Tashkent with a Samarkand Day Trip, 4 Nights

Tashkent's airport is only a short drive from the centre, and the transfer takes you along wide Soviet-planned avenues. Rooms are usually ready from mid-afternoon. In the evening, walk to Amir Timur Square, where the conqueror sits on horseback among plane trees, with the Timurid history museum under its ribbed blue dome beside it. Broadway, the pedestrian street running off the square, has portrait painters, souvenir stalls and cafés, busy until late on warm evenings.

The old town is the part of Tashkent that survived the 1966 earthquake. At Hazrati Imam, a square of sixteenth-century madrasas and modern mosques, a small library holds a Quran of the seventh century associated with the Caliph Uthman. A short drive away, Chorsu bazaar's dome covers spice, bread and dried-fruit sellers, with the Kukeldash madrasa next to it. In the afternoon, visit the Monument of Courage and the white Minor Mosque, then take a few stops on the metro, where each station is decorated differently.

The early Afrosiyob gets you to Samarkand in about two hours. Start at the Registan: Ulugh Beg's madrasa of the 1420s, Sher-Dor with its tiger-and-sun portal facing it, and Tilya-Kori, whose mosque is gilded inside. Gur-e-Amir, Timur's own tomb, is under a ribbed turquoise dome. Shah-i-Zinda is a lane of mausoleums covered in some of the finest glazed tilework in the Islamic world. Bibi-Khanym mosque and the Siab bazaar fill the afternoon before the train back.

About 80 km north-east, the western Tian Shan rises straight out of the plain. At Chimgan a long chairlift carries you up the slope for wide views of the range. It is a slow, open ride, so bring a jacket. Afterwards, drive down to the Charvak reservoir, a turquoise lake among the mountains. In summer its shore is Tashkent's weekend escape, with boats and jet-skis. It is a restful day after Samarkand, and you are back in the city by evening.

Breakfast, and if the flight is later, an hour at Alay bazaar near the centre for dried apricots, raisins, almonds and halva to take home. Rishtan blue ceramics and suzani embroidery are sold around Broadway and the old madrasas. Keep some Uzbek som for small purchases, since bazaar stalls rarely take cards. The airport is close to the centre, so the transfer is short even at busy times.