Samarkand & Silk Road Cities - With Khiva, Bukhara, Tashkent & Shakhrisabz
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Overview
Highlights
- The best of Uzbekistan, and some of the most glorious sights in the Islamic world.
- Led by experts in Central Asian archaeology and history.
- Magnificent mosques and madrassas, acres of wonderful wall tiles, intact streetscape, memorable landscapes.
- Remote, difficult to access and remarkably unspoilt.
What's this trip about?
Details
Travel Themes
Destinations
Activities
Trip includes
- Flights (economy class) with Uzbekistan Airways (aircraft: Boeing 757 and ; British Aerospace RJ85)
- Travel by private air-conditioned coach
- Hotel accommodation
- Wine, water and coffee
- All admissions, all tips, all taxes, the services of the lecturer, tour manager, national guide and local guides
Itinerary
Fly at c. 9.35pm (Uzbekistan Airways) from London Heathrow for the seven-hour flight to Tashkent (currently the only direct flight).
Tashkent. Touch-down c. 8.25am. Hotel rooms in the centre of Tashkent are at your disposal for the morning. The History Museum of the People of Uzbekistan is within walking distance if you want to venture out before lunch. Afternoon drive around the city centre, a mod...
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-ce...
Khiva to Bukhara. 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 which are briefly green in the spring. There are periodi...
Bukhara. Genghis Khan ensured in 1220 that with notable exceptions (including the Kalon 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 a...
Bukhara. The perfectly preserved 10th-century Samani Mausoleum and the remains of the 12th-century Namaz Goh Mosque display fine terracotta decoration. The Emir’s summer palace, 1911, is a riotous mix of Russian and traditional Bukharan decoration with rose garden, av...
Shakhrisabz. A 4-hour drive across a fertile plain where wheat and cotton flourish. Shakhrisabz 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 wid...
Samarkand. The Registan, ‘the noblest public square in the world’ (Lord Curzon, 1889), bounded on three sides by magnificent madrassas of the 15th and 17th centuries. The Museum of History, Culture and Art has collections from pre-Islamic as well as Islamic periods. O...
Samarkand. Commissioned by Timur, the Bibi Khanum Mosque is an exercise in gigantism and impresses despite partial destruction and over-zealous restoration. The adjacent Bazaar is a traditional produce market. Optional visits to the Afrasiab History Museum which docum...
Tashkent. Drive to Tashkent. The flight arrives at Heathrow at c. 8.00pm.
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Dates & Availability
Check Current Availability, prices, specials with Martin Randall Travel.
The total tour cost includes the tour price (regular or promotional) and the compulsory local payment. The promotional price is subject to change. Check directly with the operator for the latest price offer. The tour operator requires you to pay only the tour price to purchase your travel. The compulsory local payment will be paid when you join the trip. All prices are based on double, twin or triple share occupancy. Solo passengers will be accommodated in a double, twin or triple room according to availability with a passenger(s) of the same gender. Single supplement only needs to be paid if the passenger does not want to share and requests their own room. Discounts can only be applied at the time of booking and cannot be added at a later date, regardless of any changes made to the original booking.
Prices may vary due to local taxes and trip seasonality. Click "Request Info" to inquire directly with the tour operator for the final trip price.
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Tour Operator
Martin Randall Travel is one of the most respected travel companies in the world, among both travellers and within the tourism community. We are committed to providing the best planned, the best led and altogether the most fulfilling and enjoyable cultural tours currently available.
We offer an unequalled range of tours and events focusing on art, architecture, music, archaeology, history, gardens and gastronomy. Our mission is to deepen your understanding and enhance your appreciation of the many civilizations around the world.
For over two decades we have been the most influential organisation in the field of intellectual travel. Pioneering and innovative, we have led the way with ideas and itineraries and by setting the benchmarks for customer service and administration.
Small groups, and congenial company
Most of our tours run with between ten and twenty participants. We strictly limit numbers, specifying the applicable maximum in each tour description. The higher costs of smaller numbers are outweighed by the benefits of manoeuvrability, social cohesion and access to the lecturer.
The small-group principle is diluted when there are private concerts or several speakers exclusively for our clients.
Not the least attractive aspect of travelling with MRT is that you are highly likely to find yourself in congenial company, self-selected by common interests and endorsement of the company’s ethos.
Health & safety
Martin Randall Travel and its management team attach the upmost importance to the health and safety of clients, tour leaders and employees travelling on our tours and events. It is our duty to comply with relevant health and safety legislation, and we take seriously our 'duty of care' to all who travel with us. Employees and tour leaders cooperate with the company in fulfilling our duty of care by following company rules on safety and codes of practice – which together form our Health and Safety Policy.
We allocate clear responsibilities and accountabilities to implement our Health and Safety Policy.
We set clear direction for the business to follow our Policy, supported by the Board and senior management.
We adopt and review health and safety management systems.
We make available suitable resources to meet our commitments.
We maintain consultation and dialogue with employees.
We assess travel-related risks faced by clients and staff.
We provide clients and staff with information to the risks they may face and the preventative and protective measures there are to control these risks.
Value for money, and no surcharges
The price includes nearly everything, not only the major ingredients such as hotel, transport and the costs of the lecturer and manager but also tips, drinks with meals and airport taxes.
We do not levy surcharges for fuel price increases, exchange rate changes, additional taxes or for any other reason. The price published here is the price you pay.
Travelling solo
We welcome people travelling on their own, for whom our tours are ideal, as many of our clients testify. There are usually several solo travellers on tour. On evenings when dinner is not included there is always the option of dining with the tour manager.
Hotels usually charge a supplement for single occupancy of a room, but we never add anything to this – indeed, most of the supplements we charge are subsidised by ourselves, sometimes by hundreds of pounds.
Where we are able to, we assign those travelling on their own to rooms which are normally sold as doubles.
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Logistics
What's excluded
- Personal Expenses
If you have to cancel your participation on a tour, there would be a charge which varies according to the period of notice you give. Up to 57 days before the tour the deposit only is forfeited. Thereafter a percentage of the total cost of the tour will be due:
between 56 and 29 days: 40%
between 28 and 15 days: 60%
between 14 days and 3 days: 80%
within 48 hours: 100%
If you cancel your booking in a double or twin room or cabin but are travelling with a companion who chooses to continue to participate on the tour, the companion will be liable to pay the stipulated single supplement.
We take as the day of cancellation that on which we receive written confirmation of cancellation.
All breakfasts, 10 lunches and 9 dinners
Strenuous
This is a long and demanding tour which begins with an overnight flight. You will be on your feet a lot, walking and standing around. The tour would not be suitable for anyone with difficulties with everyday walking and stair climbing. There are very long coach journeys on three of the days but seven days with minimal driving. The average distance by coach per day is 78 miles.
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