Khiva is the furthest of the classic Silk Road stops, out in the Khorezm oasis near the Turkmenistan border, which keeps it quieter than Samarkand or Bukhara. Its old town, Itchan Kala, is fully walled and small enough to cross in twenty minutes — but densely packed with madrasahs, minarets and the unfinished, oddly stout Kalta Minor.
Because the whole old city is a protected site with a single entrance ticket, Khiva works well as a full but compact day: arrive, see the walled city properly, and move on the same evening or next morning.