Uzbekistan travel planning: trains, money, itineraries

Four decisions shape the trip

Most first trips follow the railway west from Tashkent to Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva. Four decisions set everything else, and each has its own guide.

How many days. Seven days covers Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara, with two nights in each historic city and a last night in the capital. Ten days adds Khiva and a plan for the journey home. Fourteen days keeps the same four cities at a slower pace, with three nights each in Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva. The itineraries set out all three night by night, with the trains for each leg.

When to go. For a city trip, choose April to early May or the second half of September to October. July needs a plan built around heat: Uzhydromet gives a mean maximum of 35–37°C across much of the country and 38–40°C in the south and the deserts, and Bukhara reached 46.9°C in July 2026. Best time to visit has the month-by-month table, Navruz on 21 March and the other holidays.

Rules and etiquette. Travel tips gathers entry, registration, money, SIM cards, train tickets and etiquette on one page. Tourists face no dress code in law, but mosques and shrines expect shoulders and knees covered, and villages and the Fergana Valley dress more modestly than Tashkent.

Help on the ground. Oxusroad is a licensed tour operator based in Tashkent. We arrange private trips with a driver and guide, from a single airport transfer to a two-week route; what that covers is set out below.

Where to go: four cities and five more places

The four classic cities sit on one railway line: Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and, in the far west, Khiva. Most trips run in that order, then fly home from Urgench, the airport for Khiva, or come back to Tashkent by train.

Count nights, not days. Arriving the evening before and leaving the morning after adds a night to every stop, so two sightseeing days in Samarkand mean three hotel nights. The table gives both numbers for each place.

The other five places each need their own travel days, so add them in order of effort. Chimgan and Charvak take a day out from Tashkent, and a night in Nuratau breaks the road between Samarkand and Bukhara. The Fergana Valley is a loop of 2–3 days east of Tashkent. Nukus and Termez each need a night train or a flight. What to see in Uzbekistan compares all nine places in more depth.

Shahrisabz, where Amir Timur began the Ak-Saray palace in 1380, is a day out from Samarkand: about 2 hours each way by car, or the Sunday-only Afrosiyob 774, which leaves Samarkand at 08:56 and reaches Shahrisabz at 11:12 for 224,000 som in economy. The return train leaves at 16:24.

Five train legs cover most trips

Book the trains before the hotels. Uzbekistan Railways opens sales 60 days before departure at 10:00 Tashkent time, and the fast morning trains go first. Afrosiyob runs most of the fast departures on the main line, and the Jaloliddin Manguberdi is as fast on its way to Khiva; Sharq is slower and cheaper, and night trains carry berths to Khiva, Nukus and Termez.

When Afrosiyob is full, Sharq is the fallback: 3 h 09 min from Tashkent to Samarkand, from 200,060 som in a seat. On the long legs a night train saves a hotel night: from Tashkent it reaches Nukus at 08:18, Termez at 11:17 and Khiva at 12:09. Flights are faster still: Tashkent to Nukus takes 1 h 40 min, with about 20 flights a week, and Tashkent to Termez about 1 h 25 min.

Tashkent has two stations. Afrosiyob and Sharq leave from Tashkent Central, also called North; Tashkent South is a different station. Bukhara's station, Buxoro-1, is in Kogon, outside the old town. Read the station on your ticket before you order a taxi.

Every intercity route, including roads and border crossings, is in one table on getting around Uzbekistan. Buying tickets step by step is on the Afrosiyob and tickets page.

Visa, safety, money and cash: the rules that matter

Visa. US, UK and EU passports enter visa-free for up to 30 days. Russian, Belarusian and Kazakh passports need no visa, and the foreign ministry sets no limit on the stay; Kyrgyz citizens get 60 days. Other nationalities apply for an e-visa, US$20 for a single entry, issued in 2 working days not counting the day you apply. Registration is a separate duty: your hotel files it within 3 working days of entry, and in a private flat the host files it through E-mehmon. Russian citizens are exempt for the first 15 days. Visa and registration has the full nationality table; Russian passport holders start at travel tips.

Safety. As of 24 September 2026, the US rated Uzbekistan Level 1 of 4, and none of the US, UK, German or Canadian advisories names any part of the classic route. The exception is the Afghan border: Canada advises against all travel within 5 km of it. Pickpockets work the bazaars and public transport, so book taxis through an app instead of stopping cars in the street. Carry your passport at all times: the UK government says police check it often. Save 112 for emergencies and 1173, the tourist line in English, Uzbek and Russian. Details: is Uzbekistan safe?

Money. The Central Bank's reference rate on 14 September 2026 was 11,765.76 som to the US dollar. Bring clean dollars or euros to change at a bank counter and a Visa or Mastercard issued outside Russia for ATMs, where Kapitalbank and Hamkorbank charge 1.5%. Russian-issued cards, including Mir, do not work. Since 1 April 2026, shops and fuel stations take only cards or payment apps for alcohol, tobacco and fuel; hotels and restaurants have taken cash for drinks again since 1 June 2026. Money in Uzbekistan covers exchange, ATMs and card problems.

Cash limits. There is no ceiling on the cash you bring in, but amounts above 100 million som equivalent, about US$8,500, must be declared on entry, counting every currency together. Keep the declaration to take unspent cash out again. For a week with hotels and trains prepaid, our worksheet allows 300,000 som a day plus a 20% reserve: 2.52 million som, about US$214. Cash limits and customs gives the figures for 7, 10 and 14 days.

Oxusroad arranges private trips across Uzbekistan

Oxusroad is the trading name of I LOVE TRAVELING LLC, a Tashkent company holding Uzbekistan tour operator license No. 877186, issued on 7 July 2025. We arrange private trips with a car, driver and guide, from one transfer to a full route: airport and station transfers, train and domestic-flight tickets, hotel bookings, city guides, day trips, craft workshops, and help with the e-visa and registration.

Our catalogue lists 102 services in 15 Uzbek cities, from Tashkent to Nukus and Termez, and 8 more that work country-wide, among them a 30-minute planning call, help after a missed or sold-out connection, and halal, kosher or vegetarian meals. We do not publish tour prices: we quote for your dates, group and route once the services are agreed, and we book only with your agreement. Kyrgyzstan can be joined to an Uzbekistan trip, including transfers from Fergana or Andijan to the Dostuk border for Osh. For Kazakhstan and Tajikistan our guides give advice only, apart from a day trip from Tashkent to Shymkent, a day trip from Samarkand to Penjikent and Sarazm, and a transfer from Kokand to the border towards Khujand.

Start with private trips, or send your dates and route through the contact page.

Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan are next door

Each neighbour adds what the Uzbek cities lack: lakes and treks in Kyrgyzstan, Almaty and its canyons in Kazakhstan, the Fann Mountains and the Pamirs in Tajikistan. The season sets the order. The mountains work from June to early September and the cities in spring and autumn, so in autumn start in the mountains and finish in the cities.

Kyrgyzstan is the easiest country to add. There is no direct train, but four airlines fly from Tashkent to Bishkek, and an overnight bus leaves Tashkent's main bus station at 18:00 and 19:00 for 350,000–465,000 som on the June 2026 timetable, crossing Kazakhstan. The Fergana route runs by train to Andijan, over the Dostuk crossing into Osh, then by air to Bishkek.

The Central Asia planner covers visas, border crossings and trains across all four countries.

What catches travellers out

• Summer heat. July's mean maximum is 35–37°C across much of the country and 38–40°C in the south, and Bukhara hit 46.9°C in July 2026. Keep one outdoor block for the morning and a long midday break, or move the trip to spring or autumn.
• Afrosiyob sell-outs. On 27 September 2026 no Afrosiyob seat was left from Tashkent to Samarkand for 8 October, or from Samarkand to Bukhara for 8 and 15 October; seats remained only on slower trains, most of them overnight. Buy on the day sales open, 60 days ahead at 10:00.
• Cash and cards. Do not count on a stall, driver or bus conductor breaking a 200,000-som note, the largest in circulation. Russian-issued cards do not work at all. Change money at a bank counter, ask for small notes and keep a day's cash apart from your card.
• Registration outside hotels. Hotels register you themselves; in a rented flat or a friend's home, the host has to file it on E-mehmon. Ask for the confirmation at every stop and keep all of them until you leave.
• Two Tashkent stations. Tashkent Central (North) and Tashkent South are different stations, and each train is assigned to one of them. Show your driver the station name printed on the ticket.
• Medicines. Codeine and other narcotic medicines need a medical document and a customs declaration, capped at 7 days' supply; without a document you can bring up to 10 ordinary medicines, 5 packs of each.

Common questions