The Silk Road in Uzbekistan: Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand in the right order

Why fly to Khiva first?

Khiva is the farthest of the four from Tashkent, and getting there overland takes most of a day. Flying out on the second evening puts the long journey at the start, and every move after it is shorter and heads towards the flight home.

Khiva has no airport of its own. Flights land at Urgench, the regional centre, and the drive from there is short; ask the hotel to send a car. The day in Tashkent before the flight is enough for Amir Timur Square, the domed Chorsu Bazaar, and a ride on the metro, whose Soviet-era stations are worth seeing in themselves.

What is Khiva like?

Stay inside or right beside Itchan Kala, the walled inner town. It is small, enclosed by mudbrick walls, and can be walked end to end, which makes two nights the right length.

• Kalta Minor. The broad, turquoise-tiled minaret that was never finished.
• Juma Mosque. A hall of carved wooden pillars, lit only from openings in the roof.
• Islam Khodja. The tallest minaret in the town, with a view over the flat roofs.

How do you get from Khiva to Bukhara?

By road, across the Kyzylkum desert. It is a long day in a car, most of it through scrubland with the Amu Darya river to one side. Places to stop are few and basic, so carry water and food, and arrange the car through the hotel.

Bukhara is the opposite of Khiva: a living city, not a preserved one. The Kalyan minaret and the mosque and madrasah around it are the centrepiece. Beyond them are the Ark, the old fortress of the emirs; the covered trading domes, still full of shops; and the pool at Lyabi-Hauz, where the evening is spent under the mulberry trees.

How hard is it to get Afrosiyob train tickets?

Hard enough to plan around. The Afrosiyob is the fast train between Bukhara, Samarkand and Tashkent, and it is the most sought-after seat in the country. Tickets are released some weeks ahead on the railway’s own website and app, and popular departures sell out quickly. Find out when sales open for the dates and book then. If the fast train is full, the slower Sharq service runs the same line.

Samarkand, Timur’s capital, earns its three nights.

• Registan. Go in the morning light, and come back after dark when the facades are lit.
• Shah-i-Zinda. A rising lane of tiled mausoleums, and the finest tilework on the route.
• Gur-e-Amir. The tomb of Timur, under a ribbed blue dome.
• Bibi-Khanym and the bazaar. The vast ruined mosque, and beside it Siab Bazaar for dried fruit and bread.

The last train leg returns to Tashkent, with a spare day there before the flight for the Khazrati Imam complex and for packing.

What should you know before you go?

• Registration. Hotels register each guest’s stay and may hand over a slip to show for it. Keep any that are given until after leaving the country.
• Cash. Cards are increasingly accepted in hotels and restaurants that serve visitors, but bazaars, taxis and many entrance tickets are paid in cash. Bring clean, undamaged dollar notes to change, or use the cash machines in the larger hotels.
• Heat and cold. High summer in the desert cities is fiercely hot and winter nights fall below freezing. Spring and autumn are the comfortable seasons.