UZBEKISTAN – Adventure on the Silk Road, October 2025! from 2.099 €

Description

Flexible payment conditions, only 10% deposit;

Convenient flight schedule, short layovers;

Complete program, the most important attractions and tourist sites included;

Experienced Romanian group leader and local guides for city tours;

3* and 4* hotels, well-located with very good reviews;

Cities on the Silk Road: Khiva, Bukhara, Samarkand;

UNESCO sites visited: Ichan-Kala fortress in Khiva, the historic center of Bukhara, the city of Samarkand – Crossroads of Cultures;

Uzbek cuisine: plov, non/lepeshka (local bread), and pumpkin dumplings;

Local experiences: folklore program in Khiva, journey by high-speed train Afrosiyab, color show in Registan Square, wood sculptures in Khiva, doll workshop in Bukhara, Tashkent metro stations.

Airline : Turkish Airlines

Schedule :

Outbound TK1046 14 OCT OTP2145 - 2315 IST – duration 1h30min

TK 262 15 OCT IST 0115 – 0710 UGC – duration 3h55min

Inbound TK 365 22 OCT TAS 0610 - 0935 IST – duration 5h25min

TK1039 22 OCT IST 1315 - 1435 OTP – duration 1h20min

*the schedule may change

Conditions for Group Formation

MINIMUM GROUP OF 15 PEOPLE. For a group of 10-14 people, an additional fee of 190 euros per person will be charged. For a group of fewer than 10 people, the trip will be rescheduled. The price recalculation will be made no later than 21 days before departure. Also, in the case of a smaller group, the agency reserves the right to change the airline or hotels, while maintaining the same standards and informing the registered tourists in advance. Additional confirmed places beyond the maximum reserved group may be at a higher price (depending on the availability of flights and accommodations) and will be subject to different cancellation rules.

ATTENTION! Persons with special needs (pregnant women, unaccompanied minors, etc.) and disabilities must notify the agency of the situation, including all necessary details, from the moment of registration and reservation confirmation. We do not assume responsibility for any services that cannot be provided by third parties if they were not indicated in the reservation and service contract.

Useful Information for Travelers to Uzbekistan

Visa: No visa is required for a stay of up to 30 days.

Official Language: Uzbek

Local Time: +2h/+3h compared to Romania.

Official Currency: Uzbek som (official exchange rate: 1 EUR = 12.3 UZS; 1 USD = 12.96 UZS); credit cards can be used in hotels and certain stores, but cash payments are more common. In some places, payments can be made directly in EUR or USD. It is recommended to have EUR/USD banknotes in good condition for payments/foreign exchange.

Clothing: Depending on the travel period, it is recommended to bring appropriate clothing, such as light, natural fiber clothes for the warm summer days and thick clothes for winter. Decent attire is required when visiting places of worship. It is recommended to have a scarf, cap, or hat for sun protection, as well as sunglasses. In some places of worship, entry is allowed without shoes.

Romanian Embassy in Uzbekistan:

Address: 44A Zanjirbog Street, Tashkent

Consular information phone for Romanian citizens: +998 71 2526888; +998 78 1205953

Emergency phone: (+998-93) 399 99 06

General Useful Information

You must arrive at the airport to meet the group representative 3 hours before the scheduled departure time. Presenting the flight ticket at boarding is mandatory. Permitted luggage for the trip includes a checked bag with a maximum of 40 kg (2 pieces of max. 20 kg each) and hand luggage up to 8 kg per passenger.

ATTENTION: Flight tickets are non-refundable and cannot be changed after issuance.

The correctness of the names and personal details of travelers is the responsibility of the intermediary agency/agent who made the booking. Any changes are charged 25 euros per change/reservation until the tickets are issued.

Rooms are assigned by the reception, and check-in on the first day and check-out on the last day will depend on each hotel’s hourly policy and current availability (generally check-in is after 14:00, and check-out is before 12:00).

Room types should be requested at the time of booking. Note: The double bed (matrimonial) in some hotels may consist of two single beds pushed together. The third bed may vary depending on the hotel’s amenities: single bed, folding bed, or a sofa.

Some hotels allow children up to 11.99 years old to sleep in the parents’ bed and offer free accommodation or a significant discount.

Some hotels require guarantees and additional payments for the use of in-room facilities (e.g., minibar/fridge, safe, air conditioning) unless otherwise stated. We recommend that tourists ask for details about these additional costs at check-in. In some 4- and 5-star hotels, a cash or card guarantee may be required, which will be refunded/unblocked upon room checkout. These amounts are blocked to guarantee payment for the hotel’s facilities.

All accommodation units and means of transport are classified by the competent authorities of the destination country, according to internal procedures and local regulations, which may vary from country to country.

Decent attire is mandatory for any dinner served at the hotel’s restaurant. Men are allowed to access the restaurant wearing long pants and closed shoes (not shorts or flip-flops or sandals), while women should wear decent attire.

Important! On international destinations, festive meals offered for events or holidays differ from traditional Romanian ones, both in terms of the menu and duration and entertainment.

Guide/Group Leader Services

Cocktail Holidays provides a group leader during the specified period, fluent in Romanian. They will oversee that all services are provided according to the program presented during registration. The group leader may make changes to the schedule (such as changing the order or timing of events) without affecting the overall structure of the services. If there are any discrepancies from the purchased program, the group leader will make all efforts to resolve the issues on-site.

Means of Transport

ATTENTION! Flight tickets are non-refundable and cannot be changed after issuance. In the case of service packages that include air transport (scheduled flights), the organizing travel agency is not responsible for any changes in departure and arrival times. If the carrier is responsible for delays, assistance will be provided to the tourists according to European Parliament Regulation EC 261/2004. The first and last days of the trip are reserved for traveling to/from the destination. Departure and arrival times are indicative and may be changed by the carrier with prior notice. The organizing agency is not liable for any changes. Seating in the minibus/coach at the destination is arranged by the group leader based on the registration order, starting from the second row in the middle of the transport. For passenger safety during the trip, the first row of seats is reserved for the group leader and local guide.

4o mini

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7Nights

6Destinations

4Accommodation

2Transports

Visiting

Enlarge map

Bucharest

Urgench

Khiva

Bukhara

Samarkand

Tashkent

Bucharest

Day 1-2

Day 1, 14.10.2025: Bucharest – Istanbul

Meet at Henri Coandă Bucharest-Otopeni Airport at 18:45 and meet the Romanian group leader. Boarding on Turkish Airlines flight TK1046, departing at 21:45 to Istanbul. Arrival in Istanbul at 23:15 local time.

Day 2, 15.10.2025: Istanbul – Urgench – Khiva, the Pearl of Uzbekistan

After a short layover in Istanbul, board flight TK262 at 01:15. Arrival in Urgench at 07:10 local time. Meet the local guide and transfer by private coach to Khiva for check-in and breakfast at Hotel Asia Khiva 3* or similar.

Khiva, once a stop on the great Silk Road caravans, is a museum city that impresses with its tranquility. Once in Khiva, we’ll find ourselves in a true medieval city. The cobbled streets, mosques, and majestic walls of the fortress will impress even the most demanding tourists. The entire old city is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We will begin exploring the city with the open-air Ichan Kala museum, a fortified architectural complex with mosques, madrassas, minarets, and mausoleums. During the city tour, we will see the Tash-Khauli Palace, which means "stone house," with the most lavish interior decorations in Khiva, the Djuma Mosque, the Pakhlavan Mahmud Mausoleum, and the Kalta Minor Minaret.

At the end of the tour, we will visit a woodworking craft center.

We will have dinner with a folklore program and traditional dances.

Accommodation at Hotel Asia Khiva 3* or similar.

Meals: Breakfast and dinner

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Day 3-4

Day 3, 16.10.2025: Khiva – Bukhara, a city on the Silk Road

Breakfast at the hotel. We will head towards Bukhara, crossing the Kyzylkum Desert. Accommodation in Bukhara at Hotel Orient Star Varaxsha 3* or similar.

Meals: Breakfast and dinner

Day 4, 17.10.2025: Bukhara

Breakfast at the hotel. We will begin exploring the city with the Ark Fortress, the residence of the emirs of Bukhara, the Bolo Khauz Mosque (18th century), Chashma-Ayub, a historical cult building named after Ayyub, known in the Old Testament as Job. According to legend, the spring here has healing powers. The day will continue with the Samanid Mausoleum, impressive for its austere elegance and a great example of 10th-century architecture in the Muslim world - the burial place of the Samanids (9th-10th century) is a masterpiece of Central Asian architecture.In the second part of the tour, we will continue with the local bazaar and its domes (Toki Saraffon, Toki-Telpak, Toki Zargaron), the Ulughbek Madrasa, and the Abdulaziz Khan Madrasa. We will visit a local puppet workshop, the Magoki-Attari Mosque (12th and 16th centuries); the Liabi-Khauz Complex: the Nodir-Divan-beghi Madrasa (17th century), the Kukeldash Madrasa (16th century), and the Khonako (17th century). During the visits, we will stop at a local teahouse to enjoy various spiced and aromatic teas.Accommodation at Hotel Orient Star Varaxsha 3* or similar.

Meals: Breakfast and dinner

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Day 5-6

Day 5, 18.10.2025: Bukhara – Samarkand (by train)

Breakfast at the hotel. In the morning, we will visit the Sitorai Mokhi Khosa, the summer residence of the last emirs of Bukhara. The last emir was forced by the Soviets to leave the palace in 1920. We will visit the apartments and reception halls (Art Museum), the palace, the Costume Museum, and the area dedicated to the harem, which is now an Ethnographic Museum with a selected collection of traditional embroidery. We will continue with Chor Minor, a colorful madrasa with four strange-looking towers, which was used as a library for students. Private transfer to Kagan Railway Station (30 minutes by car) for boarding the high-speed train "Afrosiab" to Samarkand.Accommodation in Samarkand at Hotel Orient Star 3* or similar.

Meals: Breakfast and dinner

Day 6, 19.10.2025: Samarkand – Pearl of the East and Mirror of the World

Breakfast at the hotel. According to legend, Timur Lenk chose Samarkand as the capital of his empire because “the city has the purest air and healthy land.” The greatest poets and philosophers of the world have given the city various names – Garden of the Soul, Pearl of the East, and Mirror of the World. However, they could not describe the beauty and wealth of this city. Samarkand's cultural heritage is immense, and for many centuries, the city has been a key center on the great Silk Road. In contrast to the open-air museums of Bukhara and Khiva, the historical buildings in Samarkand are scattered throughout the city.We will start the city tour with the Gur Emir Mausoleum, built in 1403, the tomb of the fearsome Timur Lenk, and the Registan Square, one of the remarkable examples of urban development in Central Asia. The name "Registan" means "sandy place." During Timur's reign (1370-1405), Registan was the main commercial area. Later, during the reign of Ulugh Beg, it gained an official character. Registan is surrounded by three madrasas (schools) built between the 15th and 17th centuries: Ulughbek Madrasa (1417-1420), Sher-Dor Madrasa (1619-1636), and Tillya-Kori Madrasa (1647-1660). Today, these three madrasas no longer function as educational institutions. We will visit the Bibi-Khanym Mosque, whose name means "holy lady" and is associated with Timur Lenk's first wife, Sarai Mulk Khanum, who was his confidante and adviser, even on political matters. If time permits, we will stroll through the local bazaar.Accommodation in Samarkand at Hotel Orient Star 3* or similar.

Meals: Breakfast and dinner

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Day 7-8

Day 7, 20.10.2025: Samarkand – Tashkent (by train)

Breakfast. We will continue the tour in Samarkand, seeing one of the most picturesque monuments of ancient history – the Shakhi Zinda Necropolis, the name of which comes from Persian and means "the living king." Today, Shakhi-Zinda is a pilgrimage center, and the legend says that the tomb of Kusam ibn Abbas, the cousin of Prophet Muhammad, is located here. The site is also remarkable for its architecture. We will also visit the Ulugh Bek Observatory, built in 1429 by Ulugh Bek, a Timurid ruler and famous astronomer, the grandson of Timur Lenk, and Afrosiyab, one of the most important archaeological sites in Central Asia, with ruins dating from the 8th century BC. In Afrosiyab, beautifully decorated palaces with sculptures, as well as noble houses, mosques, madrassas, baths, and paved streets from the Samanid era have been discovered. Private transfer to the station for boarding the high-speed "Afrosiab" train to Tashkent.Accommodation in Tashkent at Hotel Inspira S 4* or similar.

Meals: Breakfast and dinner

Day 8, 21.10.2025: Tashkent

Breakfast. Today, we will explore the city of Tashkent, starting with the old part of the city, the Khast Imam Complex, its spiritual center, which includes mosques, mausoleums, and other ancient architectural structures. We will then see the Kukeldash Madrasa (exterior), the Chorsu Bazaar, and the Museum of Applied Arts, which hosts priceless exhibits of applied arts created by masters from the 19th century to the present. We will take a ride on the Tashkent metro, where each station has its unique architectural features: marble, granite, glass, ceramics, alabaster, and other decorations. We will continue the panoramic tour with Independence Square, Amir Temur Square, and Alisher Navoi Theater Square.Accommodation at Hotel Inspira S 4* or similar.

Meals: Breakfast and dinner

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Day 9

Day 9, 22.10.2025: Tashkent – Istanbul – Bucharest

Private transfer to Tashkent Airport for boarding Turkish Airlines flight TK365, departing at 06:10 to Istanbul. Arrival in Istanbul at 09:35 local time. After the layover in Istanbul, boarding flight TK1039 to Bucharest at 13:15. Arrival in Otopeni – Henri Coandă at 14:35 local time.

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