Uzbekistan Food Tour9 Days | Tashkent, Samarkand, Gijduvan, Bukhara, Khiva

Arrive in Tashkent. You will be met by Advantour driver and transferred to the hotel. Check in to 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 Khast-Imam Complex where the world famous Quran of Caliph Uthman (Ottoman) has been preserved. After looking into all parts of Khast-Imam - Madrasah of Barak-Khan, Tillya-Sheykh Mosque, Mausoleum of the Saint Kaffal Shashi and the Islamic Institute of Imam al-Bukhari. Then take a ride on Tashkent Metro to the city center to visit Applied Arts Museum and walk through Navoi Theater to Amir Timur Square where you will end Tashkent city tour. Overnight at the hotel.
Duration of sightseeing tour: 4-5 hours

At 07:00 transfer from your hotel to railway station. The high-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. You will start Samarkand city tour with visit to spectacular Registan Square, remains of Bibi-Khanum Mosque.
Next, the driver will take you to Siyob bazaar, eastern market, where you will meet the chef, who will lead master class in cooking Samarkand pilaf. Siab bazaar is the largest and the oldest marketplace in Samarkand. Its stalls offer to try and haggle for vegetables, fruits, nuts, oriental sweets, spices, cereals. The market houses rows of street food cafes that offer national dishes, most of them cooked on firewood. You will find there shashlyk (barbeque, usually from minced and diced beef), pilaf (Uzbek signature dish similar to Indian briani), lagman (hot noodle soup with beef and vegetables topping), shurpa (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, he will tell how to choose and differentiate “right” ingredients for Samarkandi pilaf. Then the driver will take you to national house where master class will be conducted. Overnight at the hotel.
Duration of sightseeing tour: 3-4 hours

Continue sightseeing: visit Afrasiab Museum and the Tomb of Saint Daniel. Visit Shakhi-Zinda Necropolis and Gur-Emir Mausoleum – authentic shrine of Tamerlane. Then drive to Konigil village to explore 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.
Duration of sightseeing tour: 3-4 hours

In the morning, depart Samarkand and drive to Bukhara via Gijduvan (233km,3.5 hrs*). Stop in Gijduvan to visit the Gidjduvan Ceramics Center and Workshop. The owner of the center is Alisher Narzullaev, one of the most well-known and respected ceramics masters of modern Uzbekistan.
Activities at the center include:

• Tour of the ceramic embroidery workshops, including displays of the accompanying technology;
• Master Classes on ceramic embroidery;
• Ceramics Museum, displaying works from five generations of potters;
• Gallery of ceramics;
• Master cooking class, where you’ll make a traditional Uzbek dish and bake Gijduvan bread.

Enjoy your cooking creation for lunch. In the afternoon, continue driving to Bukhara (48km, 1hr*).
Arrive in Bukhara and check in to the hotel.
Spend your afternoon in fascinating Old Bukhara that has been listed as the World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Explore Kalyan Minaret, Kalyan Mosque and Miri-Arab Madrasah, Magoki-Attori Mosque, Madrasahs of Ulugbek and Abdulazizkhan, trade domes,Lyabi-Khauz Ensemble, Chor-Minor Madrasah. Overnight at the hotel.
Duration of sightseeing tour: 3-4 hours
*The drive on vans and buses is on average an hour longer.

Start your second day in Bukhara discovering Ark Fortress, Bolo-Khauz Mosque, Samani dynasty and Chashma-Ayub mausoleums. Then visit Sitorai Mokhi-Khosa – the summer residence of Bukhara’s last emir, unique site that combines Oriental and Russian architecture. Continue to the Mausoleum of Bakhouddin Naqshbandi. You will have master class on cooking shurpa (soup with rather big pieces of red meat and vegetables) or mampar (soup with diced red meat, vegetables and plain dough) after the sightseeing tour. Enjoy free time in the afternoon. Overnight at the hotel.
Duration of sightseeing tour: 5-6 hours

Today you will cook “Non”, Uzbek national bread, and “Somsa”, stuffed puff pastry, at national house of Doston-aka. 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, check in to the hotel. Time for rest. Overnight at the hotel.
*As the cafés and restaurants on the way are basic and offer limited menus, you may wish to take a packed lunch on this trip (your hotel or guide can help you arrange this the day before).
**Some parts of the road are not in the best condition.

Today you will visit Ichan-Kala Fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The tour features visits to Mukhammad Aminkhan Madrasah, Mukhammad Rahimkhan Madrasah, Kalta-Minor, Juma Mosque, Tash-Khovli Palace, Pakhlavan Makhmud Mausoleum and Islam-Khoja minaret, the highest minaret in Uzbekistan. Master class on cooking tukhumbarak (unusual Khiva ravioli stuffed with raw eggs) at national house of Zaravshan-opa. Overnight at the hotel.
Duration of sightseeing tour: 5 hours

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 counters of this oriental Bazaar you can find almost everything: fresh fruits, amber-colored dried fruits, Uzbek bread (Non) with delicious smell and many other things. They all are so attractive that one can’t pass by them. Next to bazaar there are choykhonas (tea houses), where you can try amber yellow pilaf, tasty shashlyk (grilled meat), and hot shurpa (soup). Your Uzbekistan food tour will be summed up with a very local lunch here; after, you will be transferred to the international airport in the evening.