Central Asia: Almaty, Bishkek, Samarkand and Bukhara

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Almaty

   Almaty International Airport to your hotel in central Almaty

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Repas du soir
   • Nuit : Almaty
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into Almaty International Airport (ALA), about 20 km north-east of the centre, where a driver meets you in the arrivals hall. Plan to land by about 3 pm to reach the evening briefing; the latest arrival time is confirmed with your final itinerary. Almaty was Kazakhstan's capital until 1997 and is still its largest city, laid out on a grid of tree-lined streets that climb gently towards the snow peaks of the Trans-Ili Alatau. If you arrive early, walk the pedestrian stretch of Panfilov Street or sit in a cafe under the plane trees. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the fifteen days ahead: the two land borders, the flight to Osh, what to pack for mountain evenings and Uzbek summer afternoons, and how the days are paced. Then we sit down together to a welcome dinner of Kazakh and Central Asian dishes at a local restaurant.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Almaty International Airport (ALA)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner

   Temps libre : Free until the evening briefing

2. Jour 2 : Charyn Canyon

   Almaty to Charyn Canyon and back

   • Environ 6 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Almaty
   Détail du jour 2

   Today is the longest road day of the trip, about six hours there and back, and we keep it because no hotel of our standard sits near the canyon. We leave at 8 am and drive about three hours east across the steppe, with a coffee stop on the way. Charyn Canyon was cut by the Charyn River through layers of red and ochre sandstone, and its best-known stretch, the Valley of Castles, is lined with eroded towers. From the rim we walk down a gravel path between them to the river, about 3 km each way on a gentle grade, and stop for a sit-down lunch by the water, which breaks the day in the middle. The light is flat at noon and warmer in the afternoon, so we take our time on the climb back to the rim. We are back in Almaty by about 6 pm, and the evening is free.

   Compris

   • Charyn Canyon: the Valley of Castles walk to the Charyn River with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch by the river
   • Charyn national park fee

   Option plus facile : Stay at the rim viewpoints instead of walking down, or skip the day and spend it in Almaty: the Green Bazaar, the Kasteev art museum or the Kok-Tobe cable car.

   Option plus active : Walk further along the river below the Valley of Castles before lunch.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Almaty

   Activité : About 6 km on foot on a gravel path with a steady climb back to the rim. Charyn is hot and shadeless at midday in summer; bring a hat and water. On summer weekends the canyon is busy with day visitors from Almaty, so we schedule this day on a weekday where dates allow.

3. Jour 3 : Almaty on foot, then across the border to Bishkek

   Almaty to the Korday border crossing, then Bishkek

   • Environ 4 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Bishkek
   Détail du jour 3

   We spend the morning on foot in central Almaty while the city is cool. Panfilov Park is home to the Ascension Cathedral, a tall wooden Orthodox church finished in 1907 that survived the 1911 earthquake; a few blocks away the Green Bazaar sells dried fruit, nuts, horse-meat sausage and kurt, the hard salted cheese balls of the steppe. After a sit-down lunch we drive west to the Kyrgyz border at Korday, about three hours away. Your guide crosses with the group: we take our bags through Kazakh exit and Kyrgyz entry, usually about an hour, and our Kyrgyz vehicle and driver wait on the far side. Kyrgyzstan is one hour ahead of Kazakhstan, so set your watch forward. Bishkek is about half an hour beyond the border, and we arrive in the early evening, with dinner free.

   Compris

   • Almaty walking tour with your guide: Panfilov Park, the Ascension Cathedral and the Green Bazaar
   • Sit-down lunch in Almaty
   • Korday border crossing with your guide

   Temps libre : Evening free in Bishkek

   Activité : Expect about an hour at the border, longer on busy days, carrying your own bags for a short distance. Pack a small bag for the crossing with your passport and anything you need for the afternoon.

4. Jour 4 : Bishkek: Ala-Too Square and Osh Bazaar

   Bishkek on foot, with Ala Archa as an option

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Bishkek
   Détail du jour 4

   Bishkek is a young city with wide Soviet avenues lined with trees, and it is easy to explore on foot. We start mid-morning at Ala-Too Square, where the equestrian statue of Manas, the hero of Kyrgyzstan's national epic, stands in front of the State History Museum, and we go inside for an hour on the nomad past and the Soviet years. From there we walk through Oak Park, planted with oaks in the 1890s and dotted with sculpture, and along Erkindik Boulevard. After lunch at your own pace we take a short drive to Osh Bazaar, the city's biggest market, where your guide shows you dried apricots, felt, Kyrgyz kalpak hats and the bread stalls. The rest of the afternoon and the evening are free, the first long free stretch of the trip and a good moment to rest before the lake.

   Compris

   • Bishkek walking tour with your guide: Ala-Too Square, the Manas monument, Oak Park and Erkindik Boulevard
   • State History Museum
   • Osh Bazaar with your guide

   Activités en option

   • Half day in Ala Archa National Park, about 40 km south of Bishkek, with an easy valley walk, priced at booking

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free

   Activité : About 4 km on foot on city pavements.

   

5. Jour 5 : Burana Tower and on to Issyk-Kul

   Bishkek to Burana Tower, then the Boom gorge and Cholpon-Ata on the north shore of Issyk-Kul

   • Environ 4.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Cholpon-Ata
   Détail du jour 5

   We leave at 8:30 and drive east along the Chuy valley for about an hour to Burana Tower, the stump of an 11th-century minaret that marks the site of Balasagun, a Karakhanid city on the Silk Road, now part of a UNESCO World Heritage listing for the Silk Roads. Around it stand dozens of balbals, carved stone figures from Turkic graves, and a small site museum. Then the road climbs through the narrow Boom gorge, where the Chuy River cuts through the mountains, and comes out at Balykchy on the western tip of Issyk-Kul, at about 1,600 m one of the largest mountain lakes in the world. We stop for lunch on the north shore and reach Cholpon-Ata by mid-afternoon, about four and a half hours of driving in all, broken in two by Burana and lunch. The late afternoon is free for a swim or a walk on the shore, with the snow peaks of the Terskey Ala-Too across the water, and dinner is at the hotel.

   Compris

   • Burana Tower, the balbals and the site museum with a local guide
   • The Boom gorge
   • Sit-down lunch on the north shore
   • Dinner at the hotel

   Temps libre : Late afternoon free by the lake

   Activité : Burana's inner stair is steep, narrow and dark; climbing it is optional.

6. Jour 6 : A day on Issyk-Kul

   Cholpon-Ata petroglyphs, then the Grigorievka gorge and back

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Cholpon-Ata
   Détail du jour 6

   A slower day by the lake. In the cool of the morning we walk among the Cholpon-Ata petroglyphs, an open field of boulders above the town carved with ibex, hunters and snow leopards, the oldest thought to date from the Bronze Age; the low morning sun picks out the carvings best. Then we drive about forty minutes east to the Grigorievka gorge, Chon-Ak-Suu, a green valley of spruce and meadow where herders graze horses in summer. We walk up the valley along the river for an hour or two at an easy pace and stop for a picnic-style lunch cooked by a local family at the meadows, not a box from a shop. We are back in Cholpon-Ata by mid-afternoon, with time to swim; the water is fresh in May and June and in September and October, so a swim is short and bracing. Dinner tonight is with the group at a restaurant on the shore.

   Compris

   • Cholpon-Ata petroglyphs with your guide
   • Grigorievka gorge walk
   • Lunch with a local family in the gorge
   • Dinner in Cholpon-Ata

   Activités en option

   • A boat trip on Issyk-Kul from Cholpon-Ata, priced at booking

   Option plus facile : Stay in the valley floor near the vehicle at Grigorievka, or spend the day at the hotel and the beach.

   Option plus active : Walk further up the Grigorievka valley, about 8 to 10 km in all, with your guide.

   Temps libre : Mid-afternoon onward free

   Activité : Easy walking at about 1,700 to 2,000 m; take the first climb slowly.

7. Jour 7 : Back to Bishkek and fly to Osh

   Cholpon-Ata to Manas International Airport, Bishkek, then a flight to Osh

   • Environ 4.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Osh
   Détail du jour 7

   The road from the lake to the south of Kyrgyzstan crosses two high passes and takes a long day or more, so we fly instead. After breakfast we drive back west along the shore and through the Boom gorge to Bishkek's Manas International Airport, about four and a half hours with a sit-down lunch on the way, which is why this day runs past our usual driving cap. If a summer flight from Issyk-Kul's own airport at Tamchy runs on your dates, we take it instead and the drive shrinks to under an hour; we confirm this when we book. The flight to Osh takes about an hour over the Tian Shan ranges, with mountains and reservoirs below. A driver meets us at Osh airport for the short ride into town, and the evening is free for a walk to the river or a plate of Osh plov.

   Compris

   • Drive from Cholpon-Ata to Manas International Airport (FRU)
   • Sit-down lunch on the way
   • Flight from Bishkek to Osh (OSS) with your guide
   • Transfer to your hotel in Osh

   Temps libre : Evening free in Osh

   Activité : Domestic flights carry tighter baggage limits than international ones; we tell you the allowance when we book the seats.

   

8. Jour 8 : Sulayman-Too, then into Uzbekistan's Fergana Valley

   Osh to the Dostuk border crossing, then Margilan and Fergana

   • Environ 3 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Fergana
   Détail du jour 8

   Osh is one of the oldest towns in Central Asia, and its centre is Sulayman-Too, a rocky hill that has been a place of pilgrimage for centuries and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009. We climb it early, at about 8 am, before the heat and the crowds: a stepped path of about twenty minutes leads past shrines and worn rock to a small mosque at the top, with a view over the town and the Fergana Valley. Then a short visit to the Jayma Bazaar, and we drive the few kilometres to the Dostuk border. Your guide crosses with the group into Uzbekistan, where our Uzbek vehicle and driver wait; clocks go back one hour. Lunch is in Andijan, then we continue to Margilan, where a silk workshop still dyes and weaves ikat by hand, from the boiling of cocoons to the loom. We reach Fergana, a quiet town of tree-lined avenues, in the late afternoon; dinner is with the group.

   Compris

   • Sulayman-Too with your guide, early in the morning
   • Jayma Bazaar
   • Dostuk border crossing with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch in Andijan
   • Silk workshop in Margilan
   • Dinner in Fergana

   Option plus facile : Walk the lower paths of Sulayman-Too instead of climbing to the top.

   Temps libre : Short free time before dinner

   Activité : Sulayman-Too has uneven stone steps and about 150 m of climb. Allow one to two hours at the border, carrying your own bags for a short distance.

9. Jour 9 : Rishtan, Kokand and over the Kamchik pass to Tashkent

   Fergana to Rishtan and Kokand, then over the Kamchik pass to Tashkent

   • Environ 5.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Tashkent
   Détail du jour 9

   This is the third day that runs past our driving cap, about five and a half hours in all, because the only road out of the Fergana Valley to Tashkent crosses the Kamchik pass, at about 2,270 m. We split it into three short legs. First, about an hour west to Rishtan, where potters have worked the local red clay for centuries; in a family workshop you see the blue and green ishkor glazes mixed from plant ash and pots painted by hand. Then on to Kokand, capital of a khanate until the Russians took it in 1876, for the tiled facade and courtyards of the Khudayar Khan Palace and a sit-down lunch. In the afternoon the road climbs out of the valley through the Kamchik pass and runs down through the Angren valley to Tashkent, about four hours with a tea stop, and we arrive in the early evening. Dinner is free.

   Compris

   • Rishtan ceramics workshop
   • Kokand: the Khudayar Khan Palace with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch in Kokand
   • Drive over the Kamchik pass

   Temps libre : Evening free in Tashkent

   Activité : The Kamchik road has police checkpoints where passports are checked, and photography is not allowed at them; your guide will tell you when.

10. Jour 10 : Old Tashkent, then the fast train to Samarkand

    Tashkent's old town and metro, then the Afrosiyob high-speed train to Samarkand

    • Environ 30 min de route
    • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
    • Nuit : Samarkand
    Détail du jour 10

    Tashkent was largely rebuilt after the 1966 earthquake, so its old core is small, and a morning covers it well. We start at the Khast Imam complex, whose library holds a Quran manuscript traditionally linked to the Caliph Uthman, and walk on to Chorsu Bazaar, under its great green dome, for bread, spices and dried fruit. Then a few stops on the Tashkent metro, where each station is decorated differently, from ceramic panels to chandeliers, before lunch of plov, the dish Tashkent is known for. In the afternoon we take the Afrosiyob high-speed train to Samarkand, a little over two hours, with reserved seats. After checking in near the old centre we walk to the Registan at dusk, when its three madrasas glow as the lights come on; the evening is free.

    Compris

    • Tashkent walking tour with your guide: the Khast Imam complex, Chorsu Bazaar and a metro ride
    • Plov lunch in Tashkent
    • Afrosiyob high-speed train from Tashkent to Samarkand, reserved seats
    • The Registan at dusk

    Temps libre : Evening free in Samarkand

    Activité : Train times change by season; we confirm them with your final itinerary. Bags go on racks in the carriage, so pack a case you can lift.

11. Jour 11 : The Registan, Gur-e-Amir and Bibi-Khanym

    Samarkand's centre on foot

    • Environ 30 min de route
    • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
    • Nuit : Samarkand
    Détail du jour 11

    We go to the Registan at opening, when the square is quiet and the morning light falls on the Sher-Dor madrasa, with its tiger-and-sun mosaics. Inside the three 15th- to 17th-century madrasas your guide explains how the square was built and restored, and there is time in the gilded prayer hall of the Tilla-Kori. Then Gur-e-Amir, the ribbed blue dome over the tomb of Amir Timur, Tamerlane, and his descendants, including his grandson Ulugbek. After a sit-down lunch we walk to Bibi-Khanym, the vast Friday mosque Timur built after his Indian campaign, and the Siyob Bazaar behind it, where you can try fresh non bread, halva and dried apricots. The afternoon is free from about 3 pm, when the heat is strongest; many guests return to the Registan in the evening.

    Compris

    • Samarkand walking tour with your guide: the Registan and its three madrasas at opening, Gur-e-Amir, Bibi-Khanym Mosque and Siyob Bazaar
    • Sit-down lunch in Samarkand

    Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free

    Activité : About 5 km on foot over the day, much of it on paved squares and steps.

12. Jour 12 : Shah-i-Zinda, Ulugbek's Observatory and the Russian new town

    Shah-i-Zinda, the Afrosiab hill and Ulugbek's Observatory, then the new town

    • Environ 30 min de route
    • Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
    • Nuit : Samarkand
    Détail du jour 12

    Shah-i-Zinda is best at opening, before tour groups and pilgrims fill the lane, so we are there first thing. A stairway leads up into a narrow street of mausoleums from the 14th and 15th centuries, faced with glazed and carved tilework in blues and turquoise. From there it is a short drive to the Afrosiab hill, the site of pre-Mongol Samarkand, and its museum, which keeps a 7th-century Sogdian wall painting of an embassy to the king. Ulugbek's Observatory is nearby: the curved trench of the 15th-century sextant is all that survives of the instrument he used to map the stars. Lunch is free. In the late afternoon we walk the tree-lined boulevards of the Russian-era new town and look inside St Alexis Cathedral, built for the Russian garrison in 1911. Tonight a local family welcomes us to their home for dinner.

    Compris

    • Shah-i-Zinda at opening with your guide
    • Afrosiab Museum
    • Ulugbek's Observatory
    • Walk through the Russian-era new town and St Alexis Cathedral
    • Dinner with a local family

    Option plus facile : Skip the late-afternoon walk and rest at the hotel before dinner.

    Temps libre : Middle of the day free

    Activité : The Shah-i-Zinda stairway has about 40 steps. Dress modestly at Shah-i-Zinda and the cathedral: covered shoulders and knees, and a scarf for women in the cathedral.

    

13. Jour 13 : Fast train to Bukhara and an evening at Lyabi-Hauz

    Samarkand to Bukhara on the Afrosiyob high-speed train, then the old centre on foot

    • Environ 30 min de route
    • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
    • Nuit : Bukhara
    Détail du jour 13

    A free morning in Samarkand, then the Afrosiyob train west to Bukhara, about an hour and a half, with reserved seats. Lunch is a sit-down meal near the station or in the old town, depending on the train time. Bukhara's historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and more of it survives at street level than in Samarkand: lanes of mud-brick houses, small mosques and the domed bazaars that once sold jewellery, hats and money. We check in near the centre and set out on foot in the late afternoon, when the heat eases. Lyabi-Hauz is a 17th-century pool shaded by old mulberry trees and flanked by madrasas; from there we walk through the trading domes to the Magoki-Attari Mosque, partly sunk below today's street level, and the Ulugbek and Abdulaziz Khan madrasas facing each other across a lane. The evening is free.

    Compris

    • Afrosiyob high-speed train from Samarkand to Bukhara, reserved seats
    • Sit-down lunch
    • Bukhara walk with your guide: Lyabi-Hauz, the trading domes, Magoki-Attari, the Ulugbek and Abdulaziz Khan madrasas

    Temps libre : Morning in Samarkand and the evening in Bukhara free

14. Jour 14 : Bukhara from the Samanids to the emirs

    Bukhara's old town and the Ark on foot

    • Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
    • Nuit : Bukhara
    Détail du jour 14

    We start early at the Ismail Samani Mausoleum, a small 10th-century tomb whose patterned brick changes with the low morning light, and the nearby Chashma-Ayub. Then the Bolo-Hauz Mosque, with its porch of tall carved wooden columns reflected in the pool, and the Ark, the walled citadel of the emirs of Bukhara until 1920. Mid-morning we reach the Po-i-Kalyan ensemble: the 12th-century Kalyan Minaret, the Kalyan Mosque and the Mir-i-Arab madrasa, which still teaches. Before the free afternoon we visit a gold-embroidery workshop, where artisans work gold thread into velvet as Bukhara's court tailors did. In the late afternoon your guide walks those who want to the four small towers of Chor Minor. We end the trip with a farewell dinner together in the old town.

    Compris

    • Bukhara walking tour with your guide: the Ismail Samani Mausoleum, Chashma-Ayub, Bolo-Hauz, the Ark and the Po-i-Kalyan ensemble
    • Gold-embroidery workshop
    • Chor Minor
    • Farewell dinner

    Activités en option

    • A folklore and fashion show in the Nadir Divan-Begi madrasa in the evening, priced at booking

    Temps libre : Afternoon free

    Activité : About 6 km on foot, on paving and uneven lanes. Lunch is on your own: try a chaikhana by Lyabi-Hauz.

15. Jour 15 : Fast train to Tashkent and home

    Bukhara to Tashkent on the Afrosiyob high-speed train, then Tashkent International Airport

    • Environ 1 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner
    Détail du jour 15

    After breakfast we take the morning Afrosiyob train from Bukhara back to Tashkent, a little under four hours, with reserved seats. A driver meets the group at the station and takes you to Tashkent International Airport (TAS), about 20 minutes away, arriving in the early afternoon. Most international flights from Tashkent leave in the evening or at night, and the arrangements are timed to your flight. If you would rather fly home from Bukhara's own international airport, or stay on in Tashkent for another night, tell us when you book and we arrange the transfer and room. If you want more of Uzbekistan, our Silk Road trip adds Khiva, the walled city on the far side of the Kyzylkum desert, and the Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan trip spends longer in the mountains.

    Compris

    • Afrosiyob high-speed train from Bukhara to Tashkent, reserved seats
    • Drop-off at Tashkent International Airport (TAS)

    Activité : Book a flight leaving after about 5 pm from Tashkent. For an earlier flight, we arrange a transfer to Bukhara airport (BHK) or a flight to Tashkent instead.

Faune et météo : May to June and September to October bring warm days in the cities and cool evenings by Issyk-Kul, which sits at about 1,600 m. July and August often pass 40 C in Samarkand and Bukhara and 30 C at Charyn, so we do not run then; winter closes the mountain roads and cools the lake.

• Almaty2 nuits
• Bishkek2 nuits
• Cholpon-Ata2 nuits
• Osh1 nuit
• Fergana1 nuit
• Tashkent1 nuit
• Samarkand3 nuits
• Bukhara2 nuits