From
$1,925 USD
Karakalpakstan and the Sea That Vanished
Tour overview
The Aral, the Savitsky collection, and all four Silk Road cities
- Trip code
- PT-KKP11
- Days
- 11
- From
- Tashkent
- To
- Tashkent
- Country visited
- Uzbekistan
- Group size
- 2–12
- Min age
- 14+
- Physical
- Guide languages
- 18 languages
Eleven days that put the Aral Sea and the Savitsky avant-garde collection at the front of the classic route, then work back east through Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand.
Most Uzbekistan itineraries treat Karakalpakstan as an optional two-day detour. This one treats it as the reason for the trip.
It opens with the Savitsky museum in Nukus, which holds the second-largest collection of Russian avant-garde painting in the world after the Russian Museum — work that was forbidden under Stalin and survived only because one man carted it to a desert town nobody was watching. Then Muynak, the Ustyurt plateau, and a night in a yurt on the shore of what is left of the Aral, with a sunrise worth the alarm clock.
Afterwards the trip does something the short Aral extensions cannot: it carries on east at a civilised pace, through Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand, so you get the desert and the tilework in the same eleven days.
The Karakalpakstan legs run in Land Cruisers, three to four people per vehicle.
Inclusions & activities
What’s included
Destinations
Tashkent · Nukus · Aral Sea · Khiva · Bukhara · Samarkand
Meals
Breakfast · Lunch · Dinner
Transport
Domestic flight · 4x4 vehicle · Private vehicle · High-speed train
Accommodation
Hotel in Tashkent · Hotel in Nukus · Yurt camp on the Aral shore · Hotel in Khiva · Hotel in Bukhara · Hotel in Samarkand
Included in the price16
- Hotel accommodation on a twin/double sharing basis
- Breakfast every morning at the hotel
- Air-conditioned private vehicle with a professional driver
- Licensed English-speaking guide for all sightseeing
- Entrance fees to every monument named in the itinerary
- 1 litre of bottled water per person per day
- Hotel and city tourist taxes
- Arrival and departure transfers
- 24/7 support from our Samarkand office during the trip
- Domestic flight Tashkent–Nukus, economy class
- 4x4 Land Cruisers in Karakalpakstan and at the Aral Sea
- One night in a yurt camp on the Aral shore
- Two lunches and one dinner
- Local guides in each city, plus an escort guide from seven travellers
- Economy-class train Samarkand–Tashkent
- A map of Uzbekistan and a souvenir for each traveller
Not included11
- International flights to and from Uzbekistan
- Visa fees where a visa is required
- Travel and medical insurance
- Lunches and dinners unless listed as included
- Drinks, including bottled water at restaurants
- Photo and video permits at monuments
- Tips for the guide and driver
- Porterage at airports, stations and hotels
- Personal expenses and anything not listed as included
- Half board — ten lunches, from about $115 per person, available from 7 travellers
- Full board — ten lunches and ten dinners, from about $250 per person
Optional, at local prices9
- Khiva silk museum — 90,000 UZS (~$7) · Interactive weaving and natural dye workshop
- Silk scarf painting masterclass — 380,000 UZS (~$30) · You keep the scarf
- Sunset aperitif on a rooftop terrace — 150,000 UZS (~$12) · Wine or beer with fruit and cheese
- Folk show at the Nodir Devon Begi madrasah — 190,000 UZS (~$15) · Music, dance and costume in the courtyard
- Spiced tea tasting — 90,000 UZS (~$7) · Short stop in the old town
- Cooking class — plov, samsa or manti — 65,000 UZS (~$5) · Available from 7 travellers
- El Merosi historical costume theatre — 315,000 UZS (~$25) · Evening show, about one hour
- Bagizagan winery tasting — 505,000 UZS (~$40) · Local wines and brandy
- Khovrenko winery and museum tasting — 565,000 UZS (~$45) · About 90 minutes
Your contact for this trip
Muzaffar Shermamatov
Founder
“Write to me with any question. I reply within 24 hours and will adjust the route to you.”
Route & itinerary
Tashkent → Nukus → Aral Sea → Khiva → Bukhara → Samarkand
Tashkent
Day 1 of 11
Flight
Day 1 Arrive in Tashkent
Land at night or early morning, transfer and immediate check-in, then breakfast and a short rest. The city: the Hazrati Imam complex with the Barak Khan madrasah, the Kukeldash madrasah and Chorsu bazaar. Lunch, then Independence square, the Navoi theatre square, Broadway and the Amir Timur statue.
Demanding
- Hazrati Imam complex
- Kukeldash madrasah
- Chorsu bazaar
- Independence square
Stay
Hotel in Tashkent
Getting around
Flight · Airport transfer, then a city day
Breakfast included
Flight
Day 2 Tashkent to Nukus
A 05:30 checkout for the 07:15 flight to Nukus, landing at 08:55. Straight into the Savitsky State Museum of Art of Karakalpakstan — the second-largest collection of Soviet avant-garde work anywhere, alongside Karakalpak applied art and archaeology. Then the Mizdakhan necropolis, one of the strangest places in the country: a Zoroastrian-era burial hill where pilgrims still leave stones at the “clock of doomsday”.
Demanding
- Savitsky museum
- Mizdakhan necropolis
Stay
Hotel in Nukus
Getting around
Flight · Flight 07:15–08:55
Breakfast included
Road
Day 3 Nukus to Muynak and the Aral Sea
North to Muynak for the ship graveyard and the Culture House museum, where photographs of the harbour let you put the two states of the town side by side. Lunch in a Muynak guest house, then out along the dried seabed, up onto the Ustyurt plateau for the canyons, and down to the shore. You can swim — the salinity now gives the same lift as the Dead Sea. Dinner and a night in the yurt camp.
Demanding
- Muynak ship graveyard
- Muynak museum
- Ustyurt canyons
- Aral shore
Stay
Yurt camp on the Aral shore
Getting around
Road · About 400 km by 4x4
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner included
Road
Day 4 Aral Sea to Khiva
Up early for sunrise over the water. Down off the plateau to Sudochye lake, once part of the Aral and now a nesting ground for migratory birds including pink flamingos, then south through the Khodjeyli and Kungrad districts. Toprak-Kala, a third- and fourth-century Khorezmian palace-fortress with its own temple, before continuing to Khiva.
Demanding
- Sudochye lake
- Toprak-Kala fortress
Stay
Hotel in Khiva
Getting around
Road · About 330 km by 4x4 and road
Breakfast included
On foot
Day 5 Khiva
Ichan-Kala: the Kalta Minor, the Muhammad Amin Khan madrasah, Kunya Ark, the Islom Khodja minaret from outside, then Tash-Hovli palace, the Muhammad Rahim Khan and Allakuli Khan madrasahs, the Pakhlavan Mahmud mausoleum and the Juma mosque. Also the silk history museum, where the weaving and the natural dyes are demonstrated rather than described.
Demanding
- Ichan-Kala
- Kunya Ark
- Tash-Hovli palace
- Juma mosque
- Silk history museum
Stay
Hotel in Khiva
Getting around
On foot · Walking day inside the walls
Breakfast included
Optional, at local prices
Khiva silk museum · Interactive weaving and natural dye workshop90,000 UZS (~$7)
Silk scarf painting masterclass · You keep the scarf380,000 UZS (~$30)
Sunset aperitif on a rooftop terrace · Wine or beer with fruit and cheese150,000 UZS (~$12)
Road
Day 6 Khiva to Bukhara
The Kyzylkum crossing — 460 km, seven to eight hours through the red sands. Arrive in Bukhara in the evening.
Demanding
Stay
Hotel in Bukhara
Getting around
Road · 7–8 hours, 460 km
Breakfast included
On foot
Day 7 Bukhara
The Samanid mausoleum, Bolo Hauz mosque, the Ark citadel and Chashma Ayub, then the Kalon complex. In the afternoon the Ulugh Beg and Abdulaziz Khan madrasahs, the Magoki-Attori mosque, Lyabi-Hauz, the three covered bazaars and the Nodir Devon Begi madrasah.
Demanding
- Samanid mausoleum
- Ark citadel
- Kalon complex
- Lyabi-Hauz
- Trading domes
Stay
Hotel in Bukhara
Getting around
On foot · Walking day
Breakfast included
Optional, at local prices
Folk show at the Nodir Devon Begi madrasah · Music, dance and costume in the courtyard190,000 UZS (~$15)
Spiced tea tasting · Short stop in the old town90,000 UZS (~$7)
Cooking class — plov, samsa or manti · Available from 7 travellers65,000 UZS (~$5)
Road
Day 8 Bukhara to Samarkand
East to Samarkand, and into it the same afternoon: Registan square, Gur-e-Amir and Bibi-Khanym mosque, with time at Siab bazaar afterwards.
Demanding
- Registan square
- Gur-e-Amir mausoleum
- Bibi-Khanym mosque
- Siab bazaar
Stay
Hotel in Samarkand
Getting around
Road · About 4 hours driving, 270 km
Breakfast included
On foot
Day 9 Samarkand
Shah-i-Zinda, Ulugh Beg’s observatory and the Afrosiab museum, with the ruins of the old city — walls and houses — beside the museum itself.
Demanding
- Shah-i-Zinda
- Ulugh Beg observatory
- Afrosiab museum
Stay
Hotel in Samarkand
Getting around
On foot · Full day, short drives
Breakfast included
Optional, at local prices
El Merosi historical costume theatre · Evening show, about one hour315,000 UZS (~$25)
Bagizagan winery tasting · Local wines and brandy505,000 UZS (~$40)
Khovrenko winery and museum tasting · About 90 minutes565,000 UZS (~$45)
Train
Day 10 Konigil, then the train to Tashkent
Ten kilometres out of town to Konigil, where Samarkand paper is still made from mulberry bark by hand — every stage done without machinery, which is why the paper lasts. Then the Khujum silk carpet factory, where the weaving is entirely hand-knotted. Afternoon train to Tashkent, arriving in the evening.
Demanding
- Konigil paper mill
- Khujum silk carpet factory
Stay
Hotel in Tashkent
Getting around
Train · Train around 16:51–19:17
Breakfast included
Flight
Day 11 Depart Tashkent
Breakfast between 07:00 and 10:00, checkout by noon, and a transfer to Tashkent international airport.
Demanding
Getting around
Flight · Airport transfer, 30–40 minutes
Breakfast included
Tashkent
Day 1 of 11
Read this first
Before you book
Yurt camps are shared: 3–4 people per yurt with washrooms and showers in a separate block, and men and women accommodated separately unless you book the whole yurt. Camps operate roughly from 15 April to 30 October and can close at short notice in bad weather.
The Karakalpakstan section is genuinely remote: long 4x4 days, no facilities between stops, and no mobile signal for hours at a time. It is the best part of the trip and it is not a soft one.
Uzbek railways release seats 60 days before departure and no earlier, so we need full passport details at least 62 days ahead to ticket you. In peak season Afrosiyob seats are occasionally withdrawn for government use; if that happens we move you to the Sharq train or a domestic flight at no extra cost to you.
Before you book
Questions about this trip
Why is the Savitsky museum such a big deal?
Because it should not exist. Igor Savitsky spent the 1960s and 70s buying up Russian avant-garde work that was banned in Moscow and shipping it to Nukus, a closed desert town nobody in the Ministry of Culture was watching. The result is the second-largest collection of that art anywhere in the world, hanging two thousand kilometres from where most of it was painted.
How hard is the Aral section physically?
Two long 4x4 days on rough tracks, a night in a shared yurt with washrooms in a separate block, and an early start for sunrise. There is no walking that is difficult, but the driving is tiring and there is nothing between stops. If you have back problems, tell us and we will seat you in front.
How big is the group?
Never more than twelve travellers. Group departures run from two people; if a date sells beyond twelve, we open a second group with its own guide rather than enlarge the first. On a private tour the group is just your own party.
Is this a private trip or a group departure?
The price shown is for a private trip run for your party alone, on the dates you choose. Where fixed departure dates are listed, you can also join those and share the guide and vehicle with other travellers, which brings the per-person price down.
When is the best time to do this trip?
April to early June and September to early November are the two sweet spots: 20–28°C, clear light on the tilework, and fruit in the bazaars. July and August regularly pass 40°C, so summer departures start earlier and keep the middle of the day for museums and lunch. Winter is cold but empty — Registan without a crowd is worth the coat.
Do I need a visa for Uzbekistan?
Citizens of most of Europe, the UK, Japan, South Korea, Israel, Turkey and much of Latin America enter visa-free for 30 days. Everyone else can apply online at e-visa.gov.uz, which takes two to three working days. Your passport must be valid for six months beyond the date you arrive. We will confirm what applies to your nationality when you book.
Can I join as a solo traveller?
Yes. Solo travellers pay a single supplement for their own room, which we quote with the trip. On group departures we do not pair strangers in a room unless both of you ask us to.
What if I am vegetarian or have allergies?
Tell us when you book. Uzbek cooking is meat-heavy but every restaurant we use can produce good vegetarian food — the salads, breads, pumpkin manti and vegetable stews are excellent — and we brief each restaurant ahead of your arrival. Gluten-free is harder because bread is central, but it is workable with notice.
Payment, date changes and cancellation
- Nothing to pay until 60 days before the start — the booking holds without a card.
- Change your dates free of charge up to 60 days ahead; from day 59, 20% of what you have paid.
- Cancel 60 days or more ahead and nothing is kept.
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Take the itinerary with you
We’ll email you the full day-by-day plan for Karakalpakstan and the Sea That Vanished as a PDF — read it offline, print it, or share it with your travel companions.
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