Khiva

Khiva, Uzbekistan — a walled Silk Road oasis city so completely preserved that its entire old town, Itchan Kala, is a single open-air museum of turquoise-tiled minarets and madrassas.

Buy the all-inclusive ticket to climb the Islam Khoja and Kalta Minor minarets and enter the palaces and madrassas within the walls. Stay inside Itchan Kala itself to see it empty of day-trippers at sunrise and after the tour buses leave in early evening.