Programme and details
Night train from Tashkent on Friday at 21:42 · back on Sunday evening
Bukhara in 2 Days — from Tashkent by Night Train
An overnight train to Bukhara, a full day among the minarets and trading domes of the old town, and back by train. All-inclusive — no hidden extras.
2 full days in Bukhara · 1 night on the train + 1 in a hotel
Train tickets included
Group departure · min. 5 people
Programme
What you will see
- The Did you know? Legend: the Ark was laid out with a bull's hide Legend credits the Ark to Siyavush, a prince of the Persian epic, who was offered as much land as a bull's hide would cover. He cut it into thin strips and circled a hill. In fact people built up the Ark's hill over more than 2,000 years. Read more → — the citadel of the Bukhara emirs
- The Poi-Kalon complex — the Did you know? Diggers went 13 m down and never found its base The Kalyan Minaret of 1127 rises about 46 m, and an excavation reached 13 m without finding the bottom of its foundations. Genghis Khan reportedly ordered it spared. Read more → (12th c.), the Kalon Mosque and the Did you know? A madrasah still teaching after almost 500 years Mir-i-Arab, built in the 1530s opposite the Kalyan Mosque, was one of only three Islamic schools allowed to keep working in Soviet times, and it still trains students today. Read more →
- Did you know? Bukhara's ponds were once its water supply Pools like Lyabi-Hauz, dug around 1620 and 46 × 36 m, were the city's main source of water. Most were filled in during the 1920s–30s because they spread disease; Lyabi-Hauz survived. Read more → and the old trading domes
- The Did you know? Buried in mud, this tomb escaped Genghis Khan The 10th-century Samanid Mausoleum, one of the oldest monuments of Islamic Central Asia, was covered by flood mud and sand before the Mongols came in 1220. Hidden for centuries, its brick lacework survived intact. Read more → and Did you know? A cone-shaped dome over Job's spring Chashma-Ayub, 'Job's Spring', has a conical dome in the Khorezm style, rare in Bukhara. Legend says Job struck the ground with his staff and water flowed; inside is a museum of Bukhara's water supply. Read more →
- Sitorai Mokhi-Khosa summer palace, the Bahauddin Naqshband memorial complex and the Chor-Bakr necropolis
Days
The route
Day 1 · Friday — Tashkent to Bukhara
Overnight train to Bukhara (21:42–05:43). Breakfast on arrival is included.
Day 2 · Saturday — Bukhara
The old town on foot: the Ark fortress, the Poi-Kalon complex, the Kalon minaret, the Kalon Mosque, the Mir-i-Arab Madrasah and the old trading domes. Lunch included. Afternoon at Lyabi-Hauz and the Samanid Mausoleum. Dinner included. Hotel check-in after 14:00, overnight in Bukhara.
Day 3 · Sunday — Bukhara to Tashkent
Breakfast at the hotel, then the Sitorai Mokhi-Khosa summer palace, the Bahauddin Naqshband memorial complex and the Chor-Bakr necropolis. Lunch included. Evening train back to Tashkent (schedule subject to Uzbekistan Railways).
Price
Price per person
| All-inclusive tour, min. group 5 people | $279 |
One price, no hidden extras — train tickets, meals and entrance tickets are already included. Book 21+ days before departure and save 10%; inside the 21-day window, the full price applies. This is a group departure on a fixed monthly schedule; a private tour on your own dates is possible — price on request.
Booking
How to book
- Send a request via the form on this page, by email hello@aroundca.com or on WhatsApp, or contact your manager directly. Reply within 24 hours.
- Fixed monthly departures, minimum group 5 people — see available dates above.
- Book 21 or more days before departure and save 10%; inside the 21-day window, the full price applies.
★ «Thank you for a wonderful guide, Shahzod! Even the heat can’t stop us — we’re out walking. The hotel is superb, thank you for the choice.» — Guests, Samarkand–Bukhara, May–June 2026
Two days in Bukhara from Tashkent — the most atmospheric city of the East, by train.
Expert opinion
Pluses
- All-inclusive: economy train tickets both ways, entrance tickets, 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches and 1 dinner are in the price.
- Old town and beyond: day 2 covers ,The fortress-residence of the rulers of Bukhara on a high artificial hill: the oldest structure in the city. Read more → Did you know? Legend: the minaret's foundation was laid with camel milk Legend says master Bako laid the foundations of the Kalyan minaret with ganch plaster mixed with camel milk, then vanished for two years to let them harden, and only then built the tower. Locals still show a grave they say is his. Read more → and ,Did you know? Under Bukhara's domes merchants changed money and gold Four 16th-century trading domes still stand over old crossroads. Toki Sarrafon was the money changers' dome, where merchants from India and China swapped coins; Toki Zargaron held jewellers' workshops, Toki Telpak Furushon sold caps. Read more → and day 3 adds ,Did you know? Legend: the emir's palace site was chosen with meat Legend says that when Emir Nasrullah wanted a summer palace in the mid-19th century, sheep carcasses were hung in several places around Bukhara, and the spot where the meat spoiled last was chosen. Sitorai Mohi-Hosa there today dates from 1912–1918. Read more → the Did you know? A village renamed in honour of a Sufi master Bahauddin Naqshband (1318–1389), who gave his name to one of the largest Sufi orders, was born and buried near Bukhara in Qasr-i Hinduvan. The village was later renamed Qasr-i Arifan in his honour; the tomb over his grave dates from 1544. Read more → complex and .Did you know? A necropolis named after four men called Abu Bakr Chor-Bakr, 5 km from Bukhara, grew from 1559 around the grave of Abu Bakr Said, who died in 970 and was one of four Abu Bakrs, hence the name. Its 25 buildings joined UNESCO's list in 2023 in the Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor. Read more →
- Weekend format: fixed monthly departures from Friday to Sunday with a single hotel in Bukhara.
Minuses
- Overnight train: the train to Bukhara runs 21:42–05:43, 8 hours, and hotel check-in is only after 14:00 on day 2.
- Fixed dates: departures are monthly and need a minimum group of 5 people.
- Some extras: meals on the train, transfers within Tashkent and photo and video fees at the monuments are paid separately.
AroundCA numbers
How we counted
By the AroundCA programme: we count only what is written in the day-by-day programme of this tour. If the programme gives no figure, we show nothing.
- On the ground
- 2 full days · 1 night on the train + 1 in a hotel
- Hotel changes
- none — one hotel
- Longest transfer
- 8 h · by train
- Walking
- Medium
Walking: Medium: day 2 is the old town on foot (Ark, Poi-Kalon, Kalon minaret, Mir-i-Arab, trading domes, Lyabi-Hauz, Samanid Mausoleum), day 3 has three sites on the outskirts. No hikes; the guide sets the pace for your group.
Best time
Mar–Jun, Sep–Nov
March and November are the start and end of the season: 14–17 °C by day, few crowds and lovely weather. Winters are getting milder, too: very few people, sunny days and pleasant prices.
Cool, fewer people: Jan–Feb, Dec
Better to avoid
Jul–Aug
July–August is outside the season and hot: 35–37 °C by day in Bukhara and Tashkent.
A typical day
Day 2 in Bukhara: breakfast, then the old town on foot — the Ark fortress, the Poi-Kalon complex, the Kalon minaret, the Kalon Mosque, the Mir-i-Arab Madrasah and the trading domes. Lunch is included, the afternoon goes to Lyabi-Hauz and the Samanid Mausoleum, then dinner and an overnight at the hotel.
What the price includes
What is included
- Transfers by comfortable vehicle
- Economy-class train tickets, Tashkent–Bukhara–Tashkent
- Excursion programme with a guide in your language
- Entrance tickets to the listed monuments
- All meals on the programme: 2 breakfasts (on arrival and at the hotel on Sunday), 2 lunches and 1 dinner
- Water on the road
Not included
- Meals on the train, outside the programme
- Transfers within Tashkent
- Photo and video fees at the monuments
- Personal expenses and tips
Extra cost on site
- Photo and video fees at the monuments
- Personal expenses and tips
- Meals on the train
Good for
- A weekend from Tashkent
- Travellers who don’t mind night trains
Maybe not for you if
- Those who need a hotel night to rest
Questions about this tour
What is included in the price?
Everything that is and isn’t included, and what you pay on site, is in one list: What the price includes
What is not included?
Everything that is and isn’t included, and what you pay on site, is in one list: What the price includes
How does the schedule work?
You leave Tashkent on Friday by overnight train, spend the weekend in Bukhara and return to Tashkent by evening train on Sunday.
What is the minimum group, and is there an early-booking discount?
This is a group tour: departures are fixed monthly with a minimum of 5 people. Book 21 or more days before departure to save 10%; inside the 21-day window the full price of $279 applies. A private tour on your own dates is priced on request.
Are the train tickets guaranteed?
Train tickets are bought subject to seat availability on the day the tour is confirmed, and the tour counts as confirmed at the moment of payment.
Didn’t find your answer? Ask about this tour →
Make it your trip
Tick what you’d like to add — it goes into your request, and the manager confirms the final price.
