Uzbekistan Discovered — Self-Launched Silk Road

Land at Tashkent International Airport, withdraw Uzbek som from the airport ATMs (cards work widely in the city now, but carry cash for bazaars and villages), and take a Yandex Go ride or a metered taxi to your hostel — expect 40,000-70,000 som (£3-5), not the $10-20 quoted to tour groups. Check in around Chorsu or the Old Town, get a Uzbek SIM from Ucell/Beeline at the airport or a city shop (~£5 for 10GB), and spend the evening eating lagman and samsa near Chorsu Bazaar. Dress modestly for the rest of the trip — shoulders and knees covered, headscarf handy for mosques.

🚌Airport taxi/Yandex ~£4

🛏Hostel or budget guesthouse in central Tashkent (dorm £8-12, private twin ~£22)

• →Airport transfer to hostel
• →SIM card and cash setup
• →Evening wander around Chorsu Bazaar area

Do the city on foot and by metro, which is an attraction in itself — each Kosmonavtlar, Alisher Navoi and Pakhtakor station is a marble-and-chandelier museum piece (metro fare ~2,000 som, pennies). Walk the Khast Imam complex with the 7th-century Uthman Quran, then the Chorsu Bazaar domes and the earthquake memorial. In the afternoon take the metro to the Museum of Fine Arts (small entry fee) or the Applied Arts Museum. If you want a guide, a half-day private guide via GetYourGuide runs about £25-35; otherwise a good audio guide and a guidebook cover it. Optional: join a free-ish walking tour for £8-10 and tip.

🚌Metro and walking, ~£1

🛏Hostel or budget guesthouse in Tashkent

• →Khast Imam complex and Uthman Quran
• →Chorsu Bazaar
• →Metro station-hopping
• →Museum of Fine Arts or Applied Arts Museum

Book the Afrosiyob high-speed train in advance online at railway.uz — Tashkent to Samarkand takes about 2h10m and costs roughly 150,000-250,000 som (£10-17) in economy/business. Arrive, walk to your guesthouse in the Old City, then do a self-guided orientation loop: the Gur-e-Amir mausoleum (Amir Timur's tomb, ~40,000 som), the Bibi-Khanym Mosque and Shah-i-Zinda's tiled necropolis in golden late-afternoon light. Dinner at a plov house or the Siab Bazaar area — try Samarkand non bread and halva.

🚌Afrosiyob high-speed train ~£13

🛏Guesthouse just outside the Registan (£12-18 private twin per person; dorm £8)

• →Afrosiyob train Tashkent–Samarkand
• →Gur-e-Amir Mausoleum
• →Bibi-Khanym Mosque
• →Shah-i-Zinda necropolis
• →Siab Bazaar

Be at the Registan at opening (8am) to have the three madrassas nearly to yourself — combined entry ticket for Registan, Gur-e-Amir and Shah-i-Zinda runs about 100,000 som (£7). Hire a local guide at the gate for 200,000-300,000 som if you want the stories — split with fellow hostel travellers to halve it. Afternoon: Ulugh Beg Observatory and the Tomb of the Prophet Daniel, then Afrosiyob Museum with its 7th-century murals. Evening: rooftop tea at a chaikhana by the Registan. Optional hammam or wine tasting at the Samarkand wine factory.

🚌Walking and short Yandex rides ~£3

🛏Guesthouse in Samarkand

• →Registan madrassas with day-guide option
• →Ulugh Beg Observatory
• →Tomb of Prophet Daniel
• →Afrosiyob Museum
• →Rooftop chaikhana evening

Take a shared taxi or marshrutka from Samarkand to Jizzakh/Nurata (2-3 hours, ~£5-8) and arrange a village pickup — or pre-book directly with a Nuratau community-tourism homestay (several families in Sentyab, Asraf, Hayat and Sentob are listed through CBT Uzbekistan and bookable by email) who will collect you from Nurata. En route stop at the ruins of Alexander the Great's fortress at Nurata and the Chashma Holy Spring complex (entry ~30,000 som). In the village, walk the walnut and apricot terraces, help with the evening bread-baking, and eat a home-cooked dinner with the family. This is the same homestay night included on the group tour, just booked direct for around £20-25 full board.

🚌Shared taxi Samarkand–Nurata ~£7, village pickup ~£5

🛏Family homestay in Sentyab (~£20-25 including dinner and breakfast)

• →Alexander the Great fortress ruins
• →Chashma Holy Spring complex
• →Trekking village terraces
• →Home-cooked dinner with host family

Walk up to a viewpoint above the village after breakfast, then get a lift back to Nurata and take a shared taxi or bus onward toward Bukhara (Nurata–Bukhara ~3-4 hours, £6-9; alternatively backtrack to Samarkand and take the fast train, ~£8-12). Check into a courtyard guesthouse inside the Old City. Evening: wander Lyabi-Hauz square with its mulberry trees and teahouses — free — and book a traditional hammam (Bukhara's 16th-century Bozori Kord bathhouse is around 200,000-300,000 som, far less than the $35 quoted to groups).

🚌Shared taxi/bus Nurata–Bukhara ~£8

🛏Courtyard guesthouse in Bukhara Old City (£10-16 per person)

• →Village morning walk
• →Lyabi-Hauz square
• →Traditional Bukhara hammam

The Old City is compact and walkable — do the classic loop yourself: the Ark Fortress, the Kalyan Minaret and Mosque, Chor Minor's four towers, the Samanid Mausoleum, and the covered trading domes where silk scarves and carpets are still sold. A one-day combined ticket for the main sights costs around 60,000-80,000 som (£5). If you want context, hire a local guide at the Ark or via your guesthouse for ~£20 for two hours, or download an audio guide. Afternoon: the Jewish quarter and synagogue (free), the carpet museum (small fee), and a cold beer in the Kukeldash area. Evening: dinner with a local family can be arranged through your guesthouse for £8-10 — cheaper than the tour's optional version.

🚌Walking

🛏Courtyard guesthouse in Bukhara

• →Ark Fortress
• →Kalyan Minaret and Mosque
• →Samanid Mausoleum
• →Trading domes and bazaars
• →Jewish quarter and synagogue
• →Dinner with a local family

The long desert day: shared taxi or shared minivan Bukhara to Khiva takes 6-7 hours (about 450km) and costs roughly 100,000-150,000 som (£7-11) per seat — negotiate at the Bukhara shared-taxi stand early in the morning or ask your guesthouse to arrange a seat. Alternatively take the slower train via Urgench (~£5-8) then a short marshrutka to Khiva. Arrive in the walled city of Ichan Kala in the late afternoon, check into a guesthouse inside the walls (£12-18), and watch sunset from the city walls before eating shivit oshi (green noodles) at a local chaikhana.

🚌Shared taxi/minivan Bukhara–Khiva ~£9

🛏Guesthouse inside Ichan Kala, Khiva (£12-18)

• →Kyzylkum desert crossing
• →Ichan Kala at golden hour
• →Sunset from the city walls

Buy the Ichan Kala combined ticket (~150,000 som, £10) which covers the main madrassas, the Tosh-Hovli Palace, the Juma Mosque's carved wooden pillars and the Islam Khodja Minaret — climb the minaret for the best rooftop view in Uzbekistan (small extra). Local guides at the gate charge around £15 for two hours. Spend the rest of the day the way Khiva rewards: slowly. Tiny teahouses, silk-rug workshops, tea and sweets, and shopping for handmade ceramics directly from the makers. Optional evening folklore show in the Nurullabai Palace courtyard.

🚌Walking

🛏Guesthouse inside Ichan Kala, Khiva

• →Ichan Kala combined ticket
• →Tosh-Hovli Palace
• →Islam Khodja Minaret climb
• →Teahouse afternoon
• →Silk rug and craft workshops

Hire a driver-guide for the day from Khiva (negotiate ~£40-55 for a car, shareable between 2-4 travellers, so ~£15-25 each) to see the desert fortresses of ancient Khorezm: Ayaz Qala, Toprak Qala and the quieter Qizil Qala. Return to the Ayaz Qala yurt camp for the night — book direct or through your Khiva guesthouse, around £25-35 per person including dinner, breakfast and a camel ride at sunset (the group tour charges camel riding as an optional $10 extra; direct bookings usually fold it in). Sleep under a very dark desert sky.

🚌Shared driver-guide, full day ~£20 per person

🛏Traditional yurt camp near Ayaz Qala, multi-share, dinner and breakfast included

• →Ayaz Qala fortress
• →Toprak Qala fortress
• →Qizil Qala
• →Sunset camel ride
• →Desert stargazing

Drive north to Nukus (2 hours) and stop at the Savitsky Museum — the extraordinary collection of banned Soviet-era Russian avant-garde art in the middle of the desert, entry ~£5, and worth the detour. Then fly Uzbekistan Airways Nukus–Tashkent (1h40m, book online in advance, typically £35-55 one way) or, as a budget alternative, take the overnight train from Nukus/Urgench to Tashkent (~£8-12 for a kupe berth). Overnight in a Tashkent hostel near the metro.

🚌Drive to Nukus ~£10, domestic flight Nukus–Tashkent ~£45

🛏Hostel in central Tashkent (dorm £8-12)

• →Nukus city walk
• →Savitsky Museum of avant-garde art
• →Domestic flight back to Tashkent

Morning for any last shopping at Chorsu Bazaar or the Alay Bazaar (dried fruit, spices, suzani embroidery), then a Yandex to the airport. If your flight is late, the Hazrati Imam complex is a ten-minute taxi from the airport for a final walk among the madrassas. Check the exit customs rules on cash — declare what you bring in and keep receipts.

🚌Airport taxi ~£4

🛏—

• →Alay Bazaar souvenir shopping
• →Optional Hazrati Imam complex