Karakalpakstan travel guide

One day: the desert castles

Khiva → Kyzyl Kala → Toprak Kala → lunch at the yurt camp → Ayaz Kala → Khiva. See desert fortresses.

Two days: castles and Nukus

Day 1: the fortresses, with Chilpik on the way, then on to Nukus for the night. Day 2: the Savitsky Museum in the morning and Mizdakhan in the afternoon, then fly from Nukus to Tashkent or drive back to Khiva.

Three to four days: to the Aral Sea

Add Muynak and a night at a camp near the shore of the Aral Sea, crossing the Ustyurt plateau by 4×4. See our 4-day Aral Sea & Karakalpakstan journey.

Nukus is a Soviet-era city, and most visitors come for one reason: the State Museum of Arts of Karakalpakstan named after I. V. Savitsky. From the 1960s, the painter and collector Igor Savitsky gathered tens of thousands of works, including Russian and Central Asian avant-garde paintings that could not be shown elsewhere in the Soviet Union, and brought them to this remote city, where they escaped attention. The museum also has fine collections of Karakalpak jewellery, textiles and costume, and archaeology from ancient Khorezm. Plan at least half a day. See Nukus.

On low hills near Khodjeyli, about 20 km from Nukus, Mizdakhan has been a burial ground for more than two thousand years, from Zoroastrian times to the present. Among the old mausoleums and new graves are the ruins of the fortress of Gyaur Kala, and a crumbling structure that local legend calls a "world clock": a brick is said to fall from it every year, and when the last falls, the world will end. Many visitors from across Uzbekistan come here on pilgrimage. Be respectful.

Muynak was a fishing port and cannery town on the Aral Sea. After the rivers that fed the sea were diverted for cotton irrigation from the 1960s, the water retreated far into the desert, and rusting ships now lie on the sand where the harbour used to be. A small museum shows photographs and paintings of the town when it was a working port.

Reaching the remaining shore takes a 4×4 expedition across the Ustyurt plateau with an overnight camp. It is a long, dusty and sobering journey, and one of the most memorable in Central Asia. See Muynak and the Aral Sea.

• Distances are long and roads in the north are rough in places. Travel with an experienced driver; for the Aral shore, a 4×4 and a support plan are essential.
• Facilities are basic outside Nukus. Carry water, snacks and cash; card payment is limited.
• Heat and dust: from June to August, midday temperatures are extreme. Spring and autumn are the best seasons.
• Photography: ask before photographing people. Don’t photograph military or border installations.
• Registration: as everywhere in Uzbekistan, your hotel registers you. If you camp, keep your trip documents with you.