Expert opinion
Pluses
- Hands-on crafts: a ceramics session with a master in Rishtan and a whole morning following silk from cocoon to loom at Yodgorlik in Margilan.
- No long drives: the daily train from Tashkent and back, three nights at one hotel in Fergana and drives of 20–70 km inside the valley.
- A guide all four days: most craftspeople speak only Uzbek, and your guide translates in the workshops.
Minuses
- Meals mostly extra: only breakfasts are included; lunches, dinners and drinks are paid on site.
- Depends on the masters: the session in Rishtan is subject to the master’s schedule and agreed for your dates in advance.
- Hot in summer: in July the afternoon in Fergana averages 35.1 °C.
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.
- Hotel changes
- none — one hotel
- Longest transfer
- 3.7 h · by train
- On the road in total
- 12 h
Best time
Apr–May, Sep–Oct
April–May and September–October: afternoons of 21–29 °C in Fergana, before and after the summer heat.
Better to avoid
Jul
A typical day
On day 2 you spend the morning at the Yodgorlik silk factory in Margilan, 20 km from your hotel, watching cocoons reeled, threads tied and dyed and ikat woven on hand looms. If it is a Thursday or a Sunday we add the Kumtepa bazaar; the afternoon is free.
What the price includes
What is included
- Train tickets Tashkent – Kokand and Margilan – Tashkent
- Accommodation in Fergana: 3 nights with breakfast
- A private car with driver in the valley on all four days and transfers to and from the station in Tashkent
- A guide speaking your language on all four days
- Entrance tickets on the programme
- A ceramics session with a master in Rishtan (subject to availability)
Not included
- Lunches, dinners and drinks
- Purchases in workshops and bazaars
- The cable car on Bogishamol hill
- Photo and video fees at the sites
- International flights and visa fees (if applicable)
- Tips and personal expenses
Extra cost on site
- Lunches, dinners and drinks
- Purchases in workshops and bazaars
- The cable car on Bogishamol hill
- Photo and video fees at the sites
Good for
- Potters, weavers and textile lovers who want to see the work and try it
- Travellers who have seen Samarkand and Bukhara and want the crafts behind the bazaar stalls
- Anyone who prefers a train to a long drive over the mountain pass
Maybe not for you if
- Travellers who want the big Silk Road monuments — they are in Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva
- Anyone who needs lunches and dinners in the price — meals other than breakfast are paid on site
Questions about this tour
How much does the tour cost?
The price is given on request: it depends on the dates, the hotel, the size of your group and the language of the guide.
How do we get to the Fergana Valley?
By train No. 730: it leaves Tashkent every day at 09:20 and reaches Kokand at 12:28. On the last day train No. 729 leaves Margilan at 16:11 and is in Tashkent at 19:53. We check the current timetable before booking.
Can I really make something myself?
Yes: in a Rishtan workshop we arrange a session at the potter’s wheel or painting a dish with a master. It depends on the master’s schedule, so we agree it for your dates in advance.
What is included?
Everything that is and isn’t included, and what you pay on site, is in one list: What the price includes
What is paid on site?
Lunches, dinners and drinks, purchases in workshops and bazaars, the cable car on Bogishamol hill, photo and video fees, tips and personal expenses.
When is the Kumtepa bazaar?
It is busiest on Thursdays and Sundays. If you want to see it, tell us and we plan your Margilan day for one of those days.
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.
Arrival, departure, transfers
Programme and details
Day-by-day route, prices and terms
Fergana Valley · 4 Days / 3 Nights · Private Crafts Tour
Fergana Valley Crafts Tour
Tashkent – Kokand – Rishtan – Margilan – Andijan – Margilan – Tashkent
Blue Rishtan ceramics and Margilan ikat are the two crafts the Fergana Valley is known for, and both are still made by hand. On this tour you do not just watch: you sit at the potter’s wheel in Rishtan, follow silk from the cocoon to the loom in Margilan and spend a day in Babur’s home town of Andijan. We live in Tashkent and build the trip around the daily train over the Kamchik pass.
| Duration | 4 days / 3 nights |
| Price | on request |
| Format | Private, or a small group on your dates |
| Where | Kokand, Rishtan, Margilan, Fergana and Andijan |
| Getting there | Train No. 730 Tashkent 09:20 – Kokand 12:28; back on No. 729 Margilan 16:11 – Tashkent 19:53 |
| Best time | April–May and September–October |
Ideal for potters, weavers, textile lovers and anyone who wants to see a craft made, not just buy it.
Margilan — the Yodgorlik silk factory, working since 1972: the whole ikat process by hand, from cocoons to khan-atlas.
Andijan — the birthplace of Babur (1483), with a memorial park on Bogishamol hill.
Itinerary
Day by Day
Day 1 · Tashkent – Kokand – Rishtan — The khan’s palace and the potters’ town
Our driver takes you from your hotel to the station for train No. 730, which leaves Tashkent at 09:20. The line passes under the Kamchik pass through a 19.2 km tunnel, the longest in Central Asia. At 12:28 you are in Kokand, where your guide and driver meet you.
In Kokand, the palace of Khudoyar Khan, completed around 1870 and a museum since 1925, with carved and painted ceilings and a tiled facade. Then about 50 km, an hour by car, to Rishtan.
In a Rishtan family workshop you see the red clay, the wheel, the painting and the kiln, and you try it yourself: a session at the wheel or painting a dish with a master, on request and subject to availability. In the evening, about an hour on to your hotel in Fergana.
Good to know: The train runs every day, but we check its current timetable on eticket.railway.uz before we book anything else.
Overnight in Fergana
Day 2 · Margilan — Silk from the cocoon to the loom
Margilan is about 20 km from Fergana. The morning belongs to the Yodgorlik silk factory: cocoons soaked in hot water, the thread reeled off, the threads marked and tied, dyed over wood-fired stoves and woven on hand looms into khan-atlas silk and adras, half silk and half cotton. Most of the workers speak only Uzbek, so your guide translates your questions.
If your Margilan day falls on a Thursday or a Sunday, we add the Kumtepa bazaar, about 5 km outside the town, a market for locals rather than tourists. The afternoon and evening are free.
Good to know: Kumtepa is busiest on Thursdays and Sundays. Tell us if you want it, and we plan your dates around it.
Overnight in Fergana
Day 3 · Andijan — Babur’s home town
By car to Andijan, where Babur, the founder of the Mughal dynasty, was born in 1483. On Bogishamol hill, 7 km from the city, his memorial park: a symbolic tomb from 1993, a museum with his writings and those of his descendants, and a cable car to the top of the hill.
In the old town, the Jame mosque complex of 1883–1890, whose An Islamic college: student cells and classrooms around a courtyard behind a grand portal. In the old towns many now house museums and craft workshops. is more than 120 m long, and the bazaar. For lunch, Andijan devzira Rice cooked in a kazan with carrots, onions and meat: the dish of every Uzbek celebration. Each region cooks it its own way., made with the reddish rice of the valley and registered as a geographical indication in June 2026. Back to Fergana in the afternoon.
Instead of Andijan, we can take you to Namangan, on the north side of the valley, with the Mullo Kirgiz madrasah of 1910 (on request).
Overnight in Fergana
Day 4 · Margilan – Tashkent — Back on the afternoon train
A free morning: back to a workshop for the piece you did not buy, or a slow walk in Fergana. After lunch, transfer to Margilan station for train No. 729 at 16:11. At 19:53 you are in Tashkent, where our driver takes you to your hotel.
Accommodation
Where you stay
| City | Stay |
|---|---|
| Fergana | A 4* hotel in Fergana or similar, 3 nights |
We confirm the hotel for your dates before booking. Fergana is 20 km from Margilan, so all three days start from the same address.
Price
Price
The price is given on request: it depends on the dates, the hotel, the size of your group and the language of the guide.
Good to know
Conditions
- The train timetable can change: we check it on eticket.railway.uz before we confirm the programme.
- A session with a master depends on the master’s schedule; we agree it for your dates in advance.
- Kumtepa bazaar is busiest on Thursdays and Sundays.
- Train tickets need the full name and passport number of every traveller.
- Reservations are confirmed with passport copies only.
Cancellation policy
| Cancellation timing | Penalty |
|---|---|
| 21 days before the service | 20% |
| 20–7 days | 50% |
| 6–0 days | 100% |
Transportation
| Vehicle | Group size |
|---|---|
| Chevrolet Cobalt | 2 pax |
| Hyundai Starex | 3–4 pax |
| Toyota Hiace / King Long | 5–8 pax |
| Mercedes Sprinter | 9–14 pax |
Vehicles may differ in make and colour.
🌿 Responsible tourism: we allocate part of our profits to good causes and are preparing for GSTC certification.
