8-Day Cultural Tour of Uzbekistan with Samarkand, Bukhara and Yurt Camp

• Connect with your tour guide in Tashkent and start touring around the center of the city. Visit Independence Square, Amir Timur Square, the Opera and Ballet Theatre named after Alisher Navoi, and the Museum of Applied Arts. After lunch in a Choy-Khona (local teahouse), visit the old city and Chor-Su Market, one of the biggest bazaars in Tashkent. Then, transfer by Tashkent Metro (subway) to the Hasti Imam complex - a historical site where you will see the oldest Othman Koran.
• In the evening, have a national dinner at one of the most famous restaurants in Tashkent - Karavan Restaurant.

Breakfast: Hotel

Lunch: Local teahouse

Dinner: Restaurant

Overnight in Tashkent

• Depart from Tashkent at 08:00 by the fast train "Afrosiyab" and arrive in Samarkand at 10:10.
• Transfer to the hotel and get ready for a full-day guided sightseeing tour around Samarkand.
• Visit the most famous site of Uzbekistan - Registan Square, which was the center of Samarkand for centuries. Registan Square is a complex of three monuments: Ulugbek Madrassah (15th century), Sher-Dor Madrassah (17th century), and Tilla-Kari Madrassah (17th century).
• Then, head to another symbol of Samarkand - Gur-Emir Mausoleum ("the grave of Emir"). The construction of the mausoleum, which started in 1403, was connected with the sudden death of Muhammad Sultan, the direct heir and beloved grandson of Tamerlane. In 1405, Timur died in Otrar, and his sons decided to move his body and bury him near his favourite grandson. From that time, this mausoleum became the burial vault of the Timurid dynasty.
• Next, proceed to Bibi-Khanym Mosque (15th century). It was the biggest mosque in Central Asia. Continue to Siyob Bazaar and the Shah-i-Zinda necropolis of the Timurid dynasty (12th-15th century), where Khusama Ibn Abas, a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, was buried.
• Dinner at the famous Samarkand Restaurant "Samarkand" with a show program, live music, and local dance performance.

Activities: 14:00 Wine Factory "Filatov". You will taste about 12 Uzbek wines and learn the history of wine in Uzbekistan. 18:00 Theater of historical national clothes (performance)

Breakfast: Hotel

Lunch: Local teahouse

Dinner: Restaurant

Overnight in Samarkand hotel

• At 08:00, depart from Samarkand and transfer by car toward Bukhara, stopping to visit the 15th-century Ulugbek Observatory.
• Go to the Mausoleum of Saint Daniel (Khodja Daniyor) and the memorial of Al-Bukhari - a 9th-century theologian who created a catalogue of Hadiths.
• Now, head to Sentyab.
• Have lunch in a village located in the mountains. See village life and experience it firsthand. Hike with a local guide and ride on a donkey, try milking a cow, and make a loaf of bread.

Meal

Breakfast: Hotel

Lunch: Local teahouse

Dinner: Restaurant

Overnight in Sentyab Village

• At 10:00, depart from Sentyab Village for the yurt camp.
• Arrive at the yurt camp, walk to Aydarkul Lake, and head back to the yurts.
• Ride on camels in the evening.
• Have dinner and listen to the songs of "Akin" - a local singer.

Meal

Breakfast: Hotel

Lunch: Local teahouse

Dinner: Restaurant

Overnight in a yurt

• Depart for Bukhara at 8:00 am.
• On the way, stop in Nurato city to visit the ancient fort of Alexander the Great and the holy place Chashma Ayub.
• Next, take a halt at the Gijduvan ceramic workshop and at the ancient water reservoir "Rabat Malik".
• Arrive in Bukhara by 4:00 pm.

Meal

Breakfast: Hotel

Lunch: Local teahouse

Dinner: Restaurant

Overnight in Bukhara

• Visit Ismail Samani - the burial place of the Samanid dynasty dating to the 9th century, one of the most esteemed sights of Central Asian architecture.
• Sightsee Chashma Ayub (Job's Well).
• Have lunch in a Choi-Khana at 1:00 pm.
• Then, head to Ark Fortress - the center of political events and the residence of Bukharian rulers until 1920. Nowadays, there is a museum inside. Continue to the Poi Kalon Ensemble, which includes Kalon Mosque, the best-known minaret, and Madrassah Miri-Arab, as well as Madrassah Ulugbek, Abdulazizkhan Madrassah, and the 12th-century Zoroastrian Magoki-Attori Mosque.

Activities: 18:00 Fashion and national dance show in Nodir Devon Begi Madrassah

Overnight in Bukhara

• After breakfast, proceed for a guided sightseeing program in the suburb of Bukhara.
• Go to the pilgrimage site of Bahovadin Nakshbandi, a 14th-century theologian of Sufism, Sitorai Mohi Khosa - the summer palace of the Emir of Bukhara, and the Chor-Minor Madrassah.
• Eat lunch in a teahouse.
• After lunch, you have free time and a walk in the old Bukhara bazaar.
• Attend a plov master class in a local family house at 5:30 pm and have dinner.

Overnight in Bukhara

• Transfer to the train station and depart from Bukhara at 15:35 by the fast train "Afrosiyab".
• Arrive in Tashkent at 18:35 and transfer to the hotel.
• At 23:00, transfer to the international airport for your onward departure.