Caspian Odyssey: Yerevan to Almaty

You are met on arrival and taken to the five-star Alexander Hotel in Yerevan's historic quarter for two nights. Early arrivals can choose an afternoon visit to Etchmiadzin, the mother church of the Armenian Apostolic faith, with a stop at the ruined cathedral of Zvartnots, or a guided walk through central Yerevan. The evening opens with a welcome dinner at a local restaurant.

Climb the Cascade, a monumental stairway of terraces and sculpture with views towards Mount Ararat, then pause at the hilltop Tsitsernakaberd genocide memorial. Lunch is taken beside Lake Sevan, one of the largest high-altitude freshwater lakes in the world. Back in the city there is an optional visit to the Ararat brandy factory, and dinner is a dine-around at restaurants near the hotel.

Visit Geghard Monastery, whose churches are partly hewn from the cliffs at the head of the Azat Valley, and the colonnaded pagan Temple of Garni above its gorge. You can instead walk through Garni Gorge to see the basalt columns known as the Symphony of Stones. After an Armenian lunch, a private charter flight takes you to Tbilisi for three nights at the Paragraph Freedom Square, with dinner and a folk performance at the hotel.

Explore the Old Town, including the clifftop Metekhi Church and Sioni Cathedral, before continuing on foot through its winding lanes. Lunch and a wine tasting follow at the Chateau Mukhrani estate. In the afternoon you can walk on through the Old Town or relax at the hotel, and dinner is a dine-around at local restaurants.

Choose between Gori, birthplace of Stalin, with his childhood house, museum and private railway carriage (or a local ceramics museum instead), and the ancient cave city of Uplistsikhe with its rock-cut halls and early theatre. Lunch at a rustic restaurant comes with a private performance of Georgian polyphonic singing. Later you visit Mtskheta, Georgia's ancient capital and spiritual heart.

See the gold filigree treasures of the Janashia State Museum of Georgia, then have lunch at a local restaurant. A private jet carries you to Baku, where you check in for three nights at the Four Seasons on the Caspian waterfront.

Tour the walled Old City by coach and on foot, taking in the Maiden Tower, the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and the ancient Synyk-Kala Minaret. After lunch the afternoon is free for the carpet museum, a national museum or the waterfront. In the evening you enjoy a private visit to Villa Petrolea, the restored home of the Nobel brothers, with champagne, canapés and dinner inside.

Visit Gobustan, where thousands of prehistoric engravings of hunting, dancing and ritual cover the rocks near the Caspian shore. Lunch overlooks the sea before you return to Baku for a free afternoon or an optional visit to the Ateshgah Fire Temple. Dinner is at the hotel.

A private plane takes you across the Caspian to Urgench, the gateway to Khiva. Inside the mud-brick walls of its old town, Ichan-Kala, you explore mosques, madrassas, bazaars and tiled minarets that have barely changed in centuries.

Visit the Ark, the great fortress of the Emirs of Bukhara, and Poi-Kalyan Square with its mosque and towering minaret. Wander the old Trading Domes and gather at Lyabi-Hauz, a pool shaded by mulberry trees and lined with teahouses. Weather permitting, the evening ends with a barbecue on the station platform before the train departs.

Explore Registan Square with its three tiled madrassas, the vast Bibi-Khanum Mosque and the observatory of the astronomer-ruler Ulugh Beg. At dusk you return to the illuminated Registan for a light and sound show from front-row seats.

A guided tour of Uzbekistan's capital begins in the Old Town at the Khast-Imam Complex, where you see the Uthman Qur'an, regarded as the oldest surviving copy. You then visit the Museum of Applied Arts, set in a richly decorated former diplomat's residence, and Independence Square.

Enjoy a leisurely day of scenic rail travel across Uzbekistan and into Kyrgyzstan. In the late afternoon a short tour of Bishkek takes in Ala-Too Square, leafy parks and Soviet-era monuments, including statues of Marx and Engels and the Memorial to the Red Guards.

Spend the day at Lake Issyk-Kul, a vast alpine lake ringed by snow-capped peaks. A privately arranged festival on its shore celebrates nomadic culture with horseback wrestling, hunting with golden eagles, the bone game ordo, music, dance and crafts. Afterwards there is an option to visit the open-air petroglyph museum before dinner on the train.

The Golden Eagle arrives in Almaty, where you say goodbye to the train. A city tour visits Panfilov Park and the colourful Zenkov Cathedral, built entirely of wood without nails, before you check in to the Ritz-Carlton for the night.

After breakfast you are transferred to Almaty airport for your onward flight, or you can extend your stay to see more of the city and its mountains.