Programme and details
Uzbekistan · 8 Days / 7 Nights · Private Tour
Sogdiana Unearthed
Tashkent – Samarkand – Afrasiyab – Bukhara – Paykend – Tashkent
Samarkand and Bukhara were the two great cities of Sogdiana, and much of what you see of their early past was dug out of the ground in the last hundred years. In Samarkand, the Franco-Uzbek Archaeological Mission of Sogdiana has excavated the hill of Afrasiyab since 1989; near Bukhara, a Franco-Uzbek mission led by an archaeologist of the Louvre has worked in the oasis since 2009. This private tour follows the diggers: the old city on its hill and the mid-7th-century Ambassadors’ Painting, which went on show at the Louvre in 2022–2023, the 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 → arc found in 1908, the ruins and museum of Paykend, and Bukhara’s monuments with the archaeology beneath them. It is timed to the Tuesday and Friday flights from Paris.
| Duration | 8 days / 7 nights |
| Price | on request |
| Format | Private, or a small group on your dates |
| Where | Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Paykend |
| Getting around | Afrosiyob high-speed trains between the cities, a car with driver for the airport, the stations, Paykend and the sights out of walking distance |
| Guide | Your guide speaks French — included in the price; English or Russian if you prefer |
| Best time | April–May and September–October |
Ideal for travellers from France, Belgium and Switzerland with a week around the spring holidays or a May bridge, for museum and archaeology lovers, and for anyone who saw the Uzbekistan exhibitions in Paris and wants to see the places themselves.
Afrasiyab — the hill where Samarkand stood from about 500 BC until the Mongol conquest of 1220.
Paykend — a Sogdian merchant town about 40 km from Bukhara, on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2023 as part of the Silk Roads: Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor.
Itinerary
Day by Day
Day 1 · Tashkent — Arrival at dawn and the Museum of History
The flight from Paris lands in Tashkent at 05:45. Our driver meets you at the airport and takes you to your hotel, booked from the night before so that you can go straight to bed.
In the afternoon your guide takes you to the State Museum of History of Uzbekistan, the country’s main history collection, reopened in July 2026 after renovation. It is a good overview of the whole story before you see its places one by one.
Good to know: We keep the first day light: the flight is overnight, and the morning is for sleep.
Overnight in Tashkent
Day 2 · Tashkent – Samarkand — The Afrosiyob and the Registan
A morning transfer to the station and the Afrosiyob high-speed train to Samarkand, 2 h 15 min to 2 h 30 min. Our driver meets you at the station.
With your guide in the afternoon: 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 → three madrasahs around one square, built between 1417 and 1660, and ,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. at the end of the day.
Overnight in Samarkand
Day 3 · Samarkand — Afrasiyab and Shah-i-Zinda
The whole day belongs to Afrasiyab, the hill where Samarkand stood from about 500 BC until the Mongols took it in 1220. Your guide walks you over the old city’s ground, where the Franco-Uzbek Archaeological Mission of Sogdiana has excavated with Uzbek archaeologists since 1989.
In the museum on the hill, the Ambassadors’ Painting: wall paintings of the mid-7th century, found in 1965, where envoys from many lands arrive at the court of Samarkand. In the winter of 2022–2023 it left Uzbekistan for the first time, for the exhibition Splendeurs des oasis d’Ouzbékistan at the Louvre.
In the afternoon, Shah-i-Zinda, the street of tiled mausoleums that climbs the southern slope of the same hill. Excavations began here in 1922 and have found mausoleums of the 11th and 12th centuries beneath the later ones.
Good to know: The Afrasiyab Museum is open Monday to Saturday, 9:00 to 17:00, so we never plan this day for a Sunday.
Overnight in Samarkand
Day 4 · Samarkand – Bukhara — Ulugh Beg’s observatory and the train west
In the morning, the observatory Ulugh Beg built in the 1420s. Its sextant had a radius of 40 metres; in 1908 the archaeologist Vasily Did you know? A former teacher found the lost observatory in 1908 After Ulugh Beg's death his observatory was taken apart for its bricks and even its site was forgotten. Vasily Vyatkin, keeper of Samarkand's monuments, traced it through a 17th-century land deed and in 1908 dug up the great marble arc. Read more → found and dug out the buried marble arc, and a small museum beside it explains how it worked.
After lunch, the Afrosiyob to Bukhara, under 2 hours. Bukhara’s station is in Kagan, about 12 km from the old city; our driver meets you there. In the evening, a walk to ,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 → the square around the pond.
Good to know: On request, the morning can go to a tasting at the Bagizagan winery instead (for guests aged 21 and over).
Overnight in Bukhara
Day 5 · Bukhara – Paykend – Bukhara — The merchants’ city
A morning drive of about 40 km south-west to Paykend, which Arab writers called the city of merchants. It grew from a settlement of the last centuries BC, was taken by Qutayba ibn Muslim in 706, flourished again under the Samanids and faded when the water no longer reached it. A joint expedition of the Hermitage and the Institute of Archaeology of Uzbekistan has dug here since 1981, and since 2009 the Franco-Uzbek mission in the Bukhara oasis, led by an archaeologist of the Louvre, has worked in the oasis too.
You walk among the citadel, the town walls and the foundations of its mosque, and the museum next to the ruins shows the finds.
Back in Bukhara in the afternoon, 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 → a 10th-century brick tomb in the park. The archaeologist Vasily Vyatkin dug it out in 1926–1928.
Overnight in Bukhara
Day 6 · Bukhara — The Ark, the sunken mosque and the Varakhsha paintings
In the morning, ,The fortress-residence of the rulers of Bukhara on a high artificial hill: the oldest structure in the city. Read more → the fortress of Bukhara’s rulers on its hill, where archaeologists dug a test pit down to virgin soil in 1979–1980; its restored buildings now hold museums of the Bukhara State Museum-Reserve.
Then down through the 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 → to ,Did you know? Magoki-Attori: a mosque 'in the pit' Magoki-Attori means roughly 'in the pit': even in the 10th century it lay below street level. Beneath it lie remains of a pre-Islamic temple. Read more → one of the oldest mosques in the city: its floor lies about 4.5 metres below the ground around it, and today it is a carpet museum. At Lyabi-Hauz, the Did you know? A caravanserai that became a madrasah by a khan's word Nadir Divan-Begi built his 1622 building by Lyabi-Hauz as a caravanserai. At the opening Imam Quli Khan praised it as a fine madrasah, and a khan's word could not be taken back: a portal and cells were added, and a madrasah it became. Read more → khanaqah holds the museum of Varakhsha and Bukhara ceramics. Varakhsha, the palace of the pre-Islamic kings of Bukhara, was painted in the 8th century with a king riding an elephant and fighting beasts.
In the evening you can have dinner with a local family (on request).
Overnight in Bukhara
Day 7 · Bukhara – Tashkent — Back to the capital
A free morning in Bukhara, then the Afrosiyob back to Tashkent, a little over 4 hours. Our driver meets you at the station and takes you to your hotel.
The evening is free. On request, your guide shows you Tashkent in the evening.
Overnight in Tashkent
Day 8 · Tashkent — Home on the afternoon flight
Our driver takes you to the airport for the flight to Paris, which leaves at 13:55 and lands at Charles de Gaulle at 18:20 the same day.
Accommodation
Where you stay
| City | Stay |
|---|---|
| Tashkent | A hotel in Tashkent, 1 night on arrival (booked from the night before) and 1 night before departure |
| Samarkand | A hotel in Samarkand, 2 nights |
| Bukhara | A hotel in Bukhara, 3 nights |
We confirm the hotels and the train tickets for your dates before booking.
Price
Price
The price is given on request: it depends on the dates, the hotels, the train classes and the size of your group.
Good to know
Conditions
- Citizens of France, Belgium 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 (rules as of October 2026). Travel on a passport valid at least six months after your return. We check the current entry rules for your passport before booking.
- Your guide speaks French — included in the price. Tell us the language you want when you book, the earlier the better.
- 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, and we book as soon as your dates are fixed.
- Tell us about your food preferences when you book, and we take them into account when we plan the meals.
- Flight and train timetables can change: we check them for your dates before we confirm the programme.
- Read before you go: our guides to travelling to Uzbekistan from France, day trips around Bukhara, Shah-i-Zinda and trains in Uzbekistan.
- 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
- Archaeology first: a full day on the Did you know? A 7th-century mural shows envoys from Korea Uncovered by road builders in 1965, the Ambassadors' Painting at Afrasiyab shows delegations bearing gifts, Chinese with silk among them, and two men in feathered hats thought to be envoys from Korea's Goguryeo. Read more → hill with the Ambassadors’ Painting 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 → and a half day at the excavated town of Paykend.
- Fits the Paris flights: you land at dawn on day 1 and fly home on the early-afternoon flight on day 8, with the first hotel night booked from the evening before.
- No long drives: the 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 → takes you between Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara; the longest drive is about 40 km to Paykend.
Minuses
- No Khiva: Khiva and Nukus are a separate five-day tour that can be added.
- A short first day: after the overnight flight, day 1 is only the afternoon museum.
- Sites in the open: Afrasiyab and Paykend have little shade, so we keep them to the morning in the warm months.
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
- 3
- Longest transfer
- 4 h · by train
- Walking
- Medium
Best time
Apr–May, Sep–Oct
April–May and September–October, including the French spring school holidays and the May bridges: comfortable weather for the open sites of Afrasiyab and Paykend.
Better to avoid
Jul–Aug
July and August: afternoons of 35–37 °C, and the excavated sites have little shade.
A typical day
On day 5 you drive about 40 km south-west of Bukhara to Paykend, the Sogdian city of merchants. Your guide walks you among the citadel, the town walls and the foundations of the mosque, and the museum beside the ruins shows the finds. After lunch, back in Bukhara, the 10th-century Samanid Mausoleum, dug out of the earth in 1926–1928. The night is in a hotel in Bukhara.
What the price includes
What is included
- Train tickets: the Afrosiyob Tashkent – Samarkand, Samarkand – Bukhara and Bukhara – Tashkent
- Accommodation: 7 nights in hotels with breakfast, including the night before your dawn arrival
- A private car with driver for the airport and station transfers, the drive to Paykend and the sights on the programme
- A local guide in your language in every city on the programme: French, English or Russian
- Entrance tickets on the programme, including the Afrasiyab Museum and the Paykend museum
Not included
- International flights
- Meals and drinks not on the programme
- Dinner with a local family in Bukhara, the Bagizagan tasting and the evening in Tashkent (on request)
- Photo and video fees at the sites
- Tips and personal expenses
Extra cost on site
- Photo and video fees at the sites
- Tips and personal expenses
Good for
- Travellers from France, Belgium and Switzerland with a week around the spring school holidays or a May bridge
- Museum and archaeology lovers who want to see the excavated sites, not only the famous squares
- Those who saw the Uzbekistan exhibitions in Paris in 2022–2023 and want to see the places themselves
Maybe not for you if
- Travellers who want Khiva in the same week: it adds days, and our Karakalpakstan tour covers it with the desert fortresses
- Those who expect to take part in a dig: you visit the sites and museums, not working excavations
- Those who prefer beach and resort holidays to long walking days at sites and in museums
Questions about this tour
How much does the tour cost?
The price is given on request: it depends on the dates, the hotels, the train classes and the size of your group.
Do citizens of France, Belgium and Switzerland need a visa?
No, for a stay of up to 30 days (rules as of October 2026). Travel on a passport valid at least six months after your return. Rules can change, so we check the current ones for your passport before booking.
Is there a French-speaking guide?
Yes. Your guide speaks French, and that is included in the price. Tell us when you book, the earlier the better.
How does the tour fit the flights from Paris?
In the winter timetable 2026/27 Uzbekistan Airways flies from Paris-Charles de Gaulle on Tuesdays and Fridays, landing in Tashkent at 05:45, and the return leaves Tashkent at 13:55. Tuesday to Tuesday or Friday to Friday makes the eight days of the tour. You book the flights; we plan the programme around them and book your first hotel night from the evening before.
Will we meet the archaeologists or see a dig?
The tour visits the sites and the museums where the finds are shown, with a local guide; it does not include meetings with the expeditions or visits to working excavations.
Can we add Khiva and the Savitsky Museum?
Yes. Our five-day Karakalpakstan tour adds Khiva, the desert fortresses of Khorezm and the Savitsky Museum in Nukus, which keeps the finds of the Khorezm expedition. Tell us your flight dates, and we combine the two.
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.
Add a few days
Arrival, departure, transfers
© Photos
Afrasiyab ancient settlement, Samarkand — Akhemen / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0; The 7th-century Ambassadors' Painting in the Afrasiyab Museum, Samarkand — Nassima Chahboun / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0; The Afrosiyob train at Tashkent Central station — Nikolai Bulykin / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
