Uzbekistan itinerary, day by day

From Tashkent to the tiled madrasas of Samarkand, the domes of Bukhara and the walled city of Khiva, by train: the map, what is worth booking, everything that costs nothing, and where to sleep at three budgets.

🗓️ 3, 7 or 14 days📍 4 stops☀️ Best time: April to May and September to October

Samarcande · Photo Gustavo Jeronimo from Aranjuez, Spain / CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

Route map (numbers = order of the stops).

Uzbekistan in 3 days

2 stops · 10 things to do · ≈ 280 km

1Tashkent

Day 1

The capital, largely rebuilt after the 1966 earthquake. Its old madrasas survived, and its Soviet metro is decorated like a string of underground palaces.

🎟️ Worth booking

Old town and Kukeldash madrasa, guidedHalf day · from €15
The sixteenth-century madrasa beside Chorsu bazaar, and the lanes of old Tashkent around it.
Book on GetYourGuide →
The metro stations and the museumsHalf day · from €10
A ride through stations lined with marble, chandeliers and mosaics, then the city's main museums.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Independence Square · Chorsu bazaar and its turquoise dome · The Hazrati Imam complex · The decorated metro stations

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Gulnara Guesthouse (€25 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Uzbekistan (€70 a night) · Luxury: Hyatt Regency Tashkent (€160 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Besh Qozon Pilaf Center ↗ ★ 4.9 · 4846 reviews
Fillet Restaurant ↗ ★ 4.8 · 293 reviews
Pro. Хинкали ↗ ★ 4.8 · 189 reviews
Besh Qozon ↗ ★ 4.7 · 7430 reviews
Yuzhanin ↗ ★ 4.7 · 689 reviews

Photo Talha Kılıç / Pexels

🚆 Afrosiyob · 2h · 280 km

2Samarkand

Days 2-3

The great city of the Silk Road and Tamerlane's capital. The Registan, a square framed by three tiled madrasas, is UNESCO-listed.

🎟️ Worth booking

The Registan, guided2h · from €12
Three madrasas built between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries, the high point of Timurid tilework, read with a guide.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Shah-i-Zinda and the Gur-e-AmirHalf day · from €10
An avenue of tiled mausoleums climbing a hillside, then the tomb of Tamerlane.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Bibi-Khanym Mosque, from outside · Siab bazaar

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Bahodir B&B (€20 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Dilshoda (€65 a night) · Luxury: Hotel Savitsky Plaza (€140 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Like Cafe ↗ ★ 5 · 3053 reviews
Doppio Specialty Coffee ↗ ★ 4.9 · 230 reviews
Boulevard Restaurant & Bakery ↗ ★ 4.8 · 1066 reviews
아리랑 Arirang ↗ ★ 4.7 · 660 reviews
Kokandskaya Somsa ↗ ★ 4.7 · 231 reviews

Photo AXP Photography / Pexels

Uzbekistan in 7 days

4 stops · 22 things to do · ≈ 1 000 km

1Tashkent

Days 1-2

The capital, largely rebuilt after the 1966 earthquake. Its old madrasas survived, and its Soviet metro is decorated like a string of underground palaces.

🎟️ Worth booking

Old town and Kukeldash madrasa, guidedHalf day · from €15
The sixteenth-century madrasa beside Chorsu bazaar, and the lanes of old Tashkent around it.
Book on GetYourGuide →
The metro stations and the museumsHalf day · from €10
A ride through stations lined with marble, chandeliers and mosaics, then the city's main museums.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Independence Square · Chorsu bazaar and its turquoise dome · The Hazrati Imam complex · The decorated metro stations

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Gulnara Guesthouse (€25 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Uzbekistan (€70 a night) · Luxury: Hyatt Regency Tashkent (€160 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Talha Kılıç / Pexels

🚆 Afrosiyob · 2h · 280 km

2Samarkand

Days 3-4

The great city of the Silk Road and Tamerlane's capital. The Registan, a square framed by three tiled madrasas, is UNESCO-listed.

🎟️ Worth booking

The Registan, guided2h · from €12
Three madrasas built between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries, the high point of Timurid tilework, read with a guide.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Shah-i-Zinda and the Gur-e-AmirHalf day · from €10
An avenue of tiled mausoleums climbing a hillside, then the tomb of Tamerlane.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Bibi-Khanym Mosque, from outside · Siab bazaar

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Bahodir B&B (€20 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Dilshoda (€65 a night) · Luxury: Hotel Savitsky Plaza (€140 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo AXP Photography / Pexels

🚆 Afrosiyob · 1h30 · 270 km

3Bukhara

Days 5-6

A holy city of Central Asia whose old centre has come through almost intact, from the Kalon minaret to its covered trading domes. UNESCO-listed.

🎟️ Worth booking

Old town and the Ark fortress, guidedHalf day · from €12
The citadel the emirs of Bukhara ruled from, and the old merchant streets below it.
Book on GetYourGuide →
The Kalon minaret and its madrasas2h · from €8
A minaret of 1127, about 46 metres tall, said to have been spared by Genghis Khan, with the mosque and madrasa that face each other at its foot.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The Lyab-i Hauz pool · The trading domes · Bolo Hauz Mosque and its carved wooden columns · The carpet, silk and knife workshops

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Rumi Hostel (€14 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Minzifa (€60 a night) · Luxury: Mercure Bukhara (€120 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Zaytoon ↗ ★ 4.8 · 501 reviews
Minorai Kalon Restaurant & Terrace ↗ ★ 4.8 · 328 reviews
Afsona ↗ ★ 4.7 · 145 reviews
Ayvan ↗ ★ 4.6 · 957 reviews
Zolotaya Buhara ↗ ★ 4.6 · 930 reviews

Photo Talha Kılıç / Pexels

🚆 Night train · 6h · 450 km

4Khiva

Day 7

An oasis town whose inner city, Itchan Kala, sits inside mud-brick walls, with turquoise-tiled madrasas and minarets. UNESCO-listed.

🎟️ Worth booking

Itchan Kala, the walled city (ticket)Half day · from €12
One ticket for the museums, madrasas and monuments of a walled town that people still live in.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Climbing the Islam Khoja minaret1h · from €6
The tallest minaret in Khiva, finished in 1910, with a view over every dome in town.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The mud-brick walls · The turquoise madrasas, from outside · Sunset over the old town from the walls · The lanes of the museum city

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Meros B&B (€25 a night) · Mid-range: Orient Star Khiva (€60 a night) · Luxury: Asia Khiva Hotel (€110 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Restoran Tandiriy ↗ ★ 4.7 · 187 reviews
Arxi Terrasa ↗ ★ 4.6 · 272 reviews
ATA GAMBURG ↗ ★ 4.6 · 247 reviews
SULTAN ↗ ★ 4.5 · 428 reviews
Terrassa Cafe & Restaurant ↗ ★ 4.4 · 1423 reviews

Photo AXP Photography / Pexels

Uzbekistan in 14 days

5 stops · 28 things to do · ≈ 1 000 km

1Tashkent

Days 1-3

The capital, largely rebuilt after the 1966 earthquake. Its old madrasas survived, and its Soviet metro is decorated like a string of underground palaces.

🎟️ Worth booking

Old town and Kukeldash madrasa, guidedHalf day · from €15
The sixteenth-century madrasa beside Chorsu bazaar, and the lanes of old Tashkent around it.
Book on GetYourGuide →
The metro stations and the museumsHalf day · from €10
A ride through stations lined with marble, chandeliers and mosaics, then the city's main museums.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Independence Square · Chorsu bazaar and its turquoise dome · The Hazrati Imam complex · The decorated metro stations

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Gulnara Guesthouse (€25 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Uzbekistan (€70 a night) · Luxury: Hyatt Regency Tashkent (€160 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Talha Kılıç / Pexels

🚆 Afrosiyob · 2h · 280 km

2Samarkand

Days 4-6

The great city of the Silk Road and Tamerlane's capital. The Registan, a square framed by three tiled madrasas, is UNESCO-listed.

🎟️ Worth booking

The Registan, guided2h · from €12
Three madrasas built between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries, the high point of Timurid tilework, read with a guide.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Shah-i-Zinda and the Gur-e-AmirHalf day · from €10
An avenue of tiled mausoleums climbing a hillside, then the tomb of Tamerlane.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Bibi-Khanym Mosque, from outside · Siab bazaar

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Bahodir B&B (€20 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Dilshoda (€65 a night) · Luxury: Hotel Savitsky Plaza (€140 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo AXP Photography / Pexels

🚆 Afrosiyob · 1h30 · 270 km

3Bukhara

Days 7-9

A holy city of Central Asia whose old centre has come through almost intact, from the Kalon minaret to its covered trading domes. UNESCO-listed.

🎟️ Worth booking

Old town and the Ark fortress, guidedHalf day · from €12
The citadel the emirs of Bukhara ruled from, and the old merchant streets below it.
Book on GetYourGuide →
The Kalon minaret and its madrasas2h · from €8
A minaret of 1127, about 46 metres tall, said to have been spared by Genghis Khan, with the mosque and madrasa that face each other at its foot.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The Lyab-i Hauz pool · The trading domes · Bolo Hauz Mosque and its carved wooden columns · The carpet, silk and knife workshops

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Rumi Hostel (€14 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Minzifa (€60 a night) · Luxury: Mercure Bukhara (€120 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Talha Kılıç / Pexels

🚆 Night train · 6h · 450 km

4Khiva

Days 10-12

An oasis town whose inner city, Itchan Kala, sits inside mud-brick walls, with turquoise-tiled madrasas and minarets. UNESCO-listed.

🎟️ Worth booking

Itchan Kala, the walled city (ticket)Half day · from €12
One ticket for the museums, madrasas and monuments of a walled town that people still live in.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Climbing the Islam Khoja minaret1h · from €6
The tallest minaret in Khiva, finished in 1910, with a view over every dome in town.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The mud-brick walls · The turquoise madrasas, from outside · Sunset over the old town from the walls · The lanes of the museum city

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Meros B&B (€25 a night) · Mid-range: Orient Star Khiva (€60 a night) · Luxury: Asia Khiva Hotel (€110 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo AXP Photography / Pexels

✈️ Flight · 1h30 · return

5Tashkent

Days 13-14

The capital, largely rebuilt after the 1966 earthquake. Its old madrasas survived, and its Soviet metro is decorated like a string of underground palaces.

🎟️ Worth booking

Old town and Kukeldash madrasa, guidedHalf day · from €15
The sixteenth-century madrasa beside Chorsu bazaar, and the lanes of old Tashkent around it.
Book on GetYourGuide →
The metro stations and the museumsHalf day · from €10
A ride through stations lined with marble, chandeliers and mosaics, then the city's main museums.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Independence Square · Chorsu bazaar and its turquoise dome · The Hazrati Imam complex · The decorated metro stations

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Gulnara Guesthouse (€25 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Uzbekistan (€70 a night) · Luxury: Hyatt Regency Tashkent (€160 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Talha Kılıç / Pexels

Hotel prices are per room per night, activity prices per person, checked when written. Some links are affiliate links (Booking, GetYourGuide): we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.

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Good to know before you go

🍽️ What to eat

Plov: rice cooked with mutton, carrots and onions in a great iron pot. The national dish, eaten at lunchtime.
Shashlik: skewers of lamb or beef, grilled over charcoal in the bazaars.
Manti: large steamed dumplings filled with meat and onion.
Lagman: hand-pulled noodles, in a soup or stir-fried.
Non and green tea: the round bread baked on the wall of a clay oven, and the tea served with every meal.

⚠️ What to avoid

Keep the registration slips your hotels give you: border guards can check them when you leave.
Carry some cash in US dollars or euros. Cards work in city hotels, less so in bazaars and small towns.
Cover shoulders and knees in mosques and madrasas.
Summer heat regularly passes 40 °C in Bukhara and Khiva: sightsee early and late.

Plan this trip

📒 The free printable Uzbekistan guide→ 🗓️ Best time to visit Uzbekistan, month by month→ 🎟️ What to book before you go→

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