The Silk Road in Uzbekistan: from Tashkent to Nukus

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Uzbekistan is the heart of the legendary Silk Road, where for centuries camel caravans traded silk, spices and knowledge between China and the Mediterranean. This 10-day itinerary runs Uzbekistan's golden triangle and remote Karakalpakstan. It begins in Tashkent, the modern capital rebuilt after the 1966 earthquake, with its museums and a metro decorated like an underground palace. The Afrosiyob bullet train carries you to Samarkand, Tamerlane's jewel, where Registan Square dazzles with its three blue-domed madrasas and the Gur-e-Amir mausoleum keeps the conqueror's tomb. In Bukhara, a museum city of over 140 monuments, the Kalon minaret and the Ark fortress tell 2,500 years of history. The route runs on through the Kyzylkum Desert to Khiva, the oasis city whose walled citadel of Itchan Kala is an intact UNESCO heritage site. The journey culminates in Nukus, capital of Karakalpakstan, with its legendary Savitsky Museum of forbidden Russian avant-garde art from the Soviet era. Lodging in madrasas converted into boutique hotels, high-speed trains and Silk Road cuisine.