Programme and details
Uzbekistan · 8 Days / 7 Nights · Private Tour
Hiking Uzbekistan: Chimgan, Nuratau and Samarkand
Tashkent – Chimgan – Samarkand – Nuratau villages – Lake Did you know? Aydarkul is a wetland of international importance In 2008 the Aydar-Arnasay lake system, about 527,000 ha, became a Ramsar site. It lies where two great bird flyways cross and shelters Dalmatian pelicans and the rare white-headed duck. Read more → – Did you know? Legend credits Alexander with Nurata's underground canals Legend says Alexander the Great founded Nur in 327 BC and laid its kariz, underground channels with wells dug a few metres apart for cleaning. Whoever built them, parts of the kariz near Nurata still carry water today. Read more → – Samarkand – Tashkent
In 1913 Willi Rickmer Rickmers led the first Pamir expedition of the German and Austrian Alpine Club into the mountains east of Bukhara. Our walking is gentler: day hikes between about 1,200 and 2,500 m, with nights in family homes and a yurt instead of mountain huts. In eight days you walk on the slopes of Chimgan, an hour and a half from Tashkent, cross the Nuratau from village to village, sleep in a yurt camp by Lake Aydarkul on the edge of the ,The Kyzylkum, or Red Sands: the desert between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers that the road and the railway cross on the way to Khiva. and see the Did you know? The Registan's sun-carrying lion went on a banknote The Sher-Dor Madrasah (1619–1636) is named for the big cats with the sun on their backs on its portal. The image appeared on the reverse of Uzbekistan's 200-som note of 1997. Read more → and Did you know? Why Shah-i-Zinda means 'the Living King' The necropolis grew around the shrine of Qutham ibn Abbas, a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad. Legend says he did not die in battle but went down a deep well to a garden of paradise, where he lives on. Read more → in Samarkand. The first and last days fit the evening arrivals and early-morning departures of the nonstop flights from Frankfurt and Munich.
| Duration | 8 days / 7 nights |
| Price | on request |
| Format | Private, or a small group on your dates |
| Where | Tashkent and Chimgan, Samarkand, the Nuratau villages and Lake Aydarkul |
| Walking | Three walking days, easy to moderate; the longest about 16 km with some 500 m of ascent |
| Getting around | Uzbekistan's high-speed train: Tashkent to Samarkand in 2 hours 30 minutes, Tashkent to Bukhara in about 4 hours. Tickets are tied to your passport. Read more → high-speed train between Tashkent and Samarkand, a car with driver for everything else |
| Guide | Your guide speaks German (or English or Russian) — included in the price |
| Best time | Mid-April to May and September–October |
Ideal for travellers who spend their holidays walking and want to see Uzbekistan beyond the city walls, and for anyone who knows the classic cities and wants the villages, the mountains and the desert.
Nuratau — a ridge of more than 170 km with Mount Zargar, 2,169 m, as its highest point; the reserve on its northern slopes protects about 1,700–1,800 Kyzylkum argali, a wild mountain sheep.
Aydarkul — a lake that formed after a Syr Darya flood in 1969, nearly 250 km long; since 2008 the Aydar-Arnasay lakes have been a Ramsar wetland of international importance.
Itinerary
Day by Day
Day 1 · Tashkent — Arrival
The flights from Frankfurt and Munich land in Tashkent in the evening. Our driver meets you at the airport and takes you to your hotel.
Good to know: We can arrange fast-track passport control on arrival (on request).
Overnight in Tashkent
Day 2 · Tashkent – Chimgan – Tashkent — A day in the Western Tien Shan
In the morning, about an hour and a half by car to Chimgan in the Ugam-Chatkal National Park. With a mountain guide you walk on the slopes below Greater Chimgan, 3,309 m. The trail and the length of the walk are chosen on the day, by the weather and by your pace; it is a walk of medium difficulty, with a picnic lunch on the way.
In July Chimgan averages 26.2 °C in the afternoon, against 35.9 °C in Tashkent. In the evening you drive back to the city.
Good to know: April is the wettest month at Chimgan: bring a rain jacket and a warm layer in spring.
Overnight in Tashkent
Day 3 · Tashkent – Samarkand — The Afrosiyob and the Registan
A morning transfer to the station and the Afrosiyob high-speed train: 2 h 30 min to Samarkand. Our driver meets you at the station.
With your guide: the Registan, three madrasahs around one square, built between 1417 and 1660; ,Did you know? Timur's tombstone went to Persia and came back The dark-green jade slab on Timur's grave in Gur-e-Amir was carried off by Nader Shah in 1740. It broke, and on his advisers' urging he sent it back to Samarkand. Read more → the mausoleum of ;Amir Timur (Tamerlane, 1336–1405), founder of the Timurid empire, which had its capital in Samarkand. Born near Shahrisabz. and Shah-i-Zinda, the street of tiled mausoleums on the hillside.
Overnight in Samarkand
Day 4 · Samarkand – Nuratau — Into the villages
In the morning, Samarkand's main bazaar, right next to Bibi-Khanym: Samarkand bread, dried fruit, nuts and halva. Read more → next to the :Did you know? 95 elephants hauled stone for Timur's great mosque Bibi-Khanym, begun in 1399 after Timur took Delhi, was the largest mosque of his empire. Some 200 stonecutters worked on site and 95 elephants brought from India hauled the loads; the courtyard was meant to hold 10,000 people. Read more → dried apricots, nuts and fresh bread for the days ahead. Then by car north to the Nuratau ridge.
Your first village is Sentob, or a neighbouring village, depending on where we book your homestay. Sentob lies in a river valley at around 600 m: stone houses behind stone walls, walnut, pistachio and fruit trees. In the gorge below the village, Bronze Age Did you know? Mountain goats carved on rocks thousands of years ago Near the village of Khodjikent, about 70 km from Tashkent, more than 90 petroglyphs line the rocks above the Chirchik River, mostly mountain goats. The finest date from the 4th–3rd millennia BC. Read more → show oxen, deer and archers; a short afternoon walk takes you there.
Dinner with the family you stay with.
Good to know: Homestays have simple rooms, and the washroom is often shared.
Overnight in a village homestay
Day 5 · Nuratau — From village to village
The longest walking day of the tour, with a local guide, on paths and tracks between the valleys. A typical route runs from Sentob past Majrum to Hayat: about 16 km with some 500 m of climbing. Lunch is on the way.
In the evening you reach the next village and the family you stay with for the second night.
Good to know: Carry only a day pack: your main luggage goes ahead by car.
Overnight in a village homestay
Day 6 · Nuratau – Lake Aydarkul — Down to the desert lake
A short morning walk around the village, then the drive down to Aydarkul, which lies about 30 km north of Sentob, in the Kyzylkum.
The afternoon belongs to the lake and the camp. Programmes differ from camp to camp; a typical evening includes a camel ride on the sand, dinner by the fire and the night in a felt yurt.
Good to know: Facilities vary from camp to camp: before you book, we tell you what yours has. Bring a torch and a warm layer for the evening.
Overnight in a yurt camp by Lake Aydarkul
Day 7 · Aydarkul – Nurata – Samarkand — The holy spring on the way back
A morning walk along the shore. Bring binoculars: pelicans, swans and herons are seen over the lake, especially in the spring and autumn migration.
On the way back, the town of Nurata: the Did you know? Legend says Nurata’s spring was born of a falling star Legend says a meteorite fell here and shone with light, and a healing spring rose where it struck — hence Nur, “light”, in the town’s name. The Chashma spring is real enough: it is full of sacred marinka fish that nobody catches. Read more → around a holy spring that stays at about 20 °C all year, with the Juma mosque above it and fish in the water that nobody may catch, and opposite it the ruins of the Nur fortress, which local tradition credits to Alexander the Great. Then on to Samarkand, about 180 km by road from Nurata.
In the evening you can see the Registan lit up.
Overnight in Samarkand
Day 8 · Samarkand – Tashkent — Back to the capital
A free morning in Samarkand, or, if you like, the remains of Did you know? Ulugh Beg measured the year to within 25 seconds Working at his Samarkand observatory, Ulugh Beg put the tropical year at 365 days 5 h 49 min 15 s, about 25 seconds too long, closer than Copernicus a century later. Read more →’s observatory of the 1420s with the arc of its giant sextant. Then the Afrosiyob back to Tashkent.
Our driver meets you at the station. The flights to Frankfurt and Munich leave Tashkent early in the morning, and we plan the evening and the transfer to the airport around yours.
Good to know: Tell us your flight times when you book: we choose the train and the transfer to match.
Accommodation
Where you stay
| Where | Stay |
|---|---|
| Tashkent | A hotel in Tashkent, 2 nights |
| Samarkand | A hotel in Samarkand, 2 nights (days 3 and 7) |
| Nuratau | Village homestays, 2 nights in two villages |
| Lake Aydarkul | A yurt camp, 1 night |
We confirm the hotels, the homestays, the yurt camp and the train tickets for your dates before booking.
Price
Price
The price is given on request: it depends on the dates, the hotels and the size of your group.
Good to know
Conditions
- Citizens of Germany, Austria and Switzerland enter Uzbekistan without a Entry rules depend on your passport. Once you are here, each stay must be registered within three days, and hotels do it for you; customs and registration rules are in our guide. Read more → for up to 30 days, on a passport, not an identity card (rules as of October 2026). We check the current entry rules for your passport before booking.
- Your guide speaks German — this is included in the price. Tell us the language you need when you book.
- Fitness: you should be comfortable walking about 16 km in a day on paths and dirt tracks, with some 500 m of climbing. Bring broken-in walking shoes, poles if you use them, a sun hat, sunscreen and a rain jacket.
- Do not drink tap water or untreated stream water: carry enough bottled water for the day, or a filter.
- Every foreign visitor is registered within three days of arrival; hotels do it at check-in. For the homestays and the yurt camp, we check in advance how registration works there.
- Train tickets go on sale 60 days before departure and are issued to your passport: we need the full name and passport number of every traveller.
- Tell us about your food preferences when you book, and we take them into account when we plan the meals.
- Read before you go: Uzbekistan tours from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, hiking in Uzbekistan and Aydarkul and its yurt camps. Just one night in a village? See our Nuratau Mountains extension.
- 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.
Expert opinion
Pluses
- Three landscapes on foot: the Did you know? Wild walnut and apple forests, now World Heritage Since 2016 the Western Tien-Shan, shared by Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its lower slopes hold wild walnut and apple forests and the wild relatives of apricot, pear and cherry. Read more → at ,Mountains of the Western Tian Shan about 80 km from Tashkent: hiking in summer, skiing in winter, the Charvak reservoir nearby. Read more → the Did you know? The Nuratau ridge protects a rare wild sheep The Nurata Nature Reserve was set up on the Nuratau ridge in 1975 to protect wild walnut groves and Severtsov's argali, an endemic wild sheep on the Red List. Golden eagles and bearded vultures are protected here too. Read more → villages and a desert lake.
- Nights with families: two nights in village homestays and a full day walking between them.
- Fits the flights from Germany: evening arrival on day 1, airport transfer for the early-morning flight after day 8.
Minuses
- Simple nights: village homestays often have a shared washroom, and yurt camps vary in facilities.
- Season: best from mid-April to May and in September–October; too hot for long walks in July and August.
- No Bukhara or Khiva: the week goes to walking, so the only classic city is Samarkand.
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
- 5
- Walking
- Heavy
Walking: Three walking days, easy to moderate; the longest is about 16 km with some 500 m of ascent.
Best time
Apr–May, Sep–Oct
Mid-April to May and September–October: green or golden slopes and comfortable temperatures for full walking days.
Better to avoid
Jul–Aug
July and August: afternoons around 36 °C on the open Nuratau slopes, too hot for long walks.
A typical day
On day 5 you set off after breakfast with a local guide and walk from one Nuratau village to the next, for example from Sentob past Majrum to Hayat: about 16 km on paths and tracks, with some 500 m of climbing and lunch on the way. In the evening you reach the next village, where a family hosts you for dinner and the night.
What the price includes
What is included
- Train tickets: the Afrosiyob Tashkent – Samarkand and Samarkand – Tashkent
- Accommodation: 4 nights in hotels with breakfast, 2 nights in village homestays, 1 night in a yurt camp
- Meals in the village homestays, dinner and breakfast at the yurt camp, a picnic lunch on day 2
- A private car with driver for the airport and station transfers and all drives on the programme
- A guide in your language for the programme, with a local guide for the Nuratau walk
- Entrance tickets on the programme
Not included
- International flights
- Meals and drinks not on the programme
- Extra activities at the yurt camp, such as a camel ride, where the camp charges for them
- Travel insurance that covers hiking
- Tips and personal expenses
- Fast-track passport control at Tashkent airport (on request)
Extra cost on site
- Extra activities at the yurt camp, such as a camel ride, where the camp charges for them
- Tips and personal expenses
Good for
- Travellers who spend their holidays walking and want Uzbekistan beyond the city walls
- Visitors who already know the classic cities and want the villages, the mountains and the desert
- Travellers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland: the first and last days fit the flights from Frankfurt and Munich
Maybe not for you if
- Anyone who wants hotel comfort every night: two nights are in simple village homestays, often with a shared washroom, and one in a yurt
- Travellers looking for high-altitude trekking or summits: the walks stay between about 1,200 and 2,500 m
- Those who want Bukhara and Khiva in the same week: they need a longer trip
Questions about this tour
How much does the tour cost?
The price is given on request: it depends on the dates, the hotels and the size of your group.
Do citizens of Germany, Austria and Switzerland need a visa?
No, for a stay of up to 30 days (rules as of October 2026). You travel on a passport: an identity card is not accepted. Rules can change, so we check the current ones for your passport before booking.
Is there a guide who speaks German?
Yes. Your guide speaks German, and that is included in the price. Tell us the language you need when you book.
How fit do I need to be?
You should be comfortable walking about 16 km in a day on paths and dirt tracks, with some 500 m of climbing. That is the longest day, in the Nuratau; the Chimgan walk is of medium difficulty, and its length is chosen on the day by the weather and your pace.
What are the village homestays like?
Simple rooms in family houses, home cooking, and often a shared washroom. You stay two nights in two villages and walk from one to the other.
How is this different from the Nuratau extension and the High Tashkent expedition?
The Nuratau Mountains extension is one night in a village, added to a classic route. The High Tashkent expedition is four days by jeep around Chimgan, Pskem and Ugam. This tour combines a day at Chimgan, two village nights with a full walking day, a yurt night at Aydarkul and Samarkand in eight days.
Didn’t find your answer? Ask about this tour →
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Arrival, departure, transfers
© Photos
Aydarkul lake seen from the Nuratau ridge — Carpodacus / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0; The Afrosiyob train at Tashkent Central station — Nikolai Bulykin / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
