Wow. What can I say about this, my 2nd trip with HTG in the space of 2 months. Uzbekistan stole my heart, I was mesmerised by the sights and the experience. The tour guide was such a laugh and kept us all entertained, hotels were amazing and again I met some lovely people and made more friends for life. Soumaya kept in touch with us during the trip to make sure everything was okay, which was appreciated. Honestly, if you're hesitating then book the trip to Uzbekistan, it's an amazing place full of so much Islamic history, fascinating facts and mind blowing sights. You'll make the most amazing memories and nourish your soul. And you'll love looking through the beautiful photos, while you wait for your next trip! Thanks HTG for a trip of a lifetime 💕

What can I say, this was my first trip with HTG (I booked three trips at once-Bosnia, Uzbekistan and Andalusia) and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I met some lovely ladies and have made friends for life. Thanks to Soumaya and the HTG team for delivering such an awesome trip, I was in awe of the natural wonders of Bosnia-Herzegovina, including waterfalls, mountains, rivers, gorges, and so much Islamic heritage and history which is the main reason I travel for.

This is the first time I travelled with HTG, having previously used another well-established, international group travel company. Overall, I think the intent behind the tour and themes had a lot of promise and were the reasons I was attracted to HTG but unfortunately I didn’t feel the itinerary was executed well. But please note, I did enjoy many of the places we went to and would highly recommend Uzbekistan to any travellers. Detailed feedback below. 1. Hotels - the Tashkent and Bukhara hotels were good but I was disappointed with the other accommodation - particularly Khiva and the Yurt camp. Khiva was extremely basic, although thankfully clean and in a good location. Given the price for the tour in comparison to other companies, I expected a better standard of hotels. The yurt camp (Oxus Adventures) was awful, the bedding looked unclean, we didn’t get given blankets and basically froze the whole night. Bathroom was outside and the camp’s guard dog kept barking whenever we opened our door so we didn’t feel comfortable leaving our room. Lock of door was also broken. My main concern with this place was the mistreatment of the animals. I, on more than one occasion, saw the owners of the camp beat /bully their very docile dog. It was heartbreaking. As an ethical company, I don’t think HTG should continue to work with this camp. Also on the day we left, the camp was full of wasps which was terrifying as they got into everyone’s rooms! 2. Transport - there is far too much driving as part of this itineray. I felt that we were basically in a coach for 4 days in total which is a massive shame. There were also not enough breaks on these very long drives. At one point we drove 4 hours without a break. The coach should at-least have a clean and functioning toilet. I personally did not think the drive to and from the desert stay was worth it. (I also think saying it’s a Nomad Yurt camp is a bit misleading when we’re not actually staying in a yurt.) I would’ve much rather have stayed an extra day in Bukhara and taken a train to Samarkand with more time to relax there. In any case, HTG should update the itinerary to make it very clear on all the travel times (with hours of travel clearly specified each day). 3. Not enough free time - overall, I felt the itinerary was a bit too packed and there was barely any free time. We had a free evening in Bukhara and a free morning in Samarkand. It really was not enough and felt so rushed (e.g. we barely had time to explore Shahi-Zinda). I would recommend adjusting your itinerary to add an extra day in Bukhara and Samarkand (this could be accommodated if you remove the desert camp from the itinerary). These are the main cities everyone comes to Uzbekistan to see so it’s a shame that wasn’t a focus of the itinerary. HTG could offer optional tours/activities to travellers which would allow more flexibility (on the free days). I think my main point here is that sometimes less is more and makes for a more enjoyable travel experience. So I’d recommend fewer activities or make them optional (e.g plov making, although interesting, could be made optional). To note, I felt that the last Friday in Samarkand was totally wasted, we went to Imam Bukhari’s tomb which was a huge construction site, spent 2 hours in a parking lot! would’ve been nice if this last day was a full free day (instead of including lunch on the last day, this could be switched around to include dinner in Tashkent). This would’ve given everyone flexibility to spend the day how they wish and come back to the hotel at 5pm to go to the station together. 4. The Tour literally starts on the day everyone arrives. This makes it very tiring and also means that anyone whose flight is delayed etc could potentially miss the whole day (on our tour, many of our group arrived a lot later than expected due to delays so missed part of the Tashkent tour). I would therefore recommend that you include an ‘arrival’ day where people can arrive at any time they want and there are no activities planned, except for a welcome meeting/perhaps a group dinner for everyone to meet. This gives everyone flexibility to pick appropriate flights etc although the airport transfer is nice, I don’t think it should dictate the day, or the time people arrive. Taxis are very cheap, if you give people clear instructions, it would be fine. NB: there was no official welcome meeting where people got to meet each other properly or where the guide introduced himself and set out tour expectations etc. That would be something I recommend. 5. Tour guides - our Khiva tour guide was not great, he kept walking and talking which meant most of us couldn’t hear him. It wasn’t even clear when he started the tour! Also he kept moving on without checking if the whole group was there and lost me at one point! The Tashkent Guide was good overall but I felt like she was in a rush to finish, we rushed through Chorsu Bazaar where I would have valued free time, didn’t see the metro stations she promised (although our group leader did take us there another time). Samarkand and Bukhara guides were great. 6. HTG should include all costs in the price of the tour. By not including the £65 internal flight, the price is misleading. As I said, there are many other companies that offer very similar itineraries which include ALL transport and they are cheaper than HTG. 7. Food - I am not a vegetarian but I did think the food was very meat heavy. A bit more flexibility with food choices would be welcome I.e just because someone is not vegetarian doesn’t mean they want to eat meat all the time. But overall, I enjoyed all the restaurant choices and the food was good. 8. Itinerary was not always followed - understandable sometimes but the tour leader should explain why if there are changes and manage expectations of the group. It was a shame we didn’t experience lunch by the Oxus river, lunch overlooking Mountain Views or a 3 course meal at the pottery studio, as was stated in the itinerary.