The Caspian and the Silk Road by Private Train — Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan — 15 Days

You fall asleep to the steady rhythm of the wheels and wake up by different mountains, in a different country, with your cabin already made up for breakfast. This is our most premium product: a journey on a private train across three countries, where the journey itself is part of the experience, not just a way to get from A to B. From the Martian landscapes of Mangystau on the Caspian to alpine Issyk-Kul, this is a route no other form of transport could physically replicate.

Route

Aktau → the Sultan-Epe necropolis → the Ustyurt Plateau → Munayly → Kungrad → Muynak → Khiva → Bukhara → Shakhrisabz → Samarkand → Tashkent → Lake Issyk-Kul → Bishkek.

Why this tour

• Our only route to include Kazakhstan’s Caspian coast and the geological wonders of Mangystau — scenery found nowhere else on any of our itineraries.
• No daily packing and unpacking — you sleep in the same cabin for the whole trip, waking up in a new city each morning.
• Four UNESCO sites (Khiva, Bukhara, Shakhrisabz, Samarkand) plus the Aral Sea and Issyk-Kul — a concentration of sights that’s hard to arrange on your own.
• An onboard doctor and a multilingual tour director — a level of service built for travelers who put comfort first.

Day by day

1. Arrival in Aktau, hotel check-in, a first look at the Caspian coastline.
2. Aktau: the Sultan-Epe necropolis, the otherworldly geological formations of the Mangystau Plateau.
3. Train through the Torysh canyon with its spherical stones and the Sherkala rock formation, on to Kungrad.
4. Drive to Muynak — the “ship graveyard” on the former Aral Sea shore. Drive to Khiva.
5. Khiva to Bukhara by train, the desert giving way to an oasis.
6. Bukhara: the Samanid mausoleum, the Ark fortress, the Poi-Kalyan ensemble.
7. Drive to Shakhrisabz — the Ak-Saray palace, Amir Temur’s birthplace.
8. Drive to Samarkand.
9. Samarkand: Registan Square at sunset, the Gur-Emir mausoleum, the Afrasiyab settlement.
10. Samarkand continued: the Ulugbek Observatory, silk and carpet workshops.
11. Drive to Tashkent.
12. Drive into Kyrgyzstan, to Lake Issyk-Kul — the largest mountain lake in Central Asia.
13. Drive to Bishkek.
14. Bishkek: a city tour against the snow-capped peaks of the Tian Shan.
15. Transfer to the airport, departure.

Cabin categories (placeholder — confirm before publishing)

• Habibi — 4-berth compartment, shared washroom per carriage
• Ali Baba — 2-berth compartment with lower beds
• Aladdin — 2-berth compartment, one shared shower per carriage
• Kalif — 2-berth compartment with a private en-suite bathroom, max 8 guests per carriage

Included (placeholder — confirm before publishing)

• 7 nights on board the train (per chosen category) and 7 nights in hotels
• Meals as per itinerary, excursions and entrance tickets
• Airport and station transfers, a multilingual tour director, an onboard doctor
• Wine tasting

Not included

• International flights, visa fees
• Tips, personal expenses

Confirmed cabin categories, guaranteed departure dates and the final price per category are arranged with your travel consultant at booking.