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railtour suisse · Escorted tour

Orient Silk Road Express: Tashkent - Almaty or v.v.

15-day escorted Silk Road rail journey, Tashkent to Almaty

Illustration of Orient Silk Road Express: Tashkent - Almaty or v.v.

The Orient Silk Road Express is a 15-day escorted rail journey operated by Railtour Suisse across four Central Asian countries: Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. The trip begins with a flight from Switzerland to Tashkent and ends in Almaty, or runs the reverse direction, with the Orient Silk Road Express train carrying travellers along the historic Silk Road route in between. Days are anchored to named stops rather than travel time alone, moving from the desert cities of Khiva and Bukhara to Dushanbe, Samarkand, Bishkek, and Lake Issyk-Kul before reaching Kazakhstan. The operator describes the route as reaching places either absent from other travel itineraries or otherwise accessible only by a far more difficult route. This trip suits history-minded travellers and independent explorers who want an escorted train journey through a part of the world with limited standard tourist infrastructure, rather than a relaxed, resort-style holiday.

What to know before you look closer

  • The journey begins and ends with a flight between Switzerland and Tashkent, so it is not rail travel from door to door.
  • The evidence gives day titles for the 15-day itinerary but no detail on hotels, train class, or which days are spent on the train versus in each city; confirm these details with Railtour Suisse before booking.
  • Some day titles in the evidence, such as "Time travel" and "On the Silk Road", are not detailed further, so the exact activities on those days are unclear.

Day by day

  1. Day 1

    Flight Switzerland-Tashkent (Uzbekistan)

  2. Day 2

    Tashkent

  3. Day 3

    Tashkent

  4. Day 4

    Khiva (Uzbekistan)

  5. Day 5

    Bukhara (Uzbekistan)

  6. Day 6

    Bukhara

  7. Day 7

    Time travel

  8. Day 8

    Dushanbe (Tajikistan)

  9. Day 9

    Samarkand (Uzbekistan)

  10. Day 10

    Samarkand

  11. Day 11

    On the Silk Road

  12. Day 12

    Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan)

  13. Day 13

    At Lake Issykkul (Kyrgyzstan)

  14. Day 14

    Almaty (Kazakhstan)

  15. Day 15

    Return journey

The moments this trip is built around

  • Day 4The journey reaches Khiva in Uzbekistan.
  • Day 5The train arrives in Bukhara.
  • Day 9The route continues to Samarkand.
  • Day 13The journey stops at Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan.
  • Day 14The train arrives in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Questions travellers ask

How much does it cost?
From CHF 4,665 per person, the operator's advertised from-price, read on its own page on 12 Sept 2026. About $5,722 at ECB reference rates. Departures, room types and dates can price differently; the operator's page is the final word.
Is the train travel included?
Yes, the Orient Silk Road Express runs between Tashkent and Almaty (or vice versa) as part of the 15-day itinerary, though the outbound and return legs to Switzerland are by flight.
Is it escorted or independent?
It is an escorted tour.
Which countries does the route cross?
The itinerary crosses Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan, with stops including Tashkent, Khiva, Bukhara, Dushanbe, Samarkand, Bishkek, Lake Issyk-Kul, and Almaty.

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