Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan · Central Asia
Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva: the tiled madrasas and bazaars of the Silk Road, joined by a high-speed railway from Tashkent.
Why visit
Why visit Uzbekistan
Go for the Registan of Samarkand, a square enclosed by three tiled madrasas that is the image of Central Asia, and for the old town of Bukhara, lower, browner and more intimate, where mosques, covered bazaars and merchants' houses lie within walking distance of one another.
Go also because the journey has become simple. Our guide to Uzbekistan by high-speed train explains the route and the booking.
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What to see
Tashkent. The capital, rebuilt after an earthquake in 1966, with wide avenues, Soviet modernist buildings and a metro with decorated stations. A day is enough.
Samarkand. Timur's capital: the Registan, his tomb, the avenue of mausoleums called Shah-i-Zinda and the observatory of Ulugh Beg. Allow two days.
Bukhara. The old town of madrasas, bazaars and courtyard houses. In 2025 it held its first biennial in restored caravanserais. Allow two or three days.
Khiva. The walled town of the old khanate, across the desert to the north-west.
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Before you go
Practical information
Best time to visit
April, May, September and October are the best months. Summer temperatures pass forty degrees. Winter is cold but clear and empty.
Getting around
The Afrosiyob high-speed train runs from Tashkent to Samarkand in a little over two hours and to Bukhara in about three hours and twenty minutes. Since May 2026 high-speed services have continued to Urgench and Khiva. Trains are few and sell out weeks ahead in spring and autumn; tickets should be bought as soon as dates are fixed.
Practical notes
Citizens of many countries can enter without a visa; the rules should be checked before travelling. A week covers Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara, and ten days adds Khiva.