Uzbekistan · Destination guide
The capital where every Silk Road journey begins
Quick facts
Most Silk Road trips begin in Tashkent, and it tends to surprise people. It is big, green and modern — a capital of nearly three million, largely rebuilt on a Soviet plan after the 1966 earthquake levelled much of the old city. It does not have Samarkand's skyline of domes.
What it has is a quieter, layered story: one of the oldest Qurans in the world in a working shrine complex, a bazaar that has traded on the same spot for centuries, an underground metro whose stations were built like palaces, and leafy boulevards that make it the easiest Uzbek city to simply walk around. A day or two here is the right way to begin a journey — and to adjust — before the great monuments start.
Highlights
Tashkent is spread out, so pair the metro with a ride app rather than trying to walk between districts. A focused day covers the essentials below.
The religious heart of the capital, and home to the Uthman Quran — one of the oldest surviving copies in the world, said to bear the stains of the murdered caliph's blood. The square also holds the Barak Khan madrasah and the Tillya Sheikh mosque.
You can stand a few metres from one of the oldest Qurans on earth.
The great turquoise-domed farmers' market — pyramids of spice, mountains of dried fruit and nuts, fresh non bread stamped and stacked, and the smell of the samsa ovens. This is the capital's real food economy, trading on the same spot for centuries.
Central Asia's classic covered bazaar, under a dome the size of a stadium.
Opened in 1977, the first metro in Central Asia — and a sight in its own right. Stations were designed as chandeliered halls themed on cosmonauts, poets and cotton. Photography, once forbidden, is now allowed. Ride between Kosmonavtlar and Alisher Navoi.
An underground palace you travel through for the price of a bus fare.
The 16th-century Kukeldash Madrasah stands on a rise above Chorsu — the largest surviving madrasah in the city. Across town, tree-lined Amir Timur Square anchors central Tashkent, with its equestrian statue and the domed State Museum nearby.
A piece of pre-earthquake Tashkent, above the oldest market in the city.
Housed in a pre-revolutionary diplomat's mansion of carved ganch plaster and painted ceilings, this museum is as much about the building as the collection — suzani embroidery, ceramics, woodwork and jewellery from across Uzbekistan.
The finest surviving interior of old Tashkent, filled with the crafts you'll see being made downcountry.
Mustaqillik Maydoni, the vast civic plaza of fountains, arches and monuments that is the symbolic centre of modern Uzbekistan. A pleasant walk in the cool of the evening, and a window on how the country presents itself today.
The ceremonial heart of the modern state, on the scale only a capital builds.
Plan your visit
As across Uzbekistan, April–May and September–October are the most comfortable, with warm days and cool evenings. Summers are hot (often 38°C+) but Tashkent's parks and shaded boulevards make the heat more bearable than in the desert cities. Winters are cold but mild by continental standards.
Tashkent has the country's main international airport, so most journeys start here. From the capital, the high-speed Afrosiyob train reaches Samarkand in about 2 hours 10 minutes and continues to Bukhara — the backbone of almost every Uzbekistan itinerary.
The metro is cheap, fast, air-conditioned and a sight in itself — use it. Yandex Go covers everything else for a few dollars a ride. The city is spread out, so don't plan to walk between districts; walk within them.
Stay near the centre — around Amir Timur Square or Independence Square — for easy transit and dining, or near Chorsu for old-city atmosphere. As a transport hub, Tashkent has the widest range of hotels in the country, from budget to international business brands.
Tashkent plov is the rich, festival-style version — visit a plov centre at lunch, when it is fresh and the cauldrons are still full. Beyond that: lagman, manti, samsa, and the distinctive Korean-Uzbek salads sold in the markets, a legacy of the city's deported Korean community.
Planning tip: Tashkent is the hub, so book your onward Afrosiyob fast-train tickets to Samarkand and Bukhara several days ahead — in spring and autumn they sell out, and the slow alternatives cost hours.
You might be wondering
One to two days, usually at the start of a trip. A day covers the Khast Imam complex, Chorsu Bazaar and a ride on the metro; a second lets you slow down, see a museum, and adjust to the time zone before the monument cities.
Yes — a day, at least. It won't wow you the way Samarkand does, but it eases you into the country, holds genuinely important sites, and its metro and bazaars are a pleasure. As the gateway, you'll pass through it anyway.
The high-speed Afrosiyob train covers it in about 2 hours 10 minutes, several times a day. Book a few days ahead in season. It is far quicker and more comfortable than driving.
Yes to both. The old photography ban was lifted, and the stations are among the city's highlights. The metro is clean, cheap and safe, as is Tashkent generally — normal big-city sense applies.
Ready to go
Our small-group journeys spend at least two days here — enough to see what matters, slowly.
Walk where Tamerlane walked. Discover the three jewels of the Silk Road — Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva — in seven unforgettable days.
8 Day Group Tour with guide with master-classe in uzbek village. Classic Tour for first visit to Uzbekistan.
A guaranteed 7-day group tour through Tashkent, Samarkand, Gijduvan and Bukhara, tracing Timurid-era architecture, Silk Road bazaars and living ceramic traditions.