Forget about minarets and madrasas for a moment — Samarkand holds far more unexpected secrets. This walk is for those who want to see the city beyond the usual postcards.

You will find yourself in Samarkand at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries — elegant and surprisingly European. Here, among the trees and hidden alleys, lie the old mansions of Russian merchants, pre-revolutionary gymnasiums with elegant stucco mouldings, former hotels with the scent of time, and the still majestic palace of the governor-general.

The guide will take you through the streets where Eastern exoticism and the ambitions of architects from St. Petersburg, Warsaw and Moscow merged. You will learn how Samarkand changed under the influence of the empire, how the intelligentsia lived at the turn of the era, and what secrets the neighbourhoods behind the yellow brick facades hold.

This is not a tour of tourist routes, but of elusive memories — where the city becomes especially alive and real. For connoisseurs of urban atmosphere, hidden aesthetics and forgotten stories.

This excursion is not just a walk, but a sensory journey through the aromas, spices and secrets of a real Samarkand feast. You will see the city through the eyes of a gourmet, whose heart skips a beat not only at Registan, but also at the sight of flatbread fresh out of the tandoor.

It all starts at the Siab Bazaar — lively, colourful and fragrant. Here, spices sparkle like jewels, melons smell of sunshine, and samsa sizzles in a hot oven. You won't be able to pass by a single aroma — you'll taste, smell, marvel, and choose sweets as if for a wedding.

Next, there are authentic teahouses where pilaf is not ‘cooked’ but created with respect and knowledge. Where samsa reveals its secret in every flaky bite. Where pomegranate juice, green tea and tart apricots are served with hot dostarkhan as a symbol of hospitality. You will learn how Samarkand pilaf differs from Tashkent pilaf, what is served with the dessert table, and why even simple bread is sacred here.

This tour is about the taste of the city, about what cannot be packed in a suitcase but remains in your heart forever. For those who want to eat Samarkand — slowly, with respect and with love.

Samarkand is not only madrasahs and mausoleums. The true soul of the city lies in its ‘guzars’. Old mahallas, hidden behind low walls, where life flows slowly, like tea from a porcelain bowl, where the morning begins with adras on the balconies and the aroma of flatbread from the nearest tandoor.

You will walk through streets where centuries-old traditions are still alive: in the gestures of craftsmen, in conversations on benches by the teahouse, in the semi-shade of an ancient mosque. Visit places where hurried tourists never set foot — small local markets, caravanserais, old domed mosques and streets where the walls whisper tales.

This tour is not about monuments — it is about living memory. It is about Samarkand as remembered by grandmothers, as no guidebook will show you. This is the perfect walk for those who want to feel the city with their heart, hear the sounds of everyday life, and see the face of Samarkand without makeup and tinsel.

Here, people don't take selfies — they stop to hear how the past breathes in every brick.

The main character of the show will take you to the city's iconic and secret places. You will hear his thoughts, live his life and discover the hidden history of Samarkand.

100 minutes of plot and vivid interactions. An unforgettable experience.

This is a new format of city tourism using immersive technologies. You will be greeted by an administrator, given headphones, and the performance will begin!

Samarkand is not only about the East, spices and domes. It is a city of tolerance, where Muslims, Christians, Jews, Armenians and Catholics have lived and prayed side by side for centuries. Religions do not simply coexist here — they are woven into the fabric of the city, its rhythms, streets and destinies.

You will follow a route hidden from the eyes of most tourists — from the Ruhabad Mosque, where the holy Sufi rests, to the Pokrovskaya Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church, the Armenian Church, the Or Avner Synagogue, and the Alekseevsky Cathedral. And in each of them, you will find not just architecture, but human stories, old photographs, surviving icons, lit candles, notebooks with names and centuries.

The guide will tell you not about the ‘sights’, but about the people who created Samarkand, prayed for its future, preserved their traditions and opened up to others. You will learn how Muslims helped Jews, how the Armenian community influenced trade, how the organ sounded in the Catholic church, and how, here at the crossroads of cultures, an amazing harmony of faiths was born.

This tour is for those who seek depth. For those who believe that the spirit of a city lies in its diversity and ability to listen to one another.

Samarkand is not only stone, but also brush. Not only madrasahs, but also craftsmen who for centuries absorbed the patterns of domes, the warmth of sandy walls and the rhythm of oriental fairy tales, transforming all this into paintings, miniatures and applied art.

This tour is for those who want to look behind the scenes of beauty, where inspiration smells of oil and paints keep the secrets of ancestors. You will visit the real workshops of Samarkand artists, where miniatures on silk are born in silence, ornaments come to life, and pens draw the finest lines, just like a hundred years ago.

You will visit galleries and art spaces where contemporary creativity meets ancient traditions. You will enjoy lively conversations with the masters — modest, talented, and in love with Samarkand — who will show you how they work, what inspires them, and why each ornament is a story told without words.

What's more, this is a rare opportunity to take home not just a souvenir, but a real work of art: a painting, a painted box, a miniature on leather or wood, made by hand and with soul.
The ‘Artists of Samarkand’ tour is a journey into colour, meaning and the people who create art in a city where every sunset is a masterpiece.