Khiva to Bukhara via the Fortresses

If you are going from Khiva to Bukhara anyway, a private transfer can stop at the fortresses on the way and drop you at your hotel in Bukhara the same evening. The one to book is Islambek Travel & Hotels’ Khiva to Bukhara: Transfer with Top 5 Fortresses & Akchakul Lake, from US$190 for a car of up to 3 (checked November 2026). It is a long day: 11 hours, from 8:00 AM on the dates we read, and the last part is a long drive across the desert.

Your luggage rides with you, door to door. Free cancellation runs until 24 hours before.

The route and the distance

The fortresses lie north-east of Khiva and Bukhara lies south-east, so a fortress day on the way adds a detour: 575 km by road by way of Toprak-Kala and Ayaz-Kala, against 456 km by road on the direct route. Uzbekistan’s tourism site gives the drive between Bukhara and Khiva as 7 to 8 hours across the Kyzylkum Desert and warns that parts of the road may be under renovation.

Islambek Travel & Hotels’ transfer, hour by hour

The driver collects you at your hotel in Khiva at 8:00 AM. There is a melon tasting at the roadside markets of Shabbaz, cotton picking in the fields in season, then Kizil Kala and Toprak Kala by midday. At Akchakul Lake there is a lakeside lunch of fish and shashlik, at your own cost, and time for a swim. In the afternoon come Kavat Kala, Ayaz Kala, where a camel ride is an extra paid in cash to the handlers, and Guldursun Kala. From about 4:30 PM it is the highway across the desert, and the car drops you at your hotel in Bukhara in the evening.

The car is an air-conditioned Chevrolet with Wi-Fi, and 1 L of water a person is included. The drivers speak basic English and Russian and do not go into the sites with you. Entrance tickets at Kizil Kala, Toprak Kala and Ayaz Kala are extra: Islambek Travel & Hotels puts them at 20,000 UZS (Uzbek som) a person at each. Meals and a guide are extra too.

An Extended option takes in 8 fortresses in 14 hours from 7:00 AM, for US$230 a car on the dates we read. The transfer also runs the other way, from Bukhara to Khiva. It is not for pregnant women, wheelchair users or people with back or heart problems.

Its 26 reviews, all since August 2026, include none below four stars. Islambek Travel & Hotels also sells this transfer on Viator, as Khiva to Bukhara: Transfer with Top 5 Fortresses & Akchakul Lake.

See transfer dates

The three-fortress transfers

Amu Transport’s Transfer: Khiva to Bukhara via the Top 3 Ancient Fortresses is shorter and costs less: 9 hours, Ayaz Kala, Tuprak Kala and Kyzyl Kala, and drop-off at any address in Bukhara, for US$160 a car. The calendar offered starts from 6:00 to 10:00 AM on 8 December 2026. Lunch, entrance tickets and a guide are extra.

Of its 157 reviews, ten give three stars or fewer. Among those with text, three say the driver spoke no English although they had booked in English, one describes reckless driving, one the long run to Bukhara with no stops after the fortresses, and one a driver who had them pay for his lunch. That is a small share of the whole, but they are the risks of a 9-hour day with one driver.

Asli Travel runs the same three sites in both directions: Khiva to Bukhara from the Ata Darwaza west gate of Ichan Kala or your hotel, and Bukhara to Khiva, which has 217 reviews. Oxus Travel’s Transfer from Khiva to Bukhara by Fortresses (or vice versa), sold on Viator, takes 8 hours in either direction for US$299 (checked November 2026).

Book the transfer that fits your day:

Prices, ratings and review counts from our November 2026 data check; operators use seasonal pricing, so treat them as the shape of the market, not a quote.

Is it worth doing on the way?

It saves a separate day in Khiva, and you see the fortresses without coming back the way you went. The cost is a long day in a car with a driver who is not a guide, arriving in Bukhara in the evening. If you have a spare day in Khiva, the 6-hour fortress day from Khiva and a separate run to Bukhara are easier on everyone.