Uzbekistan, four cities on a trade route and a train that ties them together
Ten days is the number that works. The four cities everyone comes for, Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, sit in a line across the country, and a high-speed train covers most of it. Twelve days adds the Nuratau mountains or the Fergana craft valley. Three weeks reaches a second country.
Plan my Uzbekistan trip Read the complete guide
- Best time to go
- April to May, September to October
- Worst time to go
- June to August
- How many days
- 10 to 12
- Entry
- Visa-free for many nationalities
Uzbekistan is easier to travel than its reputation suggests and hotter than its brochures admit. Both facts shape everything below.
Why plan Uzbekistan with us
We are straight about how we operate here. GO EAST staffs its own offices in Japan, Vietnam, India and the Philippines. Uzbekistan is not one of them. We run it through a Tashkent partner of many years, whose guides and drivers meet you on the ground. We would rather name who is there than imply an office we do not have.
A named specialist, not a queue. Your file belongs to one person: our Head of Consulting Mai Est, or our Central Asia specialists Osnat Angerman and Paz Prosianoy.
We book the trains the day they open. The Afrosiyob high-speed service between the Silk Road cities is genuinely excellent and it sells out, particularly in April, May, September and October. Seats are the constraint here, not hotels.
We will tell you the unwelcome thing. That June to August is brutally hot, over 100°F (38°C) in Bukhara. That much of what you will photograph is Soviet-era reconstruction, and we will say which parts are original. That Khiva’s walled city is beautiful and nearly a museum. Our rating is 4.9 from 93 reviews largely because of that.
A WhatsApp group while you travel. Your consultant here, our Tashkent partner there, from take-off until you land home.
The short answers
| Question | Short answer | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Best time to go | April to May, September to October | Two narrow windows. Late April and late September are the best fortnights of the year. |
| Worst time to go | June to August | Over 100°F (38°C) in Bukhara, with no shade in a tiled courtyard at noon. |
| How many days | 10 to 12 | Under 8 drops Khiva. Over 14 opens Fergana, the Aral road or a second country. |
| Entry | Visa-free for many nationalities | We confirm the current rule for your passport before we quote. |
| Getting around | The high-speed train, plus a car and driver | Book early. Trains between the Silk Road cities sell out in the shoulder seasons. |
| Typical budget | $115 to $530 per person per day | Land only, excluding international flights. |
The full breakdown is in our complete guide →
Eight ways to travel Uzbekistan
Every route below is one we actually build, day by day, with real train times. Start from one and we rebuild it around you.
- Classic Uzbekistan in 10 days, Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva
- Uzbekistan with children, 10 days, trains, a yurt and a pottery wheel
- Adventure, 12 days, the Nuratau mountains, yurt camps, the Aral road
- Romantic Uzbekistan, 9 days, courtyard rooms and three slow bases
- Craft and culture, 12 days, Rishtan ceramics, Margilan silk, suzani
- Boutique Uzbekistan, 10 days, restored caravanserai and madrasa hotels
- The Silk Road in 14 days, the four cities plus the Fergana valley
- Uzbekistan in 21 days, with Kyrgyzstan or Turkmenistan on request
Uzbekistan in the magazine
Uzbekistan month by month · The Afrosiyob train, explained · How much does ten days in Uzbekistan cost? · Samarkand: what is original · Plov, region by region
Uzbekistan itineraries
Every one of these is a starting point, not a fixed departure. We change the length, the pace and the hotels to fit you.
Classic Uzbekistan in 10 days: Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva
The four cities, in the order that works, linked by the high-speed train where it runs and by a desert road where it does…
Uzbekistan with children in 10 days: trains, a yurt and a potter’s wheel
Uzbekistan works better with children than most people assume. The distances are covered by fast trains rather than long drives, which children like. The…
Uzbekistan adventure in 12 days: Nuratau, yurts and the Aral road
Most Uzbekistan itineraries are four cities and a train. This one uses the cities as punctuation and spends the rest of the time in…
Romantic Uzbekistan in 9 days: three bases and one night under canvas
Uzbekistan is not an obvious choice for a trip like this, and it should be. The old towns of Samarkand and Bukhara are walkable,…
Craft and culture in Uzbekistan: 12 days of ceramics, silk and suzani
Uzbekistan has one of the strongest living craft traditions in Asia, and unlike almost everywhere else it survived the twentieth century. Soviet policy industrialised…
Boutique Uzbekistan in 10 days: courtyards, caravanserai and cool rooms
Something interesting has happened to Uzbek hotels in the last decade. A generation of small operators has taken over merchant houses, caravanserai and disused…
The Silk Road in 14 days: four cities, the Fergana valley and a yurt
Two weeks is where Uzbekistan stops being four monuments and starts being a country. The extra four days over the classic route buy three…
Uzbekistan in 21 days, with Kyrgyzstan or Turkmenistan
Three weeks is enough to do Uzbekistan thoroughly and add a second country. Which second country is a real decision rather than a preference,…
What is in every Uzbekistan trip we build
- Train seats booked the day the timetable opens, in the class worth paying for
- Monuments scheduled for early morning and late afternoon from May to September, because the middle of the day is unusable
- A written note on what is original and what was rebuilt, at every site
- Workshop visits with working craftspeople rather than showroom demonstrations
Planning Uzbekistan, in detail
What we would skip in Uzbekistan
This is the article that costs us money and earns the trust, so we write it carefully.
Uzbek food: bread, plov and the hour that matters
Uzbek cooking has a reputation for being heavy, repetitive and beige. One of those is true.
What does a trip to Uzbekistan cost?
The short answer is that Uzbekistan is one of the least expensive countries we send people to, and that the difference between…
Uzbekistan for the first time
Almost everybody arrives in Uzbekistan with the same two expectations, and almost everybody is wrong about both.
Uzbekistan month by month
The best time to visit Uzbekistan is a narrower answer than most countries, because the constraint is not rain or crowds. It…
The Afrosiyob high-speed train, and how to get a seat on it
The Afrosiyob is the single most important piece of infrastructure in Uzbek tourism. It is the reason a ten-day route through four…
Frequently asked questions
Do we need a visa?
Is it really too hot in summer?
How much of it is rebuilt?
Is it safe, and is it easy?
Tell us roughly what you want. We will tell you honestly what works.
A named consultant in Tel Aviv, our own people on the ground, and a written plan you can argue with before you commit to anything.