Our driver meets you at Tashkent airport and takes you to your hotel. The airport is inside the city, so the drive is short. Rest after the flight.

In the late afternoon your guide takes you underground. The Tashkent metro opened in 1977, the first in Central Asia, and every station has its own theme. At Alisher Navoi, domes rest on tapered columns, and turquoise ceramic reliefs show scenes from the poems of Navoi. At Kosmonavtlar, opened in 1984, the walls darken from blue to black, glass stars run along the ceiling, and ceramic medallions show Ulugh Beg, Gagarin and Tereshkova. It is the only metro station on the UNESCO list. One fare covers the whole ride, and photography is allowed.

From Kosmonavtlar it is a short walk to Amir Timur Square, with the equestrian statue of Timur, the Amir Timur Museum on its south side and the modernist Hotel Uzbekistan facing it from the east.

Good to know: If your flight lands late, we move the metro to day 2.

Overnight in Tashkent

Start early, before the heat. The Hazrati Imam complex grew around the tomb of Abu Bakr Kaffal Shashi, a 10th-century scholar whom Tashkent honours as its patron saint. Around its big square stand the 16th-century Barakhan madrasa, the Tillya Sheikh mosque and the Hazrati Imam mosque. Next door rises the much bigger dome of the Center of Islamic Civilization, opened in March 2026.

Then Chorsu Bazaar, under a blue dome of 1990: spices, dried apricots, raisins, nuts, bread and kurt, small balls of salted dried yoghurt. At the edge of the bazaar stands the Kukeldash madrasa of about 1570. Chorsu is Persian for “crossroads”.

In the afternoon, a short look at modernist Tashkent. In July 2026 UNESCO added ten buildings of the city to the World Heritage List, the Chorsu dome and Kosmonavtlar among them. Your guide shows you two more: the State Museum of History of 1970, a cube hidden behind sun screens of whitish-pink marble, and the State Circus of 1976, whose turquoise dome is often compared to a flying saucer.

Good to know: Hazrati Imam is a working religious site: cover shoulders and knees, and women bring a scarf. The bazaar is cash only, in som.

Overnight in Tashkent

A transfer to Tashkent airport and the flight to Bishkek, a little over an hour; Kyrgyzstan is on UTC+6, one hour ahead of Tashkent. At the airport your guide and driver meet you, and you drive straight on to the Chunkurchak gorge, about 40 km south of the city: an hour to an hour and a half. On the way you can stop for a light lunch.

You settle into your yurt, and the rest of the afternoon is free for a walk along the gorge. Then archery, an old pastime of the nomads: an instructor shows you how to hold the bow, and everyone can have a go.

In the evening, dinner in the yurt restaurant of the complex.

Good to know: At around 2,200 m the nights are cool even in summer: bring a warm layer.

Overnight in a yurt with its own bathroom, Chunkurchak gorge

After breakfast the group can split up, and each of you spends the day on what you like most:

On horseback. A ride along the gorge and up to the summer pastures with an instructor who picks a horse to suit you.

With a naturalist. A half-day walk with a guide who knows the plants and animals of the gorge; Chunkurchak is a botanical reserve.

Into the mountains. A full day on a mountain route with a guide, who sets the route on the day by the weather and the snow.

Everyone takes a packed lunch from the camp. In the evening you meet again and tell each other about your day over dinner.

Good to know: Tell us in advance who chooses what: we book the horses, the instructor and the guides for you, and add them to your quote.

Overnight in the Chunkurchak gorge

After breakfast you drive down towards Bishkek. On the way, the Lower Ala-Archa reservoir: when it was filled in 1965, part of a forest went under water, and in spring the trees stand in the water up to their branches. You glide between them in a canoe.

Lunch by a fish pond, then on to Bishkek. You check in at your hotel, and the evening is free.

Good to know: The canoe trip depends on the weather and the water level on the day; the trees stand deepest in the water in spring and early summer.

Overnight in Bishkek

After breakfast, a walk in the centre with your guide. Ala-Too Square is the main square of the city, with the State Historical Museum and an equestrian statue of Manas, the hero of the Kyrgyz epic. A short walk away, another monument to Manas stands in front of the Philharmonic.

Then the Osh Bazaar, one of the largest markets in Bishkek: fruit and spices, and in its crafts rows felt, carved wooden chests and traditional clothes.

After lunch you set off for Almaty. The road takes several hours and crosses the border at Korday, a crossing open around the clock. You go through passport control on both sides, and in Kazakhstan a local car and driver take you on to your hotel in Almaty. Kazakhstan is on UTC+5, the same time as Tashkent, so your watch goes back an hour.

Good to know: If you would rather fly from Bishkek to Almaty, we book the flight on request and plan the day around it.

Overnight in Almaty

After breakfast, Panfilov Park in the centre of the city. In the middle of it stands the Ascension Cathedral, built of wood in 1904–1907; the architect Andrei Zenkov led the work, and locals still call it the Zenkov Cathedral. It is 56 m high and came through the earthquake of 1911 with little damage. You see it from outside, as a monument of architecture. In the same park is the carved wooden building of the Museum of Kazakh Folk Musical Instruments.

Then up into the gorge to Medeu, at 1,691 m. The high-mountain skating rink opened here in 1951, and in winter its ice is open to skaters. From Medeu a gondola runs for about 4.5 km up to the Shymbulak ski resort, at about 2,260 m, with a wide view of the peaks.

In the evening, Kok-Tobe, a hill on the edge of the city with a park and viewpoints: from the top the whole of Almaty lies below you as the lights come on.

Good to know: For a few weeks a year, between seasons, the lifts at Shymbulak stop for maintenance; we check the dates for your trip. Up there it is much cooler than in the city, so take a warm layer.

Overnight in Almaty