CENTRAL ASIA
Uzbekistan travel guides
Uzbekistan is a Silk Road trip you can fit into a week or stretch to ten days: the capital Tashkent, the blue-tiled squares of Samarkand, the old trading city of Bukhara and the walled town of Khiva, linked by fast trains and short flights. These guides cover entry and hotel registration, how the trains and flights connect the cities, what a trip costs all in, the best months, the festival calendar, what to eat, and day trips to Shahrisabz, the Fergana Valley and the Aral Sea region around Nukus and Moynaq, with itineraries of seven and ten days.
Destination guides
Each guide helps you decide whether a place fits your trip, how long to stay, where to sleep, what to eat and how to get there.
Tashkent and the Fergana Valley
The capital, its metro and markets, and the silk and ceramics towns of the east.
Tashkent
Plan two nights in Tashkent: Khast Imam, Chorsu Bazaar, the metro, the squares and museums, an opera evening, rooms, the airport, the train to Samarkand and costs.
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Fergana Valley
Plan three days in the Fergana Valley: Kokand’s palace, Rishtan pottery, Margilan silk, a Fergana base, the road from Tashkent and a priced trip for two.
Read the guideSamarkand, Bukhara and Shahrisabz
The great Silk Road cities and the birthplace of Timur.
Samarkand
Plan two nights in Samarkand: the Registan, Gur-e-Amir, Bibi-Khanym, Shah-i-Zinda and Afrasiab, with tickets, hours, trains in and on to Bukhara, and costs.
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Bukhara
Plan two nights in Bukhara: Lyabi-Hauz, the trading domes, Poi-Kalon, the Ark and small museums, with 2025 ticket prices, rooms, trains and costs.
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Shahrisabz
See Shahrisabz in a day from Samarkand: the Takhta-Karacha road, Ak-Saray, Kok Gumbaz and Dorus Saodat, private car and guide prices, and what the day costs for two.
Read the guideKhiva and Karakalpakstan
The walled city of Khiva and the far west: the Savitsky museum in Nukus and the former Aral Sea port of Moynaq.
Khiva
Plan two nights inside Khiva’s walled Itchan Kala: where to sleep, the combined ticket, the main monuments, trains from Bukhara and Urgench, and what it costs.
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Nukus and Moynaq
Plan two nights in Nukus for the Savitsky Museum, Moynaq’s stranded ships and the desert fortresses of Khorezm, ending in Khiva on day 3.
Read the guideMake the important choices first
Entry and registration, seasons, transport, costs, festivals and food.
First trip to Uzbekistan
Choose seven days or ten for Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva: nights, trains, season, registration, money, a SIM and an all-in budget.
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Entering Uzbekistan
Which passports enter Uzbekistan without a visa for 30 days, how hotel registration works, what to declare at customs, and the border and photography advice to follow.
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Transport in Uzbekistan
Book Uzbekistan’s trains and flights: the Afrosiyob to Samarkand and Bukhara, the 2026 Khiva trains, domestic fares, airport links and the Tashkent metro.
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Best time to visit Uzbekistan
Choose your Uzbekistan dates by season: spring and autumn for walking, the summer chillya, winter air, Ramadan, Navruz and the school holidays, month by month.
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Uzbekistan trip cost
Ten days across Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, all in: about UZS 9.9 million per person on a budget, 12.7 million mid-range or 18.0 million in comfort.
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Where to stay in Uzbekistan
Which part of Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva to sleep in, how many nights each, how to reach the hotel and what two hotels in each town charge.
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Uzbekistan festivals and events 2027
Uzbekistan's 2027 holidays and festivals by month: Navruz, Boysun Bahori, Silk and Spices in Bukhara, Khiva's melon festival and Sharq Taronalari in Samarkand.
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Uzbekistan food
Where to try plov, samsa, lagman, shashlik and non in Uzbekistan, with named places in Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva and what a day of meals costs.
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Health and safety in Uzbekistan
Where governments draw lines along Uzbekistan's borders, the numbers to save, hospitals and insurance, vaccines and rabies, heat, smog, night roads and the laws.
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Money and payments in Uzbekistan
Paying in Uzbekistan: which dollars to bring, where changing money is legal, where cards and ATMs work, card-only payments, tourist tax, Tax Free and customs.
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Solo female travel in Uzbekistan
Travelling alone as a woman in Uzbekistan: the UK, German and French advice, landing in Tashkent at night, taxis and night trains, mosque dress and 1173.
Read the guideRoutes with time to stay
Seven- and ten-day plans with their nights and transfer days.
Uzbekistan in seven days
A seven-day Uzbekistan route with two nights each in Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara by train, real sights and an all-in cost for two.
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Uzbekistan in ten days
Ten days and nine nights through Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, with a Shahrisabz day trip, named hotels, trains, the flight home and an all-in budget.
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