Six countries, private flights and six nights aboard the Golden Eagle
Begin among Armenian monasteries and finish beneath the mountains of Almaty, travelling through six countries by road, private air connections and the Golden Eagle. Yerevan, Tbilisi and Baku provide an unhurried opening with several nights in each city. The second half turns towards Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand before continuing through Tashkent and Kyrgyzstan.
This sixteen-day passage combines the Caucasus with the great cities of the Silk Road. It includes nine hotel nights and six nights aboard the train, with optional visits kept distinct from the core schedule. The journey is cultural rather than a trekking expedition: expect guided city walks, historic sites, changing cuisines and ample time to enjoy the rail experience between destinations.
Yerevan → Geghard → Garni → Lake Sevan → Dilijan → Tbilisi → Gori → Uplistsikhe → Mtskheta → Baku → Gobustan → Khiva → Bukhara → Samarkand → Tashkent → Issyk-Kul → Almaty
A personal welcome, luggage assistance and coordinated transfers make the arrival straightforward. Your local guiding team explains each touring day and the arrangements for the road, walking and flight sectors in your confirmed journey.
Illustrative branded vehicle; actual transport and airport services are confirmed before travel.
Your private sleeping compartment travels with you for six nights between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The pictured cabin shows the compact arrangement of beds, seating and a table, with en-suite facilities aboard the Golden Eagle. Dining and lounge cars provide additional shared space. Silver, Gold and Imperial categories differ, and the reserved category is confirmed separately.
Your private sleeping compartment travels with you for six nights between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The pictured cabin shows the compact arrangement of beds, seating and a table, with en-suite facilities aboard the Golden Eagle. Dining and lounge cars provide additional shared space. Silver, Gold and Imperial categories differ, and the reserved category is confirmed separately.
This accommodation illustrates the style of stay for your journey. The exact property, room category and availability are confirmed before booking.
Tell us about bedding preferences, dietary needs and mobility requirements before arrangements are finalised. Your team explains meeting points, transfer timings and walking or boarding requirements in advance.
Arrive in Yerevan and transfer to The Alexander for the first of two nights. Early arrivals can choose the introductory excursion to Etchmiadzin Cathedral and its Treasury Museum, followed by Zvartnots and the Tsitsernakaberd memorial. This remains dependent on arrival time rather than a guaranteed full programme after every flight. Otherwise, settle into the hotel and enjoy a gentle beginning in the Armenian capital. In the evening, meet your fellow travellers over a welcome dinner at a local restaurant, opening the journey through the Caucasus and Central Asia.
Leave Yerevan for Geghard, where parts of the monastery are carved directly into the surrounding rock. Continue to Garni to explore the temple and the remains of the fortress, palace and baths, with lunch in the area. The contrast between the two sites gives the day its architectural focus without rushing between distant regions. In the evening, visit Armenia Wine Company for a look at production, the cellars and the wine-history museum. A tasting and dinner complete the experience before returning to the capital for the second night.
Begin at Yerevan’s Cascade and make a short visit to the Cafesjian art collection before leaving the city. Pause for lunch beside Lake Sevan, then continue by coach through Dilijan towards the Georgian border at Bagratashen. The route includes a coffee and brandy stop at Avan Dzoraget Hotel among the wooded hills. Border formalities are part of today’s overland journey, so the final arrival time can vary. Reach Tbilisi in the evening and settle into the Marriott, your base for the next three nights in the Georgian capital.
Discover Tbilisi through Metekhi Church, Sioni Cathedral and Holy Trinity Cathedral, then continue on foot through the Old Town and along Rustaveli Avenue. The walk reveals the city’s mix of religious buildings, balconies and public spaces rather than treating it as a single architectural period. See the Georgian Philharmonia’s Great Hall and, as the programme allows, explore the collections at the Janashia Museum. The day remains based in Tbilisi, giving time to appreciate its streets between visits. Return to the Marriott after the guided introduction to the capital.
Travel to Gori for the Stalin Museum, including the preserved birthplace and private railway carriage. Continue to Uplistsikhe, where chambers and passageways cut into the rock reveal the structure of an ancient settlement above the river. Later, visit Mtskheta, Georgia’s former capital, before returning towards Tbilisi. A private performance of Georgian polyphonic singing brings a different dimension to the day, balancing monuments and difficult twentieth-century history with a living cultural tradition. Expect uneven surfaces at the cave site and take time on the steps and exposed rocky paths.
Visit the Janashia State Museum to see its goldwork collection, then continue through the Old Town to Gabriadze’s Clock Tower, Baratashvili Street and Anchiskhati Basilica. Lunch at a local restaurant concludes the Georgian portion before the transfer for the private flight to Baku. On arrival in Azerbaijan, settle into the Four Seasons for three nights. This is an air connection within the selected journey, not a rail crossing of the Caucasus. The rest of the day follows the flight schedule, allowing a comfortable transition between the two capitals.
Tour Baku’s historic core by vehicle and on foot, including the Maiden Tower, the Shirvanshahs’ Palace and the Synyk-Kala mosque and minaret area. The enclosed lanes offer a contrast with the city’s broad modern waterfront. After lunch, enjoy free time; the Carpet Museum and National Museum are suggested independent choices. In the evening, visit Villa Petrolea, associated with the Nobel family’s role in Baku’s oil industry. A guided visit followed by champagne, canapés and dinner introduces the interiors and history of this restored mansion before returning to the hotel.
Leave Baku for Gobustan to explore the rock-art landscape, where engravings preserve traces of lives far earlier than the city’s oil boom. The visit centres on the archaeological setting and its carved surfaces, with time to understand the imagery through your guide. Lunch overlooks the Caspian before returning to Baku in the afternoon. Choose between free time in the city and the programme’s optional visit to a Zoroastrian temple. Dinner is at the Four Seasons, completing the final hotel night before the journey continues by air to Uzbekistan.
Take the morning private flight from Baku to Urgench, the gateway to Khiva. Explore the old city within its walls, moving between mosques, madrasas, market spaces and minarets. The compact streets invite close attention to carved doors, glazed surfaces and changing rooflines, providing a vivid introduction to Uzbekistan after the Caucasus and Caspian stages. Later, join the Golden Eagle and settle into your cabin for the first of six nights aboard. The journey now changes rhythm, with rail travel linking the next sequence of cities and landscapes.
Explore Bukhara through the Ark fortress, Poi-Kalyan Square and Kalyan Mosque, then walk through the trading domes towards Lyabi-Hauz. The sequence moves from the former seat of power to religious architecture and the sheltered spaces of everyday commerce. Look closely at how brickwork, shade and water shape the old city’s atmosphere. Return to the train after the day’s guided visits. Weather permitting, an evening barbecue is arranged on the station platform before departure, giving the farewell to Bukhara a distinctive setting. Overnight once more in your Golden Eagle cabin.
Spend the day among Samarkand’s great monuments, beginning with Registan Square and continuing to Bibi-Khanum Mosque and Ulugh Beg’s observatory. The visits connect architectural ambition with the city’s history of learning, while the spaces between buildings reveal their extraordinary scale. In the evening, return to the illuminated Registan for the scheduled light presentation. Seeing the square twice allows its colour and proportions to change with the light rather than reducing it to a single stop. Afterwards, return to the Golden Eagle for another night aboard the train.
Tour Tashkent, where broad avenues and rebuilt districts contrast with the narrower streets of the Old Town. The programme includes the library housing the historic Quran manuscript and the Museum of Applied Arts, offering two different introductions to the city’s cultural life. Religious heritage and decorative craft take priority over a long checklist of additional stops. Your guide places the visits within the modern capital’s development, including rebuilding after the 1966 earthquake. Return to the Golden Eagle after the excursions, with the next stage carrying the journey towards Kyrgyzstan.
Enjoy a slower day aboard the Golden Eagle as the route continues through Uzbekistan towards Kyrgyzstan, with border procedures handled according to the operating schedule. There is no city sightseeing circuit today. Instead, join the tour leader’s question-and-answer session and the culinary team’s cooking masterclass, or spend time watching the landscape from the lounge. Meals and conversation provide the rhythm between the more active excursion days. Your cabin remains the base, avoiding another hotel move while the train carries the journey onwards through this part of Central Asia.
Spend an extended day beside Lake Issyk-Kul, with a privately arranged cultural event introducing Kyrgyz traditions. The programme brings together music, dance, costume and crafts with demonstrations that may include archery, horseback wrestling, eagle hunting and ordo. The lakeshore provides a spacious setting for understanding these practices beyond a museum display. Afterwards, choose the optional visit to the outdoor petroglyph collection before returning to the Golden Eagle. The farewell dinner takes place aboard as the train continues overnight towards Almaty, completing the rail portion of the journey tomorrow.
Arrive in Almaty and say farewell to the Golden Eagle after six nights aboard. The city tour includes Panfilov Park and Zenkov Cathedral, introducing a leafy urban setting after the lakeshore and long rail stages. Move to the hotel for the final overnight, with the selected property confirmed in the booking arrangements. Today is the last sightseeing day rather than another overnight train journey. Take time to settle your luggage and reflect on the changing cultures between Yerevan and Almaty before the airport transfer concludes the programme tomorrow.
After breakfast, transfer to Almaty Airport for your onward flight. No additional excursion is scheduled on the departure day, so timing follows your confirmed flight arrangements. The sixteen-day journey has combined hotels in the Caucasus with six nights on the Golden Eagle, using private flights to connect the western stages with Uzbekistan. Keep essential travel documents and flight belongings with you as the final transfer is organised. Any additional stay in Kazakhstan or onward extension is separate from this programme, which concludes with the arranged departure from Almaty.
Recommended months: September–October; journey operates on scheduled train departures
Typical daytime temperatures: Approximately 18–26°C at Baku and Bishkek in September–October; Tashkent 21–29°C
Typical night temperatures: Approximately 6–19°C across these city stops; mountain excursions colder
September–October offers a comfortable seasonal balance across the Caucasus and Central Asia. Typical daytime highs are around 18–26°C at Baku and Bishkek and 21–29°C at Tashkent; nights vary widely, roughly 6–19°C across these stops. Lake and mountain excursions feel colder, especially in October, so bring layers. This rail journey runs on scheduled departures rather than daily throughout the season: the scheduled 2027 departure begins on 30 September. Temperatures are planning averages, not a forecast.
Temperatures are approximate seasonal averages, not a forecast. Final dates, access and local arrangements are confirmed before booking.
