Silk Road highlights

2 min summary When to go Map & highlights What is the Silk Road?The history Things to do Small group vacations Tips Responsible tourism All our overland guides

Silk Road map & itineraries

Crossing the border between Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan will take time; they’ll search your luggage, your rucksack and even your pocket for carpets, but it’s all in good faith so keep your cool.

Any tour of the Silk Road will likely involve some short flights, sleeper trains and lengthy travel by road. Unfortunately, most roads are an interesting combination of enormous potholes and tarmac that seems to sort of pyramid in the middle. Driving times are notoriously hard to estimate and speeds are very slow, but fortunately you won’t be taking your own car; your guide will get you where you need to be, so reward them with flexibility and patience.

Give us a call to help with your itinerary

1. Ashgabat
2. Bukhara
3. Dunhuang
4. Kashgar
5. Khiva
6. Mary
7. Nurata
8. Samarkand
9. Tashkent
10. Turkmenistan
11. Urgench
12. Urumqi

Ashgabat

1. Ashgabat

Ashgabat takes ostentatious to a new level. Its mainly marble architecture is big, brash and bright white, flanked only by massive gold statues or austere armed guards of whom it seems there are far more than civilians. The city is a fascinating insight into Turkmenistan’s reinvented present and a stark contrast to its far more modest past.

Ashgabat

Bukhara

2. Bukhara

The most complete example of a medieval city in Central Asia, Bukhara really is a living museum, but one that’s very much alive today – the old city is packed full of ancient Islamic architecture, but families who have lived there for generations fill the atmospheric streets with gossip and energy. Sit and watch from the banks of the Lyabi-Hauz for a snapshot of local life.

Dunhuang

3. Dunhuang

The petrol station of Silk Road times, Dunhuang was once a pit stop for weary traders in need of food and water and impressive remnants of those days still exist in the magnificent Mogao cave temples that sit among towering sand dunes. The oasis town itself is still a worthy stop off for tired travelers with a touristy but tasteful selection of cafes, souvenir shops and markets.

Dunhuang

Kashgar

4. Kashgar

Kashgar is managing to ride the wave of modernity that’s crashing through it and remains, at heart, a Muslim city with a traditional spirit. You will find Uyghur craftspeople sharpening knives and people haggling over apricots. The incredible Sunday market, which draws business from near and far, is as frenetic as it is fascinating.

Khiva

5. Khiva

Khiva is one of those places that grabs your imagination and doesn’t let go. It’s a 14th century heritage site, the ancient mud-walled heart of which is an amazingly well-preserved twist of alleyways, cobbled streets and a sprawling array of mosques, mausoleums and minarets.

Khiva

Mary

6. Mary

Mary, or Merv, is hugely significant historically and consists of a series of adjacent walled towns, each succeeded by one another throughout the course of history and each slightly different and unique in its architecture. Mary’s chequered past is revealed at the brilliant Regional Museum, two floors of archaeology, taxidermy, rotating exhibits and traditional Turkmen art.

Nurata

7. Nurata

Sat in the shadow of flashy Samarkand, Nurata, a city that lies at the base of the scenic Nurata Mountain range, brings you back to nature with a bang. Besides hiking in the mountains, camel trekking and swimming in the nearby Aydarkul Lake, the area is known for its fortress built by Alexander the Great and the Chasma Spring, a revered holy pilgrimage site.

Nurata

Samarkand

8. Samarkand

Samarkand screams grandeur; there is no city more synonymous with the Silk Road’s former majesty and today’s Samarkand has been smartened up accordingly. Once historic quarters have made way for modern, Soviet-style avenues and pristine green spaces, while the Registan, its enormous central square, gleams with polished architecture in gold, turquoise and blue.

Tashkent

9. Tashkent

Uzbekistan’s capital isn’t immediately charming: Soviet rebuilding after a 1966 earthquake scrapped a lot of its authentic architectural ambience and it appears a bit of a jumble with its shiny new capital city HQ in an awkward juxtaposition against a maze of mud-clad houses outside which farmers trundle. Scratch beneath the surface and make the most of its museums.

Tashkent

Turkmenistan

10. Turkmenistan

Ruled by a dictator until 2006 that renamed the months after his own family and banned opera, Turkmenistan was off the tourist radar for some time, but is an underappreciated land of great natural beauty. The Karakum Desert covers 70 percent of its land surface and is home to the breathtaking ‘Door to Hell’, a 230ft cavern of natural gas that has stood ablaze for over 40 years.

Urgench

11. Urgench

Something of a has-been, Urgench’s glory days sit way back in the 16th century and today the city is famed more for its transport links than its cultural value. Scratch the surface though and you’ll find a whole host of interesting ancient remnants including the gates of a caravanserai, a mosque and a 60ft minaret – all testaments to incredible architecture and craftsmanship.

Urgench

Urumqi

12. Urumqi

Urumqi is a bustling business hub of nearly 3 million people that sits in western China’s lofty Bogda Peak. It holds the record for the remotest city in the world, some 2,500km from the nearest sea, and its skyline, a modern puzzle of high-rise homes and skyscrapers, is testament to its position as a rapidly growing marketplace that does business with traders from Shanghai to Sheki.

Our Silk Road Vacations

Travel Team

If you'd like to chat about Silk Road or need help finding a vacation to suit you we're very happy to help.

1-866-821-6866

Call toll free

Calling from outside the USA

rosy@responsibletravel.com

1-866-821-6866

Call toll free

Calling from outside the USA

rosy@responsibletravel.com

Silk Road itineraries

Silk Road western China:
Urumqi > Kashgar > Lake Karakul > Kashgar > Turpan (sleeper train) > Tian Sham Mountains > Gaocheng > Jiayuguan > Dunhuang (sleeper train) > Urumqi

Silk Road Uzbekistan:
Tashken > Urgench/Khiva > Bokhara > Nurata > Samarkand > Tashkent

Silk Road Uzbekistan & Turkmenistan:
Tashkent > Samarkand > Shakhrisabz > Bukhara > Turkmenistan > Mary > Margush > Mary > Ashgabat > Darvaza > Urgench > Dashoguz > Khiva > Tashkent

Travel times along the Silk Road

The following times give you a rough idea of the travel times between the main attractions along the Silk Road.

Urumqi – Kashgar: 4hrs 50mins (flight)

Kashgar – Dunhuang: 48hrs broken (by road, sleeper train, sleeper train)

Tashkent – Khiva: 4hrs 40mins (flight)

Khiva – Bukhara: 13hrs (by road, train)

Bukhara – Samarkand: 4hrs (by road)

Bukhara – Nurata: 7hr 15mins (train, by road)

Mary – Ashgabat: 5hrs 30mins (by road)

More about Silk Road

Best time to visit the Silk Road

The Silk Road stretches from Asia and into Europe so deciding on when to visit the Silk Road will depend on where you’re planning on heading to first.

Silk Road travel guide

Unravel centuries of history on our Silk Road travel guide that leads you through what we rate and what we don’t, and our best and worst of Silk Road vacations, as well as inviting you to read a brief history of the Silk Road as well as tips on food, shopping and languages that you’ll find across the continents.

Things to do along the Silk Road

There are plenty of things to do along the Silk Road to help you get a deeper understanding of the people, the legends and the landscapes of this iconic trading route.

What is the Silk Road

We’ve dedicated this page to answering the question: what is the Silk Road? So all you have to do is read on for enlightenment and learn about the Silk Road in detail before, during or after you set off on your travels.

The history of the Silk Road

If you’re planning on booking a Silk Road tour, it’s a good idea to do your research before merrily packing bags and heading off on the road to nowhere.

Small group vacations on the Silk Road

Central Asia’s cities and mountain foothills were once pivotal to the Silk Road, and today’s journeys along these routes reveal the historic threads that bind them together.

Silk Road travel advice

Getting a few tips from our friends along the Silk Road is always best advice with shopping, road travel, food and packing all covered by our Silk Road travel advice experts Marianne Grimshaw and Linda Maguire.

Silk Road responsible tourism

Understanding human rights and land degradation issues is imperative for approaching Silk Road responsible tourism in the right manner and if you want to know what you can do to help or just want to know how to travel right along the Silk Road then read on as these are issues that matter.

More relevant guides

Written by Polly Humphris

Silk Road highlights