Uzbekistan Culinary Tour

Meet at the airport. Transfer and check-in at the hotel. Breakfast.

Sightseeing in Tashkent: Khast-Imam Square, Barak-Khan Madrasah, Kafal-al-Shashi Mausoleum, Kukeldash Madrasah.

Lunch at the Central Asian Plov Centre, where genuine Tashkent plov is cooked in huge cauldrons. There you can see the whole process of cooking from roasting meat to laying vegetables, spices and rice.

Continuation of the sightseeing: the oldest bazaar of Tashkent “Chorsu”, Independence Square, Amir Temur Square.

Dinner in the Uighurian cafe, where you will taste the Uighurian lagman, a dish made of meat, vegetables and pulled long noodles.

Overnight at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel

Transfer to Khayat village in the Nurata Mountains. Visiting Jizzakh on the road. Lunch at a local chaykhona (traditional teahouse, café) – sampling the famous Jizzakh samsa pasties and shurpa soup.

Samosa is puff baked pastries with inimitable flavor and taste of the East. It is baked traditionally in a clay oven (tandoor) over coals. Shurpa is a rich Uzbek soup with meat, vegetables and fresh herbs, incredibly fragrant and beautiful.

Accommodation in a guest house run by local people upon arrival in Khayat village. A walk to the neighbourhoods of Upper Khayat village and along the Khayat River valley; acquaintance with the life of locals; a visit to ruins of an old village and a nursery for breeding Severtsov’s argali.

Dinner – roast lamb cooked over a campfire with oriental spices. You can taste such tender and tasty mutton only in Uzbekistan. Master class on baking Uzbek flatbread.

Overnight at the guest house.

Breakfast at the guest house.

Transfer to Samarkand, probably the best-known Uzbekistan’s historic city. Over 2,750 years of age, it has a rich history and boasts world-famous masterpieces of medieval Islamic architecture, most of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Accommodation at the hotel upon arrival. Lunch in a chaykhona, tasting delicious Samarkand shish kebab. Uzbek barbecue is always very juicy and fragrant, we recommend eating it with freshly baked Uzbek bread and pickled onions.

Start of sightseeing in Samarkand Gur-e Amir Mausoleum – necropolis of the Timurids.

Visiting old winery named after Khovrenko and tasting Uzbek wines and cognacs.

Dinner at a national guest house, a culinary master class and tasting of manti (with lamb, pumpkin, potatoes) – an authentic Uzbek dish that has the form of large dumplings filled with meat and steamed in a special pot. Manti is a popular dish found in many regions from Mongolia to Turkey. Uzbekistan has been in the centre of historical events, being part of the Silk Road for many centuries. So active trade and caravans from different countries could not help but leave their mark, including in the gastronomic traditions of this region.

Overnight at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel

Sightseeing in Samarkand: the most impressive square in the entire Central Asia – the Registan Square (Madrasah of Ulugbek, Sher-Dor Madrasah, Tilya-Kori Madrasah); Bibi-Khanym Mosque, Siab bazaar. Lunch at the Panjab Plov Centre and Samarkand plov tasting.

Transfer to the Bagizagan winery located in the village of Bagizagan, 25 km from Samarkand. Five generations of winemakers have been growing grapes in the valley of the Zarafshan River, and today Bagizagan produces some of the best wines and cognacs in Uzbekistan. Tour of the winery and grapevine plantations, familiarization with the wine production process. Wine degustation in a basement sampling room. Return to Samarkand.

Continuation of the sightseeing architectural ensemble Shah-i-Zinda, Ulugbek Observatory.

Dinner at a restaurant: tasting of national Uzbek dishes mastava (mastoba) and khanum. Mastava is a delicious rich rice soup with vegetables cooked in meat broth. Khanum is a steamed flour dish stuffed with minced meat or potatoes.

Overnight at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel

Transfer to Bukhara via Gijduvon, the craft center of Uzbekistan, which has been famous for its beautiful, original ceramics since ancient times. Visiting the pottery workshop of the Narzullaev. Master class of pottery in a ceramic workshop, creating of unique ceramic products on a potter’s wheel under the guidance of an experienced craftsman.

Lunch at the workshop with tasting of Gijduvan kebabs and tandoor kabob (meat baked in tandoor oven).

Transfer to Bukhara, one of the world’s oldest cities and one of the seven holy cities of Islam. It is over 2,500 years old, and seems to be emanating the breath of history. The city was a large political and religious center in the Middle Ages with over 350 mosques and 80 madrasahs (Islamic colleges), many of which survive. The historic center of Bukhara is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Sightseeing in Bukhara Lyab-i Hauz Architectural Ensemble, Kukeldash Madrasah, Nadir Divan-Begi Madrasah, domed shopping arcade.

Dinner at a national house, where you will taste Uzbek dish – damlama. Damlama is a dish of various vegetables and pieces of meat that are stewed for a long time in their own juice over low heat, so it turns out to be very tender and juicy.

Overnight at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Sightseeing in Bukhara: Mausoleum of Samanids, Chashma Ayub Mausoleum, Bolo-Khauz Complex, Ark Citadel, Po-i-Kalyan Complex. Lunch at a chaykhona, where you will enjoy amazing taste of shurpa balaza (soup with peas) and dolma (minced meat wrapped in grape leaves, which is cooked in a small amount of broth).

Continuation of the sightseeing: Abdulaziz-Khan Madrasah, Ulugbek Madrasah, Bukhara Gold Embroidery Factory.

Visiting the “Silk Road Spices” teahouse: tasting teas prepared from herbs and spices, and traditional Bukharan sweets as a dessert.

Dinner at a national house, master class on cooking Alat samsa.

Overnight at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Visit out-of-city sights of Bukhara: Sitorai Mohi Khosa -summer country residence of Bukhara last emir (ruler) and Bakhautdin Naqshbandi Complex, Chor-Bakr Necropolis.

Lunch at the Chor-Bakr chaykhona – the tenderest lamb, cooking for several hours over low heat in a wood-fired oven.

Transfer back to Bukhara.

Dinner at National house: master-class on cooking Bukharian plov.

The cooking technology of the Bukharian plov, certainly, differs from all other recipes. Almost all the components of the Bukharian plov are cooked separately, and then put in layers into a special copper cauldron, where the plov is finished. A professional oshpaz (a cook specializing in plov cooking) will reveal culinary secrets, and show how to cook authentic Bukharian plov.

Dinner with tasting of Bukharian plov at the national house.

Overnight at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Transfer across the famous Kyzyl-Kum desert and along the Amudarya River Lunch en route – lunch-boxes.

Arrival in Khiva. Leisure time.

Visiting the souvenir shops and workshops.

Master class on cooking traditional Uzbek bread (Khivan flat loaves/lepeshka) at Zaynab’s National house.

Overnight at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Sightseeing in Khiva (Ichan-Kala, the walled inner town of the old Khiva oasis and State Museum-Reserve protected as a World Heritage Site): Kunya-Ark Fortress, Islam Hajja Madrasah & Minaret.

Lunch at Zeravshan’s National house, where guests will taste Khorezmian dish – tukhum-barak, dumplings with the filling of raw eggs with spices.

Continuation of sightseeing in Khiva: Tash Khauli Palace, Juma Mosque, Muhammad Amin-khan Minaret & Madrasah, Pakhlavan Mahmud Complex.

Dinner at the local national house and taste the Khorezmian emirs dish – shivit oshi (green pasta).

Overnight at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to the airport in Urgench. Departure by Turkish Airlines.