The Silk Road

For centuries great caravans of merchants made their way through deserts, across steppes and over mountains, creating trade routes between the great civilisations of the Mediterranean and China. Art and religion spread both East and West and grand cities with impressive architecture sprouted alongside nomadic tribes of eagle-hunters. Follow in the footsteps of Marco Polo and uncover the natural and cultural treasures of Central Asia on this two week trip through Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan taking in some of the Silk Road’s best sites, from Bukhara and Samarkand to the Tien Shan Mountains.

This trip includes 10 nights in standard hotels, one night in a guesthouse, one night in a yurt and one night on a sleeper train. Throughout most of the trip, we stay in standard two- or three-star hotels. The normal accommodations used on this trip can be found on the day-to-day itinerary; however, below are a few of the notable places we stay.



Djety Oguz: Yurt camp (night 4)



Yurts are traditional housing for nomadic communities across Central Asia and are generally quite cosy. We spend one night in a traditional yurt camp in the Djety Oguz Gorge in Kyrgyzstan. The camp has six sleeping yurts, each normally shared between four and five people and there are three toilets and one shower.



Sleeper train: (night 8)



The railway has long been a popular way of travelling around the ex-Soviet Union and this is a great experience and insight into Kazakh life. On the train from Tashkent to Almaty, we use second-class carriages with four-berth cabins. The train was launched in 2017 and these cabins are comfortable, though not luxurious.



Bukhara: Kavsar Boutique Hotel (nights 12-13)



Taking over an old mansion, this small boutique hotel is one of the standout accommodations on this itinerary. It’s embellished with intricate design features and plenty of antiques, while an atmospheric central courtyard provides a wonderful place to gather as a group.



Worth knowing



Single supplements don’t apply to the night on the sleeper train or the night in the yurt camp.

April and October departures: We stay in Almaluu Yurt Camp close to Lake Issyk Kul instead of the yurt camp in Djety Oguz.

In some places on this trip we use several different hotels. We'll inform you before departure if your start hotel in Bishkek differs from what is mentioned in the trip notes.