The Orient Silk Road Express
Your Comfortable Home During an Unforgettable Journey
The Orient Silk Road Express offers the best possible comfort for travelling the legendary Silk Road. The comfortable restaurant cars serve freshly prepared regional dishes and offer bar service in the evening. The train is air-conditioned while moving.
This journey makes you familiar with the manifold cultures along the legendary Silk Road and numerous localities that made history, among them four UNESCO World Heritage sites. Uzbekistan is richly endowed with history and culture, a flavour of which you will sample on this exciting journey by private train.
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Day 01: Arrival in Tashkent (18 SEP 2019)
After arriving in Tashkent, you will be led to your centrally located hotel.
Overnight: Grand Mir Hotel.
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Day 02: Tashkent, the Green Oasis (19 SEP 2019)
On your sightseeing tour, you’ll experience the green oasis of the Steppe: the Madrasah Kukeldash, the Kavoj and Amir Timur monuments and the opera. In the evening, you will attend a concert in a music hall (programme permitting). Afterwards, your Private Train departs for Shakhrisabz.
Overnight on board. Meals included: breakfast (B), lunch (L) and dinner (D).
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Day 03: Shakhrisabz, Home of Tamerlane (20 SEP 2019)
Today, you will experience a folklore performance in the unique tradition of this region and get to know the inhabitants in their authentic everyday life. A friendly welcome is guaranteed! Next, you will follow the Great Silk Road and arrive in the green city, the birthplace of Tamerlane. Here, in Shakhrisabz (UNESCO-World Heritage Site) you’ll tour the monumental memorials of the barbaric Mongol Prince and also have the opportunity to watch the thriving bustle of this lively town. In the evening, you'll depart on your Private Train to Samarqand. On board: Uzbek wine tasting.
Overnight on board. Meals included: breakfast (B), lunch (L) and dinner (D).
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Day 04: Samarqand - Crossroads of Cultures (21 SEP 2019)
Today is spent visiting the sights of this famous historic city, which during the rule of Timur was considered the world’s most beautiful and prestigious city. The Necropolis of Shah-e Zinde (the living Shah), the excavation sites at Afrosiab (with a museum tour), and Registan Square are certainly among the most notable architectural ensembles in Central Asia. It is also historically important, as the site where many Uzbek women burned their veils (paranjas) in 1917, to signal their arrival in a new era.
Overnight: Registan Plaza Hotel. Meals included: breakfast (B), lunch (L) and dinner (D).
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Day 05: Samarqand (22 SEP 2019)
Your day in this fascinating city includes a tour of a silk carpet manufactory, a visit to an Uzbek craftsman’s family to see paper being made from mulberry bark, stops at the Ulug Beg Observatory and the ruins of the Bibi Khanum Mosque, and viewing the interior of the palace-like Gur Emir Mausoleum.
Overnight: Registan Plaza Hotel. Meals included: breakfast (B), lunch (L) and dinner (D).
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Day 06: Samarqand (23 SEP 2019)
Today is yours to explore Samarqand or spend as you please. Your train departs for Khiva in the late afternoon.
Overnight on board. Meals included: breakfast (B) and dinner (D).
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Day 07: Khiva (24 SEP 2019)
In the morning, you arrive in the oasis of Khiva, a fairy tale from 1001 Nights – in stone. Standing at the mighty town wall with its gates and bastions of mud brick you feel transported into another world. In the afternoon, you visit the Kunya Ark Citadel and the Islam Hodha Minaret. Dinner is served in a traditional restaurant.
Overnight: Hotel Asia Khiva. Meals included: breakfast (B) and dinner (D).
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Day 08: Khiva (25 SEP 2019)
On your tour of the oasis, you have a chance to take in its exotic atmosphere. Its palaces, mosques, minarets, mausoleums, and madrassas (Muslim religious schools) represent one of the best preserved ensembles of medieval oriental urban architecture in the world. You enjoy lunch in the surroundings of the former emir’s Summer Palace.
Overnight on board. Meals included: breakfast (B), lunch (L) and dinner (D).
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Day 09: Bukhara (26 SEP 2019)
Located in the middle of the Kyzylkum Desert, Bukhara has some one thousand architectural monuments recalling the golden age of the Great Silk Route. Exotic spices, furs, and especially silk were stored and traded then in the city’s caravanserais. In Bukhara’s Old Town (UNESCO World Heritage), you see the almost fifty-metre tall Kalyan Minaret and the Lyab-I Hauz Ensemble by the pond. In a madrassa courtyard you watch a performance of local dances, and a presentation of colourful national costumes with musical accompaniment.
Overnight: Hotel Asia Bukhara. Meals included: breakfast (B), lunch (L) and dinner (D).
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Day 10: The Samanid Mausoleum (27 SEP 2019)
Bukhara, which also bears the by-name Sherif (the noble one), has preserved its ancient oriental countenance in its extensive, unparalleled collection of authentic architecture. In the morning, we drive you to the splendid Mir-e-Arab Madrassa and the Samanid Mausoleum, one of Central Asia’s most beautiful architectural treasures. Afterwards, you tour the massive Ark Citadel, a city within a city that was once the seat of government of Bukhara’s former rulers. After visiting the emir's Summer Residence, you will view the Throne Room.
Overnight: Hotel Asia Bukhara. Meals included: breakfast (B), lunch (L) and dinner (D).
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Day 11: Tashkent (28 SEP 2019)
In the morning, you can enjoy leisure time in Bukhara, until your Private Train departs for Tashkent around noon. In the afternoon, you will arrive in Tashkent.
Overnight: Grand Mir. Meals included: breakfast (B), lunch (L) and dinner (D).
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Day 12: Return Home (29 SEP 2019)
After breakfast, you transfer to the airport.
Meals included: breakfast (B).
Your journey adventure may be over, but we know you will enjoy the memories you have made for years to come.
