Samarkand & Silk Road Cities - with Tashkent, Shakhr-i-Sabz, Bukhara and Khiva

Fly at c. 11.30am (Turkish Airlines) from London Heathrow to Tashkent via Istanbul, arriving Tashkent c. 1.00am. First of three nights in Tashkent. Rooms are available from 2.00pm today for those not flying from London but joining in Uzbekistan.

Nothing is planned before departure from the hotel at 1.00pm for lunch. Begin the afternoon visits in the old town: the Khast Imam complex houses one of the earliest Qur’an manuscripts; a trip on the metro includes stations notable for their colourful ceramic decoration, domed interiors and chandaliers.

The morning is spent at the Chorsu Bazaar and Kukeldash Madrassa, introducing the theme of Soviet reconstruction of Islamic heritage. Afternoon visits to the State Museum of History and Amir Timur Museum.

High-speed train from Tashkent to Samarkand (duration: c. 2 hours; luggage transferred separately). Visit Shah-i-Zinda, an ensemble of mausolea gorgeously apparelled in many types of dazzling glazed tiles, the Afrasiab History Museum, which documents pre-Islamic Samarkand, and the remains of the extraordinary observatory built by Ulug Beg in the 15th century. First of three nights in Samarkand.

Cross the Hisor Mountains (by car; coaches are not permitted), a dramatic drive with long views down the sun-baked valley the other side. Shakhr-i-Sabz was transformed by Timur (1336–1405) whose home town it was. An astounding survival is the most imposing palace portal in the history of architecture, an arch 22 metres wide with a wondrous range of tiled decoration. Further Timurid remnants include a mosque complex with three turquoise domes.

Begin with the Amir Timur Masuoleum, burial place of Timur. The Registan, ‘the noblest public square in the world’ (Lord Curzon, 1889), is bounded on three sides by magnificent madrassas of the 15th and 17th centuries. Commissioned by Timur in honour of his wife, Bibi Khanum Mosque is an impressive exercise in gigantism despite partial destruction and over-zealous restoration. Gumbaz Synagogue, hidden in the Old Town, was constructed in the 19th century for Samarkand’s Jewish community.

High-speed train from Samarkand to Bukhara (duration: c. 1 hour 30 minutes; luggage transferred separately). Visit Central Asia’s oldest surviving mosque, Magok-i-Attari, before lunch in the hotel. The afternoon walk begins in the social heart of the city, the Lyab-i Hauz square built around a 15th-century pool and flanked by the Nadir Divanbegi Madrassa and Khanaga. Time for tea under the mulberry trees. First of three nights in Bukhara.

Genghis Khan ensured in 1220 that – with notable exceptions, including the Kalyan Minaret at 48 metres then the tallest in the world – little of Bukhara’s first golden age remains, but of the second, the 15th and 16th centuries, there survives much magnificent architecture, lavishly embellished. Today’s walks take in the vast Kalyan Mosque (finished 1514) with a capacity of 10,000, several grand madrassas, the formidable citadel of the khans and the Zindan, their infamous prison. Free afternoon, with an optional excursion to Cheshma-yi-Ayyub, Vabkent, an enclosure of a spring associated with the prophet Job, dating from the early 13th century.

Visit the 12th century Namaz Goh mosque, before moving on to the perfectly preserved 10th-century Mausoleum of Ismail Samani, which displays exquisite brickwork. From here walk through the park to the Bolo Hauz Mosque with its elegant patio of timber columns. The resting place of a Mongol khan, the Mausoleum of Buyan-Khuli Khan still has some fine chipped 14th-century mosaic and terracotta. Next door are the twin domes of the larger Saifuddin Bukharzi Mausoleum. Free afternoon.

The 280-mile journey starts and finishes in an unspoilt landscape of green fields, plentiful trees and adobe farmsteads, while the central section is undulating desert, specked with tufty shrubs that are briefly green in the spring. There are periodic sightings of the meandering Oxus, the mighty river crossed by Alexander the Great in 329 BC. Reach Khiva in time for a walk to the Khan’s palace before dinner. First of two nights in Khiva.

No modern intrusions spoil the timeless fabric within a rectangle of crenellated and turreted ramparts. Most of the buildings are 19th-century, but such was Khiva’s isolation and conservatism that to the inexpert eye they could date to any time from the 16th or even 13th century. The Friday Mosque, a forest of carved wooden columns some dating to the 10th century, the Tash Hauli Palace, whose harem quarters constitute the loveliest secular spaces in Central Asia, and the Paklavan Mahmoud Mausoleum where tiled interiors reach a peak of opulence.

Free morning in Khiva. After lunch, depart for the Ellikqala district and visit the Ayaz Kala fortress and the Topraq-Kala ruins. Drive to Urgench for dinner. Late evening flight to Tashkent, arriving shortly after midnight. Overnight Tashkent.

Morning flight to London (direct with Uzbekistan Airways) arriving Heathrow c. 2.30pm.