Private tour — price per person depends on group size:
| 1 traveler | $110 / person |
| 2 travelers | $65 / person |
| 3 travelers | $45 / person |
| 4 travelers | $35 / person |
A short, rich day out from Samarkand — the kind of trip that locals do, not tourists.
In Urgut, the open-air bazaar (busiest on Sundays and Wednesdays) sells silk and wool carpets, suzani embroideries, kalpak hats, fresh produce and old Soviet curiosities. Less polished than Samarkand's Siab Bazaar — and much more authentic.
On the way back, stop at Konigil village on the edge of Samarkand to visit the working Meros paper mill — a modern revival of the traditional Samarkand papermaking craft, where mulberry bark becomes paper by hand at a water-powered mill.
The day finishes nearby at the silk carpet factory, where weavers knot silk carpets by hand on traditional looms and dye the threads with plants and minerals. You are welcome to look around the showroom — there is no obligation to buy.
Morning pickup at 08:00 from your Samarkand hotel in a private air-conditioned vehicle, then a one-hour drive south-east to Urgut.
A full two hours at Urgut bazaar while it is still at its morning best — carpets, suzani, kalpak hats and produce, with no fixed route and no rush.
Then back past Samarkand for the Konigil paper mill and the silk carpet workshop next door, on the eastern edge of the city.
Door-to-door drop-off at your hotel around 2:30 PM, leaving the rest of the day free.
Pickup from your hotel. Drive south-east through suburbs and farmland to Urgut (~40 km).
A working bazaar — busiest on Sundays and Wednesdays — selling carpets, suzani, kalpak hats, produce, spices, and Soviet-era curiosities. Morning is when the bazaar is at its liveliest.
Drive back past Samarkand to Konigil village on the Siab river (~55 km).
Watch master craftsmen turn mulberry bark into paper at a working water-powered mill — a modern revival of the famous Samarkand papermaking tradition.
Short hop across the eastern edge of Samarkand to the Hudjum silk carpet workshop, near Shah-i-Zinda.
Watch weavers knot silk carpets by hand on traditional looms, and see the natural dyeing process — from silkworm cocoon to finished carpet.
Short return drive into the city. Door-to-door drop-off at your hotel around 2:30 PM.
Shahrisabz is the "green city" in Farsi, located 90 km south of Samarkand. The picturesque Tahtaqaracha pass is on the way.
Experience nomad life in the Kyzylkum Desert and sleep in a traditional yurt.
If you want to feel the rural life of Uzbek people, the remote villages of the Jizzakh region are the best option.