Samarkand & Bukhara Express

The Samarkand & Bukhara Express is a short, high-impact taste of the two finest cities on the Silk Road, designed for travellers who are tight on time but unwilling to compromise on the highlights. Arriving in Tashkent, you transfer straight to the high-speed Afrosiyob train and within hours stand before the Registan in Samarkand, then continue west to lose yourself in the trading domes and minarets of Bukhara's old town.

Five well-judged days are enough to see the essentials without rushing — the great squares and mausoleums of Samarkand, an evening in the living medieval centre of Bukhara, and a real sense of how these cities once anchored the trade routes between East and West. Your private Eastern guide and driver handle every detail, so the time you have is spent looking, not logistics.

It is the ideal long weekend in Uzbekistan, a polished add-on to a wider regional trip, or a first sampler for those who suspect they will be back. Available year-round.