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Silk Road Railway
Travel the Silk Road aboard this exciting new rail adventure from Asia to Europe. From Beijing to Istanbul through the oases of the Taklamakan desert to the fabled cities of Samarkand and Bukhara. Then across the Kara Kum desert and Turkmenistan to the holy city of Mashhad. Iran will surprise and reward every visitor with its warm welcome and the incredible monuments and architecture of Isfahan. And finally aboard the trans-Asia Express to Istanbul gateway to Europe.
Itinerary - Istanbul to Beijing
- 30 days
TURKEY + IRAN + TURKMENISTAN + UZBEKISTAN + KAZAKSTAN + CHINA
Days 1-5. Istanbul - Gateway to the Silk Road Early Silk Road explorers set out from Constantinople to follow the golden road of trade to Central Asia and the distant empire known as Cathay. Today the journey is far more comfortable, but no shorter! Following our time in Istanbul (as Constantinople is now known) we join the trans-Asia Express for our 3-night journey across the breadth of Turkey to the capital of Iran, Tehran. Our comfortable sleeper berths provide a wonderful opportunity to witness the wild and changing landscape as we travel to the lands of ancient Persia. Days 6-10. Incredible Iran Tehran is a busy, crowded metropolis with few historic sights to reward the visitor, however it boasts some excellent museums many housed in former palaces. Our sightseeing includes the excellent National Museum and Palace Museum, while the carpet, coin and ceramics museums offer more specialised displays. We join our overnight train to the beautiful city of Isfahan with its wonderful blue tiled buildings and covered bazaar. Our sightseeing includes the stunning Masjede Emam Mosque, one of Iran's great architectural ensembles, with time to explore the Grand Bazaar and discover some of the cities renowned tea-houses. Reluctantly leaving this incredible city, we climb aboard the train destined for our final stop in Iran - Mashhad. The incredible shrine complex of Emam Reza, the eighth grandson of the prophet Mohammed, is one of the great architectural wonders of the Islamic world, and is said to receive more than 5 million pilgrims each year. Days 11-18. The golden cities of Central Asia - Samarkand & Bukhara Leaving Iran we cross the Kopet Dag mountains to Turkmenistan and its capital Ashghabad. We explore the city before boarding the trans-Caspian railway across the Kara Kum Desert to Bukhara. Once known as holy Bukhara, it was home to more than 2000 mosques, today its monuments are some of the oldest on the Silk Road; the Ark Fortress, Samanid Mausoleum and, spared the destruction of Genghis Khan, the Kalyan Minaret - one of central Asia's tallest. Explore the old town and enjoy one of the many chaikhanas (tea-houses) in Labi-Hauz. Across the Kyzyl Kum Desert lie the fabulous monuments of Samarkand. No city is so evocative of the ancient Silk Road than golden Samarkand, Tamerlane's turquoise-spangled capital. We explore Central Asia's most spectacular
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S m a l l G ro u p J o u r n ey s
1. Turkey Istanbuls remarkable Blue Mosque 2 & 8. Western railway beyond Urumqi and through the Dzungarian gate to Almaty 3. Mosque - Xian Xian the beginning of the ancient Silk Road 4. Samarkand Silk Road monument 5. Tehran An impressive skyline at the base of the Elburz Mountains 6. Isfahan The jewel in the crown of Iranian architecture
7. Local faces of the Silk Road
9. Almaty The amazing Zenkov Cathedral
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