Gastronomy & Crafts

Gastronomy & Crafts is a seven-day deep-dive into the things you can taste and touch — the food and handwork that have defined Uzbek life along the Silk Road for centuries. From the bustling bazaars of Tashkent to the kitchens of Samarkand and the workshops of Bukhara, you eat, cook and create your way across the country rather than simply sightseeing.

Highlights are hands-on by design: a plov master's class over the great cauldron, tasting the famous sweets and breads of Samarkand, watching silk turn to ikat on the loom, and sitting with the ceramicists and metalworkers who keep these crafts alive in their own studios. Travel between cities is by the comfortable Afrosiyob train, and your licensed Eastern guide knows exactly which family table and which artisan are worth your afternoon.

It is made for food lovers, makers and curious travellers who want to understand a culture through its hands. Autumn is the season of harvest and markets at their fullest — the ideal time for a journey built around flavour.