Gastronomic Tour in Uzbekistan

Arrive in Tashkent. We will start the gastronomic tour in Uzbekistan welcoming you to the capital city. You will be met by a Creative Tours driver and transferred to the hotel. Check-in at the hotel at 14:00. Your guide will meet at the hotel lobby to start sightseeing in the capital of Uzbekistan, the biggest city in Central Asia.
You will visit:

• Old City part of Tashkent. There you will explore the Khast Imam Complex where the world-famous Quran of Caliph Uthman (Ottoman) has been preserved.
• Madrasah of Barak-Khan
• Tilla-Sheykh Mosque 
• Mausoleum of the Saint Kaffal Shashi
• Islamic Institute of Imam al Bukhari  

Then take a ride on Tashkent Metro to the city center with:

• Amir Timur Square 
• Independence Square
• Applied Art Museums 

Overnight at the hotel.

At 07:00 transfer from your hotel to the railway station. Fast-speed train “Afrosiyob” departs Tashkent at 08:00 and arrives in Samarkand at 10:10 (300 km). Your guide and driver will meet you at the train station. As the part of gastronomic tour, you will start the Samarkand city tour with a visit:

• Spectacular Registan Square 
• remains of Bibi-Khanym Mosque 
• Siyob bazaar, eastern market, where you will meet the chef, who will lead a master class in cooking Samarkand pilaf. Siyob Bazaar is the largest and oldest marketplace in Samarkand. Its stalls offer to try and haggle for vegetables, fruits, nuts, oriental sweets, spices, cereals and. The market houses rows of street food cafes that offer national dishes, most of them cooked on firewood. You will find shashlik (barbeque, usually from minced and diced beef), pilaf (Uzbek signature dish similar to Indian brain), Lagman (hot noodle soup with beef and vegetable topping), sherpa (soup with rather big pieces of red meat and vegetables), Samsa (stuffed puff pastry), Khanum (steamed rolled dough with some shredded potato). After dinner, you will do shopping together with the chef, who will tell you how to choose and differentiate the “right” ingredients for “Samarkandi” pilaf. Then the driver will take you to the national house where the master class will be conducted. Overnight at the hotel.

Continue sightseeing: visit

• Afrasiab Museum
• the Tomb of Saint Danyel
• Shakhi-Zinda Necropolis
• Gur-Amir Mausoleum – authentic shrine of Tamerlane.

Then drive to Konigil Village to explore the traditional way of making Samarkand paper from mulberry. After the sightseeing drive to the wine factory named after Khovrenko for wine degustation. Free time. Overnight at the hotel.

In the morning depart Samarkand and drive to Bukhara (280 km, 4 h.*). Stop on the way at:

• Rabat-i-Malik Caravanserai 

Continue driving to Bukhara. Arrive in Bukhara, and check in to the hotel. Spend your afternoon in the fascinating Old Bukhara which has been listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Explore:

• Kalyan Minaret
• Kalyan Mosque
• Miri-Arab Madrasah
• Magoki-Attori Mosque
• Madrasahs of Ulugbek and Abdulazizkhan
• Trade domes
• Labi Khauz Ensemble
• Chor-Minor Madrasah

In the evening folklore show at Madrasah Nodir Devan Begi. Overnight at the hotel.

Start your second day in Bukhara discovering:

• Ark Fortress
• Bolo-Khauz Mosque
• Samani Dynasty
• Chashma-Ayub mausoleums
• Then visit Sitorai Mokhi-Khosa– the summer residence of Bukhara’s last emir, a unique site that combines Oriental and Russian architecture
• Mausoleum of Bakhouddin Naqshbandi

You will have a master class on cooking sherpa (soup with rather big pieces of red meat and vegetables) or mampara (soup with diced red meat, vegetables, and plain dough) after the sightseeing tour. Enjoy free time in the afternoon. Overnight at the hotel.

Today you will cook “Non”, Uzbek national bread, and “Somsa”, stuffed puff pastry, at the national house. Free time.Overnight at the hotel.

In the morning depart Bukhara and drive to Khiva (480 km, 7-8 h.*). The Great Silk Road once routed through Bukhara and Khiva ran through the Kyzylkum Desert, as the present road does nowadays**. Stop en route to enjoy views of the desert and Amu Darya River. Arrive in Khiva late in the afternoon, and check in to the hotel. Time for rest. Overnight at the hotel.

Today you will visit Itchan-Kala Fortress which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The tour features visits to:

• Mukhammad Aminkhan Madrasah
• Mukhammad Rakhimkhan Madrasah
• Kalta-Minor
• Juma Mosque
• Tash-Khovli Palace
• Pakhlavan Makhmud Mausoleum

Try climbing the Islam-Khoja minaret, the highest minaret in Uzbekistan. Enjoy breathtaking panoramic views of Old Khiva at Kuyna-Ark. Master class on cooking “tukhumbarak” (unusual Khiva ravioli stuffed with raw eggs) at the national house. Overnight at the hotel.

In the morning transfer to Urgench airport (30 km, 35 min.) for flight to Tashkent (1093 km, 1 h. 40 min.). Upon arrival, you will be met by the driver, who will take you to Chorsu Bazaar – one of the oldest bazaars in Uzbekistan. On the counters of this oriental Bazaar, you can find almost everything: fresh fruits, amber-colored dried fruits, Uzbek bread (Non) with a delicious smell, and many other things. They all are so attractive that one can’t pass by them. Next to the bazaar, there are choykhonas (tea houses), where you can try amber yellow pilaf, tasty shashlik (grilled meat), and hot sherpa (soup). After a very local lunch here you will be transferred to the international airport in the evening.