What to see in Uzbekistan: cities and sights

What to see in Samarkand: the Registan and Timur’s monuments

Give Samarkand two full days: three nights if you arrive in the evening and leave in the morning. Day 1 is the Registan in the morning and Gur-e Amir after lunch. Day 2 starts early at Shah-i-Zinda, moves on to Bibi-Khanym and Siyob Bazaar next door, and ends with one museum: Afrasiab for Samarkand before the Timurids, or the Ulugh Beg Observatory for astronomy. With only one day, keep the Registan and add Gur-e Amir or Shah-i-Zinda; Bibi-Khanym and the bazaar need another half-day.

At the Registan, visit the three madrasas one by one rather than only the view from the square. The Ulugh Beg madrasa dates from 1417–1420, Sher-Dor opposite from 1619–1636, and Tilla-Kori was finished around 1660: two centuries separate the first from the other two. Gur-e Amir is the Timurid family mausoleum, and Timur’s tombstone is a block of dark nephrite. Shah-i-Zinda is a street of mausoleums and a place of pilgrimage, climbed by a staircase: go early, speak quietly and keep doorways clear.

Each site sells its own ticket. The Registan’s official service, tickets.registon.uz, charges 100,000 som for a foreign adult, 50,000 for ages 7–18 and nothing for children under 7; citizens of Uzbekistan pay 15,000. It has only two categories, citizens of Uzbekistan and citizens of other countries, so visitors from Russia, Kazakhstan and the rest of the CIS pay the foreign rate. Gur-e Amir, Bibi-Khanym, the Afrasiab Museum and the Observatory sell online through iTicket at 50,000–80,000 som for foreign adults (26 September 2026). Shah-i-Zinda is on neither service.

The sites close late. The Registan opens every day, 07:00–24:00 from 20 February to 20 November and 08:00–20:00 in winter, with a music show at 21:00. Gur-e Amir, Bibi-Khanym, the Afrasiab Museum and the Observatory close at 23:00 and Siyob Bazaar at midnight, according to the Registan directorate’s notice of 9 September 2026. Do not start a full visit an hour before closing.

The Afrosiyob links Tashkent’s Central station (Toshkent Markaziy) with Samarkand in 2 h 25 min for 311,000 som in economy, the fare in force since 1 February 2026; Tashkent to Samarkand by train has the full timetable. Samarkand is also the base for a day in Shahrisabz and for Penjikent, across the Tajik border at Jartepa–Sarazm.

Stay near the Registan for an evening walk back to the square, on Oqsaroy Street by Gur-e Amir, or on the Bibi-Khanym side for the market. In summer, visit early, take a proper break at midday and drop the museum first. Day plans, walking groups and hotel areas are in the Samarkand city guide.

What to see in Bukhara: the old town, from Lyabi-Hauz to the Ark

Allow two full days for Bukhara’s old town: day 1 around Lyabi-Hauz, the trading domes and Poi Kalon, day 2 for the Ark and the monuments to the west. A third day adds Sitorai Mohi-Khosa, the country palace of the last emir, 4 km to the north. With an evening arrival and a morning departure, that makes three or four nights.

On the third day, pair the palace with the Bahauddin Naqshband memorial complex in Qasri Orifon, a pilgrimage site in Kogon district, or with the 19th-century merchant’s house of the Khojaev family in the Gozion quarter (30,000 som). Both need a car or a taxi; do not add either to a day that ends with a train.

UNESCO inscribed the historic centre as a whole in 1993, not monument by monument. Walk it in three groups: the central route from Lyabi-Hauz through the trading domes to Poi Kalon; the western group of the Ark, Bolo-Hauz, the Samanid Mausoleum and Chashma-Ayub; and the outlying sites by car, Chor Minor and the palace. At Poi Kalon, the Kalon minaret dates from 1127, while the mosque and the Mir-i-Arab madrasa around the square are 16th-century.

Several monuments on the central route house museums: carpets in the Magoki-Attori mosque, calligraphy in the Ulugh Beg madrasa, woodcarving in the Abdulaziz Khan madrasa and literature in the Kukeldash madrasa. The Bukhara State Museum-Reserve sells a separate ticket for each. Its price list, in force since 1 January 2025 and still posted on 26 September 2026, charges foreign visitors 60,000 som for the Ark and for Sitorai Mohi-Khosa, 30,000 for the Fayzulla Khojaev house and 20,000 for each smaller museum. Adult citizens of Uzbekistan pay 10,000 or 5,000 som; the list has no separate rate for CIS visitors.

The same list prices a museum guide in a foreign language at 60,000 som, or 120,000 for the Ark or the palace, an audio guide at 20,000 and photographing the exhibits at 30,000. The museums open 09:00–18:00 with no day off, 08:00–21:00 in the season and 09:00–17:00 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays: arrive before 17:00 whatever the day.

From Tashkent, the Afrosiyob reaches Bukhara in 4 h 6 min for 509,000 som in economy. From Samarkand it takes about 1 h 35 min, against 4½–5½ hours by car for 293 km. Trains stop at Buxoro-1 station in Kogon, outside the old town, so book the transfer with your hotel. Samarkand to Bukhara compares the train and the car.

In mosques and shrines, cover shoulders and knees. Day plans, hotel areas and the Naqshband complex are in the Bukhara city guide.

What to see in Khiva: Ichan-Kala and the desert fortresses

One full day covers a first visit to Ichan-Kala, Khiva’s walled inner town: Kalta Minor, the Kunya Ark, the Juma Mosque and Tosh Hovli. Two days let you add Pahlavon Mahmud, Islam Khoja, a workshop or the Nurullaboy Palace without rushing. The desert fortresses need a day of their own, so two days in town plus the fortresses mean three full days and four nights. For that second day, the Khorezm tourism programme lists the khans’ history exhibition in the Muhammad Rahim Khan II madrasa, music history at Qozikalon, woodcarving at Khojash Mahram and silk-carpet weaving at Yakubboy Khoja.

UNESCO inscribed Ichan-Kala in 1990: a rectangle of about 650 by 400 metres, covered on foot, where the streets and houses matter as much as the monuments. People live and work inside the walls: keep doorways clear and ask before photographing anyone. At the Juma Mosque, the low hall of wooden columns is lit through two openings in the roof; give it half an hour in the late morning.

Entry to Ichan-Kala is paid, and most visitors come in through Ota Darvoza, the west gate. The museum-reserve publishes no tariff online: its ticket page listed none on 26 September 2026. At the desk, ask which museums, mausoleums and minaret climbs the ticket covers and for how many days, and keep it with you until you leave.

The desert fortresses stand in the Ellikqala district of Karakalpakstan, a day trip by car. Start with Ayaz-Kala, three mud-brick fortresses with Ayaz 1 on its hill; continue to Toprak-Kala, a town of 500 by 350 metres and a royal residence of the 2nd–3rd centuries AD; add Kyzyl-Kala, 1.3 km from Toprak, if the heat allows. Allow 2–3 hours at the sites plus the drive and lunch, in a car that waits for you; a 4×4 is not required.

The Jaloliddin Manguberdi (train 752) leaves Tashkent at 07:00 and reaches Khiva at 14:42 every day except Sunday, for 780,000 som in economy, and its seats go weeks ahead. Night train 056 leaves Tashkent South at 21:45 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and arrives at 12:09 (open berth 245,140 som). From Bukhara, train 706 runs from Buxoro-1 at 15:45 to Khiva at 20:25, every day except Monday, for 270,800 som in economy. By air, you land at Urgench and continue by road. Details: Tashkent to Khiva and Bukhara to Khiva.

Summers are hot and winters drop below freezing: walk early and keep the minaret climbs optional. The Khiva city guide has the day plan and hotel areas, and the fortress day is under desert fortresses.

What to see in Tashkent: old town, Chorsu, metro and museums

One full day is enough for a first look at Tashkent: the Khast Imam complex in the morning, Chorsu Bazaar and lunch, a metro ride, then the centre or a museum. The Islamic Civilization Center justifies a second day. Arriving in the evening, with a train on the morning of the day after next, book two nights.

Khast Imam, the heart of the old town, surrounds the tomb of Kaffal Shashi, with the Barak Khan madrasa and the Tilla Sheikh mosque. Some buildings are in religious use, so dress as for a mosque and ask which ones you can enter. The Uthman Quran, which older guides place in its library, is now in the Islamic Civilization Center next door.

The Center opened on 17 March 2026 and follows pre-Islamic cultures, medieval science and Timurid art around its Quran Hall. A foreign adult pays 425,000 som for a two-hour session with an English or Russian audio guide; a live guide costs 480,000 som more per group of up to 10 (15 September 2026). It opens 09:00–22:00 every day. Arrive 15–20 minutes early; shorts are not allowed. Every ticket type is in the Islamic Civilization Center guide.

Chorsu Bazaar brings together the domed food hall, dairy, dried fruit and spices, with stalls of prepared food nearby; ask the price per kilo or per piece before anything is wrapped. The metro is worth a ride for its decorated stations: board at Chorsu and get off at Alisher Navoiy, which connects with Paxtakor towards the centre. A ride costs 1,700 som with a transport card or a contactless bank card, or 3,000 som with a QR ticket, and transport cards are sold at station windows without ID.

Rebuilt after the 1966 earthquake, Tashkent has had nine modernist buildings on the World Heritage List since July 2026. Two are on this route: the blue-domed Chorsu hall, completed in 1990, and Kosmonavtlar station on the same line as Chorsu. The circus, the Palace of Friendship of Peoples and the former Panorama cinema are seen from outside or during a show. The State Museum of Arts, also inscribed, is closed for reconstruction with no reopening date.

Tashkent’s two main stations are separate: the Afrosiyob to Samarkand leaves from Central (Toshkent Markaziy), while the night train to Nukus and the express to Chimgan leave from South (Toshkent Janubiy). Go to the one printed on your ticket. At the airport, licensed taxis and Yandex Go pick up in lane 1 outside arrivals, with city fares from 50,000 som (December 2025); the airport arrival guide covers the taxi rank, the buses and the way to a train. The Tashkent city guide has the full-day and arrival-day plans.

Beyond the four cities: Shahrisabz, Fergana, Nukus and more

Six places repay a day or more outside the four cities. Shahrisabz and the Chimgan mountains fit into a day; Nukus needs at least a night; the Fergana Valley, the Aral shore, Nuratau and Termez need two days or more, so put them in the calendar before the cities.

Shahrisabz, Timur’s home town, is a day out from Samarkand: about 90 km and 2 hours each way by car over the Takhtakaracha pass, which snow closes for a few hours at a time in winter. On Sundays, Afrosiyob 774 leaves Samarkand at 08:56 and arrives at 11:12, and 773 returns at 16:24; economy costs 224,000 som each way, on sale for Sundays up to 22 November 2026. In 3–4 hours you see the ruined gateway of the Ak-Saray palace, begun in 1380, the crypt prepared for Timur at Dorus Saodat and the Kok Gumbaz mosque; the sites open 08:00–17:00. UNESCO has listed the centre as in danger since 2016 after demolitions, so expect wide new open spaces. More: Shahrisabz from Samarkand.

The Fergana Valley needs two or three full days, so three or four nights. In Kokand, see the palace of Khudoyar Khan and the Juma Mosque of 1819–1822, whose iwan rests on 98 wooden columns; in Rishtan, ceramics painted blue and turquoise; in Margilan, the Yodgorlik factory, founded in 1972, where atlas and adras silk are woven by hand. Book the workshops ahead and say whether you want to buy, watch or take a class. Trains reach Kokand and Margilan on the Angren–Pop line, which crosses the Kamchik pass area through a 19.2 km tunnel; cars take the pass road. More: Fergana Valley in 2–3 days.

Nukus is worth a night for the Savitsky Museum: about 100,000 objects, from 20th-century avant-garde painting to Karakalpak folk art and finds from ancient Khorezm. It opens 09:00–18:00 and closes on Mondays; foreign adults pay 100,000 som on the latest published list (October 2025), with no separate CIS rate. Night train 054 leaves Tashkent South at 16:00 and arrives at 08:18 (open berth 258,610 som), but berths sell out weeks ahead; the flight takes 1 h 40 min, and the drive from Khiva is about 200 km, or 2½–3 hours. The Aral Sea means Muynak first, where stranded ships lie on the dried-up seabed: a full day from Nukus that does not reach the water. The present shore takes two days by 4×4 and a night in a yurt. More: Nukus and the Aral Sea.

Chimgan, Amirsoy and Lake Charvak lie 65–80 km north-east of Tashkent. Without a car, take the 08:47 express from Tashkent South to Chinorkent (30,000 som in cash), then minibus 324 (10,000 som) to Amirsoy, Chimgan and the lake shore. The last trains back leave Chinorkent at 14:19 and Khodjikent at 16:12, so start early. Amirsoy’s gondola costs 115,000 som return on weekdays and 135,000 at weekends. Ski from late December to mid-March, swim from late May, and walk the foothills without a permit. More: Chimgan, Charvak and Amirsoy.

The Nuratau Mountains, between Samarkand and Bukhara, are a village stay rather than a sight. Book one named guesthouse in a village such as Sentob, in Nurata district, or Uhum, in Forish district, for one or two nights; two nights leave a full day for walking. One published walk from Sayyod covers 6 km in about 3 hours with 327 m of ascent. Aydarkul lake and its yurt camps are a separate stop: Aydar camp, for one, stands about 10 km from the water. The detour can replace the direct Samarkand–Bukhara journey. More: Nuratau village stay.

Termez, on the Afghan border, has Buddhist monasteries of the 1st–3rd centuries AD at Fayaz Tepa and Kara Tepa, the Zurmala stupa, the Hakim at-Termizi complex and an archaeological museum with more than 40,000 finds. Canada advises against all travel within 5 km of the border, and most of these sites lie inside that belt; Kara Tepa needs a border-guard permit requested by a licensed guide. Night train 080 leaves Tashkent daily at 21:13 and arrives at 11:17 (open berth 216,700 som); the flight takes about 1 h 25 min. More: Termez.

Plan the nights city by city

Seven days are enough for Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara if you accept making choices; ten let you add Khiva; fourteen give more full days in the same four cities. The table shows the nights each city gets in our 7-, 10- and 14-day itineraries, which lay them out day by day with the trains.

If an excursion is the reason for the trip, whether Fergana, Nukus, the Aral Sea or Termez, fix it in the calendar first and fit the cities around it. Train tickets go on sale 60 days before departure at 10:00 Tashkent time: buy early for Khiva and Nukus, where seats sell out weeks ahead. For the summer heat and the months to choose, see when to go; for every route between the cities, see trains and routes.

Count nights from full days, not the other way round: an afternoon arrival and a morning departure two nights later leave one full day, not two.

Common questions