Khiva
The walled inner city of Itchan-Kala — a living museum where you sleep inside the fortress walls.
Our home town
Khiva is our founder's home town and the city our team knows best. Legend says the city started with a well dug by Shem, son of Noah, in the desert; historians are more cautious, but the oasis has been settled for a very long time. Khiva became the capital of the Khiva Khanate in the seventeenth century and stayed so until 1920. Most of what stands today was built in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which is why the town feels so complete: madrasas, mosques, palaces, caravanserais and houses, all in the same golden mud brick.
Two towns, one inside the other
Khiva has two rings. The inner city, Itchan Kala, is enclosed by thick clay walls with four gates, and it is small — you can walk across it in a quarter of an hour. The outer town, Dishan Kala, grew around it and is where most people live today. Inside the walls, the west gate opens onto the Kalta Minor Minaret and the Muhammad Amin Khan Madrasah, the largest in the city. Along the main street come the Kunya Ark, the old residence of the khans, and the Muhammad Rahim Khan Madrasah facing it, then the Juma Mosque and the Islam Khoja Minaret. Towards the east gate you reach the Tash Hauli Palace, the Allakuli Khan Madrasah and the small Ak Mosque, next to the Anusha Khan Bath House. The Pahlavan Mahmud Mausoleum is the place local families visit to pray.
Many people see Khiva in one rushed day. We recommend two nights. The first day is for Itchan Kala with your guide. The second is for slower things: the madrasas that now hold small museums and craft workshops, the Nurullabay Palace just outside the walls, an evening at the Khiva Puppet Theatre, or a trip into the desert to the Khorezm fortresses.
When to go and getting there
April–May and September–October are the best months; summer is very hot, and winter is cold and very quiet. The nearest airport is in Urgench, about 30 km away, with flights from Tashkent. Khiva also has its own railway station with trains from Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara, or you can come by car across the desert from Bukhara. Once you are here, you will not need a car at all inside the old town.
Frequently asked
One full day covers Itchan Kala; two nights let you see it at a calmer pace, visit the museums and workshops, and add a trip to the desert fortresses of Khorezm.
The quickest way is a flight from Tashkent to Urgench, then a 30–40 minute transfer. There are also trains, including overnight sleepers, that run directly to Khiva station.
If you can, yes. Small hotels and guesthouses inside the walls let you walk out into the old town in the early morning and late evening, when it is at its quietest.
Tours that visit Khiva
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