Uzbekistan Tour with Turkish Airlines, Guided by Ömer Kaptan (Samarkand In - Tashkent Out)

We fly overnight to Samarkand on Turkish Airlines, arriving in the early morning. After breakfast, our city tour begins at the Mausoleum of Amir Timur (Gur-i Amir), continuing to the Ulugh Beg, Tilla-Kari, and Sher-Dor madrasas on Registan Square, the Bibi-Khanym Mosque, and the Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, where Qusam ibn Abbas, a cousin of the Prophet, is buried. The tour concludes with visits to the Ulugh Beg Observatory and the mausoleums of Imam Maturidi, Khoja Ubaydullah Ahrar, and Imam al-Bukhari. We have dinner and spend the night in Samarkand.

After breakfast we travel by train to Bukhara. In this important stop on the Silk Road we visit the Mausoleum of Ismail Samani, the spring and mausoleum of the Prophet Job, the Bolo Hauz Mosque, the Ark Fortress, and the Poi Kalyan complex (the Kalyan Minaret, Mir-i-Arab Madrasa, and Friday Mosque). After the Ulugh Beg and Abdulaziz Khan madrasas, the Magoki-Attari Mosque, the Nadir Divan-Beghi Madrasa, and the Char Minar, we have free time to shop in the Silk Road bazaars. After dinner we spend the night in Bukhara.

After breakfast we travel by coach to the town of Gijduvan to visit the shrines of three Golden Chain masters: Abdulkhaliq al-Ghujdawani, Arif al-Riwgari, and Mahmud al-Anjir al-Faghnawi. We then see the shrines of Khoja Ali Ramitani and Muhammad Baba as-Sammasi before returning to Bukhara for dinner.

After breakfast we visit the tombs of Sayyid Amir Kulal and, among the highlights of our time in Bukhara, Baha-ud-Din Naqshband and his mother. We then transfer to the train station for the journey to Khiva. On arrival we check into our hotel and have dinner. We spend the night in Khiva.

We devote today entirely to exploring Khiva. We enter this historic town near the Turkmenistan border through the Ota Darvoza Gate and visit the Muhammad Amin Khan Madrasa, the Kalta Minor Minaret, the Kunya Ark fortress, the Muhammad Rahim Khan Madrasa, and the Khiva Khans Museum. After the Muhammad Amin Inaq Madrasa and the Tosh Hovli Palace with its harem quarters, we have free time for shopping, followed by dinner. We spend the night in Khiva.

After breakfast we continue our Khiva tour with the Friday Mosque and Minaret and the Islam Khoja Madrasa and Minaret. Following the Pahlavan Darvoza Gate and the Pahlavan Mahmud Mausoleum, we transfer to Urgench Airport in time for our domestic flight to Tashkent. On arrival we check into our hotel and have dinner.

After breakfast we begin our tour of Tashkent, known for its wide boulevards. We visit the Kaffal Shashi Mausoleum, the Barak Khan Madrasa with its souvenir and craft workshops, and the Hazrat Imam Mosque and Moyie Mubarek Madrasa, home to the original Quran manuscript from the era of Caliph Uthman. After Amir Timur Square and Independence Square, we have free time at the roughly 2,000-year-old Chorsu Bazaar, then after dinner we transfer to the airport. We depart for Istanbul just after midnight on a scheduled Turkish Airlines flight, bringing our tour to a close.