold in Khiva and Karakalpakstan, which are significantly further north than Tashkent. By the time we reached the capital, the weather was still balmy. Had we left the north-west until last, we would have struggled.

Logistically, this direction also makes sense. You can fly directly into Urgench International Airport (for Khiva) from Istanbul, which avoids the need to backtrack (most itineraries require an overnight train journey to bridge the gap). From there, the route naturally flows eastward: Bukhara, Samarkand, and finally Tashkent – very easy to achieve thanks to the rail network.

You could easily reverse your route and start in Tashkent before finishing in Khiva. But my recommendation is to travel from west to east, beginning with the most atmospheric city and gradually building up towards the biggest.

Dividing your time between the cities

When I was planning my trip to Uzbekistan, I really struggled to figure out the right balance of time for each city. Having now experienced each place, my recommended ratio is:

• 2 : 3 : 2 : 1
• Khiva – Bukhara – Samarkand – Tashkent

Some people will disagree with me, but that was the right balance for us.

Khiva is the most atmospheric of the cities and lends itself to slow travel. Wandering the lanes of Itchan Kala at different times of day is pure joy, and two days gives you the chance to soak it all in without rushing. (We actually had 2.5 days in Khiva, which was even better.)

Bukhara is larger, and Samarkand is bigger again. Personally, I preferred Bukhara over Samarkand and would have happily given it my ‘extra’ day. That said, having a third day in Samarkand is worthwhile if you want to include a side trip to Shahrisabz, the birthplace of Timur.

Personally I found Tashkent underwhelming, and I think you can comfortably do the capital in a single day if you need to. But if you want to dive deeper into the museums etc., give yourself an extra 24 hours.

Detailed 2 weeks in Uzbekistan itinerary

Day 1: Arrive Urgench or Tashkent

The closest airport to Khiva is Urgench International Airport, which has direct flights from Istanbul with Turkish Airlines. Flights land in the early morning, so I suggest you pre-arrange the one-hour taxi ride to the old city through your guesthouse or hotel in Khiva.

Alternatively, you could fly into Tashkent and connect to Khiva via a quick domestic flight or high-speed train to Urgench.

If you arrive early in the day, enjoy a bonus afternoon and evening in Khiva like we did.

Days 2-3: Khiva

The Fairytale.

Khiva is the gem of Uzbekistan – my favourite city in the country by far – and the perfect place to begin your itinerary if you want to start on a high. Once the capital of the Khiva Khanate, it centres around an inner old town, Itchan Kala, which became Uzbekistan’s very first UNESCO World Heritage Site back in 1990.

With much of its architecture dating to the 17th century, Khiva is Silk Road Uzbekistan at its very finest. The preserved old town is encased by mud ramparts, with a maze of twisted streets linking its turquoise minarets, madrassas and mosques.

The lived-in backstreets of the Itchan Kala – where craft workshops and family homes are intertwined with monuments, sparking chance encounters and sweet vignettes of everyday life – is one of the highlights.

While it’s possible to see Khiva in a single day, I strongly recommend giving yourself more time. Two full days is perfect to wander at your own pace, thoroughly explore the Itchan Kala, and take in two very different but equally magical Khiva sunsets from key vintage points.

This is the quietest stop on the itinerary in terms of tourism – a chance to get the lay of the land before continuing on to busier Bukhara and Samarkand.

Highlights of Khiva:

• Slowly exploring the Itchan Kala Walled City
• Climbing a minaret for a city view
• Enjoying the sunset from the Kuhna Ark watchtower & North Gate
• Touring the Nurullaboy Palace
• Observing daily life in the picturesque backstreets

→ Read my full guide to Khiva

Where to stay in Khiva: We stayed at Khiva Ibrohim Guest House, a family-run guesthouse inside the Itchan Kala walls. Each day begins with coffee and a light breakfast at the family dining table. Private rooms are warm and comfortable, each with an ensuite bathroom.

Days 4-5: The Aral Sea, Moynaq & Nukus (Karakalpakstan)

The Lost Sea.

Before continuing along the Silk Road, it’s worth pushing deep into Uzbekistan’s interior for an overnight trip to the Aral Sea. I went into this trip fully expecting the architecture and cities to be the highlight – but in reality, it was the few days spent exploring the desert that actually stuck with me most. Yes, it requires an investment of both time and money, but it’s very much worth it.

Once the world’s fourth-largest saltwater lake, the Aral Sea has shrunk by more than 90% since the 1960s due to Soviet irrigation schemes. Today, the dried-up basin has become a global symbol of environmental tragedy and human resilience. I can’t emphasise how atmospheric and powerful visiting the Aral Sea can be.

We booked a private excursion with Khiva-based Islambek Travel and we couldn’t have been happier with the service. Everything was organised and confirmed over WhatsApp. We had our own car and driver (but not a guide), and dovetailed with other groups at most stops so we were never completely alone.

To be sure, the distance to the yurt camp is monumental – more than 1,100 kilometres or 17-18 hours of driving, much of it on unsealed roads. But there are plenty of stops along the way. Since Khiva marks the westernmost point on this itinerary, this is the only real opportunity to add the Aral Sea extension.

What’s left of the lake is shared between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. On this side of the border, it is located inside the Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan. As well as standing on the receding shoreline, other highlights of the region include the iconic Moynaq Ship Cemetery, the surprisingly excellent Aral Sea Museum, and the sweeping canyons of the Ustyurt Plateau.

Spending the night in a yurt and waking up to watch the sunrise over the shallow water is really special. It was absolutely freezing in the desert in November, so pack accordingly! You can find my tips for visiting the Aral Sea in this separate guide.

On the way back to Khiva, our driver stopped in Nukus for the Savitsky Museum (officially the Karakalpakstan State Museum of Art). With more than 90,000 works – including the world’s second-largest collection of Russian avant-garde art, much of it hidden from Soviet authorities for decades – this gallery is a must-see.

Highlights of the Aral Sea:

• Climbing over the rusting hulls at the Moynak Ship Cemetery
• Learning the tragic history of the Aral Sea at the Moynak Museum
• Exploring the Ustyurt Plateau
• Standing on the Aral Sea shore
• Sleeping in a desert yurt camp under the stars
• Visiting the abandoned fishing village of Urga
• Touring the incredible Savitsky Art Museum in Nukus

→ Read my full guide to visiting the Aral Sea

Day 6: Three Fortresses (Khorezm Desert)

The Desert Detour.

Tour operators in Khiva bill this trip as a transfer, but in reality it’s a full tour north-east of Khiva with a long (5–6 hour) drive south-east tacked onto the end. Since we had planned to use trains for the rest of our journey, we decided to throw in a road transfer for some variety – and to eke a bit more out of our limited time in the west. (If there’s one part of Uzbekistan I ever return to, it will be Karakalpakstan, and Nukus in particular.)

Travelling by road in Uzbekistan is nerve-wracking – it vies with Georgia when it comes to speeding and overtaking. But the Three Fortresses turned out to be another unexpected highlight of Uzbekistan for me, so it was all worth it in the end.

The three fortresses we visited were:

Qizil Qala: The ‘Red Fortress’, built around the 1st–2nd centuries, is a quintessential sandcastle in the desert. It reminded me of the fortresses Ross and I visited years ago in Oman. It likely served as a military outpost protecting the borders of the Khorezm Kingdom.

Ayaz Kala: A chain of three fortresses built between the 4th century BC and the 7th century AD. The main citadel is believed to have been constructed by the Khorezmian kings as a defensive stronghold. The views from the walls down onto the other two fortress complexes are nothing short of incredible.

Topraq Kala: Dating to the 1st-6th centuries AD, this was once the royal residence of the Khorezm kings. Its mud-brick fortification enclosed palaces, temples, and administrative quarters. This is the ‘fun fortress’ – a web of square pits and crumbling chambers that look like the basins of a tannery, where you can freely walk, climb, and jump around.

We booked this trip through the same company, Islambek. Our driver was friendly and flexible, happy to make extra stops on request and even pulling over so we could photograph a Soviet-era mosaic. At the end of the day, he dropped us at our accommodation in central Bukhara.

Where to stay in Bukhara: This was the point in our journey where we needed a washing machine, so we chose to stay at an Airbnb in Bukhara. If you prefer a hotel, DUSTON Boutique XIX century rooms has a typical period aesthetic and excellent reviews.

Days 7-9: Bukhara

The Open-Air Museum.

Bukhara is often overshadowed by Samarkand, but it is every bit as enigmatic in my eyes. Personally, I enjoyed it more – it has the same slices of local life you find in Khiva, yet twice as many landmarks thanks to its layered history of scholarship and trade. We had our best meals of the trip here – also very important!

The Po-i-Kalan complex feels like a laid-back version of Samarkand’s Registan, sans the barricades and ticket booths. It is a good symbol for Bukhara itself: a living monument where life unfolds in and around the ancient architecture.

Home to a quarter of a million people, Bukhara has been continuously inhabited for more than 2,000 years and was a major centre of Islamic learning during the 9th and 10th centuries. A UNESCO Site since 1993, it famously boasts more than 350 mosques and 100 madrassas.

The city is more sprawling than Khiva (and without walls to contain it), but still small enough that you can get to know it intimately in just a couple of days. Crisscrossing back and forth through the Toki (domed trading halls), you will soon forge your ‘usual’ route and find your favourite tea and samsa pit-stops along the way.

At night, the incredible Po-i-Kalan square comes alive: the minaret glows in the fading light, while school kids carrying their book bags and smart phones stop to practice their English with tourists.

Because I love to revisit places at different times of day, we actually gave ourselves four slow-paced days in Bukhara. For most travellers, 48-72 hours is the sweet spot – but please, no less!

Highlights of Bukhara:

• Enjoying peaceful evening strolls across the Po-i-Kalan
• People-watching on Lyabi Khause Square, the heart of the old city
• Getting a jacket tailored at Kukaldosh Madrasah
• Browsing the stalls in the domed Toki trading halls
• Sipping cardamom coffee at the Silk Road Tea House
• Seeing the painted ceilings of Bolo Hauz Mosque
• Dining at Zaytoon for a modern take on Central Asian cuisine

→ Read my full guide to Bukhara

Onward travel to Samarkand: There are a dozen daily trains between Bukhara and Samarkand, with journey times ranging from 1.75 hours (high-speed Afrosiyob service) to 3.5 hours. We opted for an early morning Sharq train, which took 2.5 hours and got us to Samarkand before 10am.

To reach the railway station in Bukhara, we booked a Yandex taxi. Drivers were available in the early morning before 5am.

Days 10-12: Samarkand & Shahrisabz

The Silk Road Showstopper.

All roads lead to Samarkand. I’ll be honest: I was a little bit underwhelmed by our penultimate stop, especially coming off the back of lovely Khiva and Bukhara. Therein lies the danger of visiting Uzbekistan’s cities in this order – the trip can feel like it tails off as you move towards the busier, more developed centres.

That said, Samarkand is still a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Settled 2,500 years ago and transformed into an important centre of art and science under the guidance of Tamerlane in the 14th century, it deserves its place among the world’s great cities. Its restored monuments were collectively inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001 as a masterpiece of Islamic architecture.

The Registan Square is a sight to behold: a trio of stately madrassas facing each other in perfect symmetry, each facade gleaming with intricate mosaics. The highlight for me, though, was the Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, a sequence of dazzling mausoleums dressed in shades of turquoise and cobalt arranged along a narrow avenue. Visit in the early morning before the tour buses arrive for soft light and complete serenity.

Samarkand is also a place to connect with Uzbekistan’s living culture. There are excellent workshops and ateliers here, including the Happy Bird Art Gallery. I splurged on the most expensive piece of clothing I’ve ever bought – my most precious Uzbekistan souvenir.

If you have time, a half-day trip to Shahrisabz, the birthplace of Timur, is a worthwhile add-on. It is located around 90 kilometres south of Samarkand, across the Takhtakaracha Pass. The drive out is beautiful, and after so much flat terrain, it’s nice to finally see some mountains! We booked our day trip on Get Your Guide.

Highlights of Samarkand:

• Early morning at the dazzling Shah-i-Zinda necropolis
• Standing in awe in the Registan Square
• Visiting Amir Temur’s Gur-i Amir Mausoleum, the Aksaray Mausoleum & Bibi-Khanym Mosque
• Shopping for souvenirs at Choychana Mubarak & Happy Bird Art Gallery
• Hunting for Soviet mosaics around the city

→ Read my full guide to Samarkand

Where to stay in Samakand: Our stay at Kosh Havuz Boutique Hotel was the best of our entire Uzbekistan trip – absolutely worth the splurge. Staying here made the Samarkand experience all the more memorable… I would go back just to stay here again! Service is professional, the buffet breakfast is outstanding, and rooms are cosy.

Onward travel to Tashkent: Again, there are 10 or more trains every day between Samarkand and Tashkent. We used the Afrosiyob train for this leg, taking 2.5 hours, and were seated in a private coupe with three other passengers. We used Yandex to get to the Bukhara 1 Railway Station, located 20 minutes from the city centre.

Day 13: Tashkent

The Crossroads.

If Samarkand didn’t quite hit the mark, Uzbekistan’s largest city – home to around three million people – was even harder for me to warm to. As a big fan of Brutalist architecture and all things Soviet art, I arrived with very high (probably too high) expectations.

But I found Tashkent too spread out, and too empty. Maybe it was the season? In 1966, the city was virtually destroyed by a massive earthquake then rebuilt as a showcase of Soviet urban planning – and to be honest, you can really feel the harshness and coldness. The retro metro system is definitely a highlight, but the wide avenues and monumental squares lack ambiance and left me feeling strangely disconnected.

We had no issues travelling in Uzbekistan in shoulder season – until we reached Tashkent. Many of the museums and restaurants I wanted to visit had already closed for the year, which only added to the sense of frustration. On the plus side, the leafy parks delivered us an incredible display of autumn colours.

The best parts of Tashkent for me were the Chorsu Bazaar – extremely photogenic, if not a bit overwhelming – and of course the metro stations, some of the most ornate in the former Soviet Union.

Highlights of Tashkent:

• Exploring the Chorsu Bazaar
• Riding and photographing the Tashkent Metro
• Eating plov at Besh Qozon
• Sleeping under Soviet chandeliers at the Hotel Uzbekistan

Where to stay in Tashkent: We stayed at the Hotel Uzbekistan, which turned out to be a huge value-add to our experience. As far as Soviet-era hotels go (and I’ve stayed in my fair share, from the Hotel Rustavi in Georgia to the Sevan Writers’ House in Armenia), it was surprisingly well-appointed.

Breakfast left a lot to be desired – but when the buffet greets you with a sign reading ‘Please do not smoke at breakfast’, what can you expect. If you get the chance to stay here, it’s worth it for the atmosphere and architecture alone.

Day 14: Depart Tashkent

When it comes time to leave Uzbekistan, you have a couple of options: Fly out of Tashkent International Airport, a 30-minute taxi ride from the city centre, or alternatively do what we did and cross the border into Kazakhstan by foot.

We took a Yandex taxi to the Gisht Kuprik checkpoint and entered Kazakhstan at Granitsa Kazakhstana. The process was a little hectic, but that’s nothing unusual for Central Asia (or so I hear). On the other side, we relied on our still-strong Uzbekistan UCell signal to book another Yandex taxi to Shymkent, about two hours away.

We chose to depart from Shymkent primarily because the airport here has budget-friendly connections to Istanbul. This was our first, very brief, foray into Kazakhstan, and I look forward to revisiting the country next year.

More travel resources for Uzbekistan