Silk Road Destinations & City Guides

Jewel of the ancient Silk Road and capital of Tamerlane's soaring Timurid Renaissance, Samarkand leaves architecture fans completely awe-struck. Step onto vast Registan Square framed by three shimmering lapis-lazuli tiled madrasahs, wander the turquoise mosaic avenue of Shah-i-Zinda necropolis glowing cobalt blue, smell freshly baked round non bread beside Siab Bazaar, and glide onward aboard 155mph Afrosiyob express trains.

More intimate and completely walkable than Samarkand, poetic Bukhara preserves 2,000 years of caravanserai merchant heritage around tranquil mulberry-shaded Lyabi-Hauz ponds. Stroll under vaulted brick trading domes filled with hand-knotted silk rugs, embroidered suzanis & miniature paintings before standing beneath the awe-inspiring 47-metre baked-brick Poi Kalyan Minaret that even Genghis Khan spared out of respect.

Rising dramatically like an intact Arabian Nights mirage out of golden Khorezm desert sands, the entirely walled inner town of Khiva (Itchan Kala) was Uzbekistan's very first UNESCO World Heritage Site. Free of traffic inside massive baked-clay ramparts, explore 218 carved wooden column halls inside Juma Mosque, gaze at chunky tiled Kalta Minor minaret, and sip saffron tea atop rampart terraces glowing burnt-gold as desert twilight falls.

Green, spacious, and surprisingly eclectic, Tashkent weaves leafy Soviet-modernist boulevards and chandelier-lit subterranean metro stations together with sprawling terracotta-brick markets under the giant sky-blue dome of Chorsu Bazaar. As the gateway terminal for direct London flights and Afrosiyob high-speed trains toward Samarkand, Tashkent rewards guests with historic Hazrat Imam Square manuscripts and bubbling giant cauldrons at Central Asian Plov Centre.