Not to miss

Bukhara

With buildings spanning 1000 years of history and a stoic, thoroughly lived-in city centre, Bukhara is one of the best places in Central Asia to catch a glimpse of pre-Russian Turkestan. The mausoleum of Ismail Samani, the town's oldest structure (AD 905), is one of the most elegant in Central Asia.

After Samarkand's luminous blue mosaics, Bukhara's universal brown is a bit of an optical anti-climax. But it's all a bit trivial when you consider that most of the city centre is an architectural preserve of massive royal fortress, ancient structures and the remnants of a once-vast market complex.

There are over 140 protected buildings in the city, but the pick of the sights are Labi-hauz, a 17th-century plaza built around a pool; three domed bazaars; and the 12th-century, 47m (154ft) high Kalan minaret, once the tallest building in Asia.

Although certain carpet designs originated here, the famous Bukhara rugs so highly regarded in the West are actually made in Turkmenistan, which was once part of the Bukhara khannate. They may not make scintillating carpets, but the locals are much friendlier than residents of Samarkand and Tashkent, something which may equal the pull of the sights if you've been in Uzbekistan for any length of time.

Samarkand

No name evokes the romance of the Silk Road as much as Samarkand. The sublime larger-than-life monuments commissioned by Timur (Tamerlane), the technicolour bazaar and the city's long, rich history work a special kind of magic. However, outside the historical core, only a bland, sprawling, Soviet-style city remains.

Almost everything of interest is in the sun-dried old town, whose layout has remained unchanged for centuries. One of Central Asia's most awe-inspiring sights is the Registan, an ensemble of majestic, tilting medressas with an overload of majolica, azure mosaics and vast, well-proportioned spaces.

The gigantic congregational Bibi-Khanym Mosque nearby is powerful and shapely, even in ruin, and was the jewel of Timur's empire. It's a victim of its own grandeur, since it was once one of the Islamic world's biggest mosques and pushed construction techniques to the limit; slowly crumbling for centuries, it finally collapsed in an earthquake in 1897.

The most moving of Samarkand's sights is Shahi-Zinda, a street of tombs mostly belonging to Timur and Ulughbek's family and favourites, including one said to be that of a much revered cousin of the prophet Muhammad. Though disfigured by donation boxes, the tombs are decorated with some of the city's finest majolica tilework.

Bakhautdin Naqshband Mausoleum

This is one of Sufism's more important shrines. It is the birthplace and tomb of Bakhautdin (or Bakha ud-Din) Naqshband, the 14th-century founder of the most influential of many ancient Sufi orders in Central Asia, and Bukhara's unofficial 'patron saint'.

The huge main dome of the complex covers a 16th century khanaka. Beside it is a precariously leaning minaret and a courtyard with two old mosques, lovingly restored since independence. The tomb itself is a simple 2m (6ft) high block in the courtyard. Tradition says that it is auspicious to complete three anticlockwise circuits of the tomb. Also here are a small museum and restaurant, and outside the complex are chaykhanas and hostels for pilgrims. The entire village is a place of pilgrimage; in fact the usual first pilgrim stop is the tomb of Bakhautdin's mother, just north of the complex.

Bukhara

Central Asia's holiest city, Bukhara (on road signs you'll see the Latinised Uzbek word Buxoro, pronounced Buhoro) has buildings spanning a thousand years of history, and a thoroughly lived-in old centre that probably hasn't changed much in two centuries. It is one of the best places in Central Asia for a glimpse of pre-Russian Turkestan.

Most of the centre is an architectural preserve, full of former medressas, a massive royal fortress, and the remnants of a once-vast market complex. Allow at least two days to look around. If you're short on time, at least see Lyabi-Hauz, the covered markets, the Kalon Minaret and Mosque, the mausoleum of Ismail Samani and the unique little Char Minar.

Khiva

Khiva (Uzbek: Hiva) is an odd place. Its historic heart, unlike those of other Central Asian cities, is preserved in its entirety - but so well preserved that the life has almost been squeezed out of it. As a result of a Soviet conservation program in the 1970s and 80s, it's now a squeaky-clean official 'city-museum'.

Even among its densely packed mosques, tombs, palaces, alleys and at least 16 medressas, you need imagination to get a sense of its mystique, bustle and squalor.

A few of the historic buildings in Ichon-Qala are functioning mosques or shrines, but most are museums. You can see it all in a day trip from Urgench, but you'll take it in better by staying longer. Morning and evening are the best times, and there are several decent places to stay. Khiva is at its best by night when the moonlit silhouettes of the tilting columns and medressas, viewed from twisting alleyways, work their magic.