Khiva

Khiva's inner town, the Itchan Kala, is encircled by towering mud-brick walls and packed with minarets, madrasas, and palaces — a UNESCO-listed open-air museum you can cross on foot in a single evening.

The stout, turquoise-banded Kalta Minor and the soaring Islam Khodja minaret define its skyline, while the Kunya Ark and Tash Hauli Palace reveal the private world of the Khivan khans.

Because Khiva is so compact and beautifully preserved, it rewards slow wandering — especially at first light and sunset, when the walls turn gold and the day-trippers thin out and you have the lanes almost to yourself.