14-Day Uzbekistan Crafts & Culture
Women Only
Max Group 12
Lifetime Deposit
Solo traveller friendly
5 Good Reasons To Do This Trip!
EXPLORE ANCIENT SILK ROAD CITIES
Surround yourself by three of the most intact and historically-significant Silk Road cities in the region: Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand. Can you even choose a favourite? We don’t think so!
LEARN FROM LOCAL ARTISTS
Take master classes with a local ceramist, a watercolourist, an embroidery master and a textile block printer. They’ll share their family-heritage skills and you’ll bring your pieces home too!
STAND IN AWE AT THE NUKUS MUSEUM OF ART
Travel to the desert to see Savitsky’s collection of Russian Avant-Garde art – made by artists targeted for challenging Soviet Rule, secretly housed under the nose of the KGB for decades.
FOOD, FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD!
From market-stall, fresh-baked bread to finger-licking, sticky baklava – not only did trade mould the region’s culture, it moulded its taste buds too... we promise you won’t go home hungry!
OUR PATCHIES LOVE THIS TRIP!
“Amazing experiences with the locals, some fantastic workshops and incredible food” – Vivienne C. We also hear “amazing” regularly paired with: “Memorable!”, “Life-changing!” and “Unforgettable!”
Trip Details
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Missed out on a trip? Let us know and we’ll be in touch about future dates!
Pricing Details
- $1,650 AUD deposit per person.
- 2-week cooling-off period applies.
- Lifetime Deposit. If you need to cancel, your deposit is transferable to other trips.
- Twin Share: we’ll match you with a roomie if you’re travelling solo.
- Private supplement available (max 4 spots) for those who would like to pay extra for their own private room.
Please refer to our payment terms in the FAQs.
Trip length
14 days, 13 nights (early check-in included on Day 1)
Meeting point
Inspira S Hotel, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Ending point
Inspira S Hotel, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Group size
Maximum 12
Participation requirements
Please see our “Is this trip right for you?” section under the Participation Tab.
Included
- Meals: 14 breakfasts, 9 lunches, 7 dinners
- Accommodation as listed in the itinerary
- English-speaking tour leader throughout the tour
- Entrance tickets to all sites listed in the itinerary
- Comfortable transport from start to finish
- Flight
- Day 2: Tashkent – Nukus
- Train rides:
- Day 7: Khiva – Bukhara
- Day 10: Bukhara – Samarkand
- Day 13: Samarkand – Tashkent
- Drinking water
Not included
- International Flights and travel insurance (necessary)
- Additional hotel nights & late checkouts
- Drinks and other personal expenses
- Photography permission in some museums
- Tip kitty (See FAQs for more details)
Click the tabs to find out more
What our Patchies say
Day 1 – Welcome to Uzbekistan!
Get ready for the adventure of a lifetime as you touch down in ‘Uz-mazing’ Uzbekistan!
Landing in a new country after a long journey can feel overwhelming, but not on our watch! One of our local team members will meet you at the airport and transfer you to the hotel for a stress-free arrival.
Most of the flights into Tashkent arrive in the early hours of the morning, so we’ve arranged an early check-in today. Rest up before the trip’s 10am kick-off, when you’ll meet your tour leader and fellow Patchies, hitting the pavements of Tashkent to check out some of the city’s most impressive landmarks. After all, who wants to sit around at the hotel when there’s a new country to explore? Not you!
Tonight, join your new friends for some yummy Uzbek food at one of our favourite local restaurants. It’s been a long day, but it’s finally time to tumble into bed. It’ll feel so good!
Accommodation: Inspira S Hotel or similar
Included: Breakfast and Dinner
Day 2 – Tashkent and Nukus Flight
After a good night’s sleep, you’ll feel like a new woman, which is ideal because today you’ll delve into Tashkent’s ancient history.
This city is actually the oldest in Central Asia – but it sure doesn’t look like it. After a devastating earthquake in 1966, Tashkent was rebuilt in a style that can only be described as… very Soviet. Looking past the concrete, some ancient buildings miraculously survived. The 7th-century Khasta Imom Complex is your first introduction to the stunning architecture of ancient Uzbekistan, but, if you can believe it, it’s only going to get better.
For a complete change of pace in the afternoon, you’ll head over to a family-run pottery studio to let your creativity run wild. This hands-on workshop will have you learning ceramic art from the masters as you spend your time at the pottery wheel.
Tonight, get your boarding pass ready because you’ll take a short flight to the far west of Uzbekistan – Nukus!
Accommodation: Jypek Joly or similar
Included: Breakfast and Dinner
Day 3 – Chimbay
Exploring Nukus can wait until tomorrow. Today, you’re heading straight to Chimbay, an artistic hub for local crafts people who are only too happy to show off their skills!
You’ve probably never thought of it before, but yurt-making is actually an art form here in Uzbekistan. You’ll kick off your day in Chimbay with a visit to a traditional yurt factory, where you’ll see local workers making yurts with age-old techniques. After, you’ll step inside a yurt for yourself to learn the customs and traditions of yurt etiquette. Yes – yurt etiquette. It’s a thing!
As well as yurt etiquette, you’ll also learn about the importance of dress in Uzbek culture, including the messages you can send through your clothing. Single ladies, your time is now – you’ll learn how to correctly wear a traditional hat called a tubeteika, so that people know you’re on the market!
Up-to-speed with Uzbek clothing traditions, you’ll visit the women of the Karalpak family, who have been making quilts for centuries, and now run a small school for girls teaching them all sorts of needlework. You’ll spend the afternoon with the ladies, where you’ll learn about their traditional lives and spend some time crafting with them too!
Accommodation: Jypek Joly (or similar)
Included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 4 – Nukus
Once a Soviet city heavily guarded by the KGB, when Nukus finally opened to the world in the 1990s, art critics around the globe were astounded by the discovery. Inside Nukus’s Savitsky Museum was a secret collection of works by Central Asian and Russian avant-garde artists banned by Stalin in the 1930s. For decades, artist Igor Savitsky had collected and hidden their works for safekeeping.
This morning, you’ll be one of the privileged few to witness a curated collection – all under the care of an expert guide.
You don’t need to be an art connoisseur to be awed by today’s visuals, and the stories of triumph and tragedy to Shakespearian proportions. So, you won’t mind the 4 or so hours it takes to drive to Khiva this afternoon – it’s time to relax and to process.
Once in Khiva, you’ll be able to stretch your legs and take your first peek of the ancient citadel before tucking into bed. What a day! You’ll sleep well tonight.
Accommodation: Asia Hotel (or similar)
Included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 5 – Khiva
Good morning, Khiva! Today you’ll delve into one of the most intact cities on the historic Silk Road. You’ll feel like you’ve stepped from a time machine as you check out the same sights and sounds that amazed travellers, hundreds of years ago. Wandering the Khiva citadel feels like you’re in a living, breathing museum.
Your journey through Khiva will be accompanied by a local watercolour artist, who will teach you how to recreate these once-in-a-lifetime sights with watercolours. Not a painter? No worries! Painting is all about capturing the ‘feeling’ you have, after all. If things go wrong you could always just call your piece abstract art!
By now you’ll be craving the aromatic whiffs of dinner each night. Tonight though, we’ve got something extra planned to accompany your meal. Hmm…is that music you hear?
Accommodation: Asia Hotel (or similar)
Included: Breakfast and Dinner
Day 6 – Khiva
Khiva is the type of city that you won’t want to leave. The good news is, you don’t have to! At least, not today. This morning, you’ll watch over Khiva from her city walls, as she wakes. Have your camera ready because the blue mosaic flashes on the otherwise earthen buildings dazzle in the morning light and that’s a photograph you don’t want to miss!
Later, it’s time to head down into that labyrinth of streets you just watched over, to meet some local women. What an honour to be welcomed into their homes!
Can you believe it’s Day six of your Uzbek adventure already? Take some time for yourself this afternoon, or head back out through that ancient city gateway you spy outside your hotel’s door. By now Khiva is feeling like home and you’ve already got your restaurant favourites in mind!
Accommodation: Asia Hotel (or similar)
Included: Breakfast and Lunch
Day 7 – Crossing the Desert
Hold on to your hat, because today you’re in for the ride of your life as you conquer the colossal Uzbekistan desert. Back in the days of the Silk Road, this was a gruelling journey that would have taken days. Lucky for you, the journey now takes just six and a half hours on the train! Forget the bumpy camel rides of yesteryear – this is the new highway of the Silk Road, and we’re sure you’ll agree it’s far more comfortable.
In the early afternoon, you’ll arrive in Bukhara, known as Central Asia’s holiest city. You’ll quickly understand why it has this reputation when you start exploring a few of its over 300 mosques!
Here at Patch, we love to be travel trendsetters, not followers, and we love nothing more than venturing off the tourist trail. You’ll explore Bukhara’s backstreets with your guide. In this hidden corner of the city, locals will be delighted (and a little curious) to see you and share their stories of life in the “real” Bukhara.
Accommodation: Amelia Hotel or similar
Included: Breakfast and Dinner
Day 8 – Bukhara
Peel back the centuries with a visit to the Ismail Somoni Mausoleum, the oldest monument in Central Asia! This impressive structure, which was built at the end of the 9th century, is the tomb of the members of the Samani family, who ruled over this area from 875 to 999 AD. Then at Bolo Hauz Mosque’s enclave of calm, with its iconic pillars and the pond stretching out in front, you’ll be so inspired you’ll want to whip out your sketchbook and start drawing up your next masterpiece right then and there!
You’ve gotten up close and personal to so many art forms already, but we’re not stopping yet. This afternoon we have an embroidery workshop planned for you! Under the careful tutelage of a local embroidery master, you’ll learn all about this ancient craft and pour your inspiration into your own embroidery piece. And you won’t have to search hard for inspiration – just think of all the out-of-this-world things you’ve seen and done in Uzbekistan so far!
Accommodation: Amelia Hotel or similar
Included: Breakfast and Lunch
Day 9 – Bukhara
Your embroidery master has freely given more of his time this morning for guidance and feedback on your handy needlework.
This afternoon’s walk you’ll wind up at the Centre for Crafts people, to see wood carvers, miniaturists, potters and textile weavers. Did you know that the government encourages artists to continue with Uzbek crafting traditions by offering incentives like rent-subsidised spaces? You’ll be surprised how reasonably priced everything is and even non-shoppers have been known to dabble in a purchase or two – and by day 9, you’ll be a master at identifying the difference between a machine-made and a handmade silk scarf or embroidered piece.
The rest of the day is at your leisure. There are countless wonderful restaurants in Bukhara, so if you’re struggling to decide where to go (we don’t blame you!) your guide will be happy to point you to their favourite.
Accommodation: Amelia Hotel or similar
Included: Breakfast and lunch
Day 10 – The Bullet Train
This morning is free for you to do whatever you want. Fancy a lie-in followed by a leisurely stroll around town? You got it! Don’t forget that Bukhara is the place to buy a hand-woven carpet. If that’s on your wish list, just check with your guide about which of the merchants offer overseas shipping.
Then there’s lunch – well, we’ve got a surprise in store for you there. There’s plenty of time to let your food digest this afternoon though, because you’ll catch the bullet train to Samarkand. Yep, a bullet train – we bet you didn’t expect that in Uzbekistan! On arrival, you’ll get some time to freshen up at the hotel before heading out as a group to explore the Samarkand promenade, a window to local life.
Accommodation: Rabat Boutique or similar
Included: Breakfast and Lunch
Day 11 – Samarkand
There’s only one way to describe your eleventh day in Uzbekistan: mind-blowing!
Today, you’ll check out the old stomping grounds of Emperor Timur, one of history’s most ruthless (and successful) conquerors. Uzbeks hail Timur as a national hero, and you’ll learn more about his successes and atrocities on this morning’s visit to Gur-e-Amir, Timur’s Mausoleum. This is just the beginning of what we have in store for you!
The first time you lay your eyes on Registan, the main square of Samarkand, is a moment you’ll remember for the rest of your life. This is the crown jewel in Uzbekistan’s astonishing array of ancient complexes, and, today, you get to experience it for yourself.
You’ll also visit the studio of Lena Ladik, a local designer who works with old and antique fabrics sourced from villages across the country. Her team of seamstresses are local ladies earning an honest wage for their talented work.
This evening, you’ll return to see the jaw-dropping Registan lit up at night. After all, you can never see it too many times!
Accommodation: Rabat Boutique or similar
Included: Breakfast and Lunch
Day 12 – Block Printing and The Ulugh Beg Observatory
Today you’ll meet Vladimir – a local master who is keeping the age-old practice of block printing alive, and you’ll get to join in. Roll up your sleeves ladies – you’re about to get your hands dirty. Not only will you be printing your own piece, but you’ll be making the dye too!
You’re heading on a journey through the cosmos late in the day by visiting the Ulugh Beg Observatory. Built in the 15th century, this was once the largest observatory in the world and at the cutting edge of space discovery. You’ll feel a sense of wonder and awe, imagining the groundbreaking discoveries made there centuries ago. At moments like these, you’ll totally understand why you travelled thousands of miles to visit Uzbekistan.
Accommodation: Rabat Boutique or similar
Included: Breakfast and Lunch
Day 13 – Into the Mountains
There’s nothing quite like filling your lungs with fresh mountain air, and this morning, you’ll get to do just that on a scenic walk through the Gissar Mountains. And nope, this walk isn’t challenging, so it’s suitable for everybody!
For centuries, travellers along the Silk Road broke up their journey with cups of tea heated over a campfire, and today you’ll take part in this tradition. With the sounds of nature all around you, it’s a moment so peaceful that you’ll have to experience it to believe it. You’ll finish the walk at the tiny village of Ohalik, where local women will teach you how to cook vegetarian sambusas, a version of samosa, and local bread. Their recipes are guaranteed to make your tastebuds dance!
There’s a late afternoon fast train heading to Tashkent and you and your Patchie mates are going to be on it because there’s a cracker of a farewell dinner planned for you all back in Uzbekistan’s shiny capital!
Accommodation: Inspiral S Hotel or similar
Included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 14 – Farewell Friends
You’re up bright and early this morning for your departure. Not a morning person? No worries. We’ve taken all the stress out of the journey so all you’ll need to do is show up in the hotel lobby. Flights out of Tashkent are limited and often leave in the wee hours of the morning, so be sure that you gave your new group of friends a hearty goodbye over dinner – Until next time, Patchies!
Included: Breakfast (for later departures)
Trip Map
Good to Know
FITNESS
Level 1 or Easy
So long as you have a general level of health and fitness, you’ll be fine. There’s one easy walk in the hills between villages and there will be days where you’ll be walking and spending a lot of time on your feet. Daily activities may include city walks and getting on and off various forms of transport.
All activities are optional, meaning that if you don’t feel like it, you can skip it but it will be impossible to enjoy your trip if you’re not able to do a walking tour for a full afternoon. Unfortunately this tour cannot accommodate people requiring walking aids.
Is This Trip Right For You?
You love travelling and enjoying most of your time in a country.
You don’t like being rushed or herded around B-grade attractions, but you also understand that some places are worth the wait in line.
You’re open-minded and open-hearted. You try to embrace the little things. You understand that even in the best vehicles, the air-con sometimes breaks. Even in the best restaurants, the service sometimes is a little slow. This is just part of the adventure, and you choose to be gracious.
You also know that a ‘great trip’ doesn’t have to mean sprinting from place to place. The best moments so often come when you hit the pause button, sit still, and just take it all in.
You’re young enough at heart to know that sometimes the best opportunities come when you’re least expecting it. You understand that doing things right doesn’t always mean following a strict routine.
You enjoy trying new food, visiting new places, and making new friends. You make a great travel buddy and you love to share experiences with others. You understand that to fit in with local cultures, sometimes that involves trying something you haven’t tried before, or sitting on the floor to eat with a nomad family.
Does that sound like you? We’d love to invite you to travel with us!
Frequently Asked Questions
Prior to the payment of your full balance, the final price may change if there is significant variation in the AUD:USD exchange rate. Our trip pricing is determined by what the exchange rates are at the time of publishing the trip.
The pricing on this is based on the following exchange rate: 1 AUD:0.66 USD.
A deposit of $1,650 is required to hold your spot. Payment can be made by credit card (fees apply) or bank deposit.
There is a cooling-off period of 2 weeks. (Applicable to all bookings made 110 days in advance.)
We have implemented a ‘lifetime deposit’ guarantee. Deposits are not refundable, but they are transferable at any time, right up until the first day of the trip.
The final balance of the trip is required 120 days in advance of the departure date. Our suppliers require upfront payment well in advance to guarantee availability.
Please refer to the full terms and conditions for further information.
This is the most frequently asked question we get!
Nearly everyone is in their 50s and 60s, with some people above and below (but of course, everyone is welcome!)
Most Patchies come alone and are matched with a room-mate. Remember, you don’t need to pay for a single supplement if you come solo. We will place you with a similarly-aged roommate.
The typical Patchie has travelled a LOT, is a well-seasoned adventurer, and is not easily thrown by small things. However, many Patchies tell us that this is their first ever group tour. Many of our guests have avoided tours to this point as they’re not attracted to being herded around in large groups.
Oh, and one last thing:
Patchies are warm, generous, and kind. We knew it would be like this, but we weren’t expecting it to be *quite* like this. We’re so blessed as a business to have the customers we do; we consider ourselves to be some of the luckiest people in the world.
We can easily accommodate vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free diets, or any variation of the above. Please let us know about your dietary requirements in advance. We cannot cater for those with severe nut allergies. If you have any other medical requirements, please advise.
Australian and NZ citizens do not need a visa to travel to Uzbekistan.
Airfares are not included.
Solo travellers will be matched with a room-mate. Of course, if you prefer to have your own space, you can reserve the private room supplement.
Please contact us for more information.
The national currency of Uzbekistan is sum. Passengers entering to Uzbekistan shouldn’t try to bring local money. If you want to bring cash, don’t bring AUD; USD is preferred. Our guide will assist you to change money while on the ground. In all major cities, there are ATMs where you can easily take money out!
Most of our trips have a tip kitty because many cultures have interesting and diverse rules when it comes to tips. We’ve found it to be the easiest way to combat over-tipping, under-tipping or having the tip fall into the wrong hands. Our goal is for guests to relax and know that the complexities of tipping are taken care of, on their behalf.
We ask that your contribution to the tip kitty for your Uzbekistan adventure be:
- $200 USD to be given to your trip leader on Day 1. The kitty will be managed by your leader who will use it to cover tips for your drivers, hotel staff, other services and for a thank you tip for your leader.
Airport transfers are included. You can plan to arrive at any time, but we recommend arriving in the morning to give yourself time to settle in.
Level 1 or Easy
So long as you have a general level of health and fitness, you’ll be fine. There’s one easy walk in the hills between villages and there will be days where you’ll be walking and spending a lot of time on your feet. Daily activities may include city walks and getting on and off various forms of transport.
All activities are optional, meaning that if you don’t feel like it, you can skip it but it will be impossible to enjoy your trip if you’re not able to do a walking tour for a full afternoon. Unfortunately this tour cannot accommodate people requiring walking aids.
In the unlikely event of a health or security related incident during a trip, we’ve engaged a local partner to assist. From our experience, there is not one framework that fits all, and every incident is unique and requires a different approach. With all trips, your guides are your day-to-day support. While behind the scenes, there is an active line of communication – between your guide, the on-ground support team, and Australian Ops.
