Places in this article: Samarkand · Tashkent
Day trips from Tashkent: mountains, the Solar Furnace, Samarkand and beyond
An hour and a half east of the city the road climbs into the western ,Did you know? The tulip's family tree is said to begin in the Tien Shan Long before Ottoman gardens and Dutch bulb fields, wild tulips grew in Central Asia's mountains, and the Tien Shan is often named as their homeland. In April they flower on the slopes around Chimgan. Read more → and in July it is about ten degrees cooler there than in Tashkent. Forty-five kilometres in the other direction, a field of mirrors in the foothills heats a single point to 3,000 °C. And the morning Uzbekistan's high-speed train: Tashkent to Samarkand in about 2 hours 10 minutes, Tashkent to Bukhara in about 4 hours. Tickets are tied to your passport. Read more → puts you on the Did you know? The Registan's sun-carrying lion went on a banknote The Sher-Dor Madrasah (1619–1636) is named for the big cats with the sun on their backs on its portal. The image appeared on the reverse of Uzbekistan's 200-som note of 1997. Read more → before nine. Tashkent is a good base for day trips, and none of the ones below needs a night away.
This is our list of day trips from Tashkent, as we plan them for our guests: what each place is, how long the drive takes, when to go and what we organise there. Several of them have their own detailed articles, and we link to those rather than repeat them. For the city itself, see Tashkent in 1 or 2 days.
Chimgan and Lake Charvak: the classic mountain day
Mountains of the Western Tien Shan about 80 km from Tashkent: hiking in summer, skiing in winter, the Charvak reservoir nearby. Read more → is the name everyone in Tashkent knows. It lies about 85 km from the city in Bostanliq district, and Lake ,Did you know? The lake below Chimgan is held back by a 168-metre dam Charvak is a reservoir: a 168 m stone dam on the Chirchiq, built in 1964–1970, holds about 2 km³ of water from the Pskem, Koksu and Chatkal rivers. Its name is traced to the Persian chorbog, "four gardens". Read more → a reservoir with villages along its shore, is about 80 km from the centre on the same road through Gazalkent. We plan about an hour and a half each way, which leaves six or seven hours in the mountains.
In summer the reason to go is the air: in July the average afternoon is 35.9 °C in Tashkent and 26.2 °C at Chimgan. The usual day is a walk or a lift in the morning, lunch on the way down and the afternoon by the water. For a planned trail with a guide, book our one-day mountain hike with a guide and a picnic. The hour-by-hour plan for summer and winter is in our Chimgan and Charvak day trip, and the background on each valley in the mountains near Tashkent.
Amirsoy and the cable cars
Amirsoy is the closest of the mountain resorts, 65 km from Tashkent. Two gondolas take you to 2,290 m, and they run in summer as well as in winter, so you need neither skis nor a climb to stand at the top. They open at 9:00, and we always ride up in the morning, before the wind picks up.
The easiest version of this day is one of our Travel Moments: Amirsoy and Chinorkent, with lunch and a cable-car ride. In winter the ski season runs from December to March; for two days on the snow there is our ski weekend in the Tashkent mountains. Runs, lifts and summer activities are in our Amirsoy guide, and every gondola in the country is in cable cars in Uzbekistan.
Beldersay and Yusufkhona: lifts, paragliders and the shore
Beldersay is 5 km from Chimgan, on the slopes of Mount Kumbel. What people in Tashkent call “the Chimgan cable car” is usually its lift, now a gondola with ten-seat cabins. In winter it gives the longest vertical near the capital, from 1,506 to 2,307 m, but the lifts close at 17:00, so on a ski day we leave Tashkent early. Since July 2026 Beldersoy Resort and Spa stands beside the lift.
Down by the water, the shore villages of Charvak are where Tashkent spends its summer: Yusufkhona, ,Did you know? A village on Lake Charvak gave its name to a much-loved song Until the mid-1970s Burchmulla on Lake Charvak was called Brich-Mulla. In 1980 the bard Sergei Nikitin set Dmitry Sukharev’s verses to music, and the song “Brich-Mulla” became a favourite of everyone who loves the mountains. Read more → Chorvoq, Sijjak and Bogiston, with guesthouses and tapchans by the reservoir. Yusufkhona is also the local paragliding spot, and on a clear summer day you see the wings above the slope. We add a stop on the shore to any summer mountain day; tell us if you would like a tandem flight, and we check what is possible on your date.
The Solar Furnace near Parkent, and the village of Sukok
About 45 km from Tashkent, at around 1,100 m in the foothills near Parkent, stands the .Did you know? A solar furnace near Tashkent catches the sun with 62 mirrors The Big Solar Furnace near Parkent, about 45 km from Tashkent, has worked since 1987. A field of 62 heliostats sends sunlight onto a parabolic concentrator of 10,700 small mirrors, and the heat is used to test and make new materials. Read more → It was built between 1981 and 1987 and works like a giant magnifying glass: 62 heliostats on the slope send sunlight onto a concentrator of 10,700 mirrors, and at its focus the temperature reaches 3,000 °C. Since July 2026 it is part of the UNESCO site Tashkent Modernist Architecture, and the only part outside the city.
The furnace is still a working research site, and you visit it on a guided tour; plan about three hours there and about an hour and a quarter on the road each way. It needs the sun, so we choose a clear day. Demonstrations of the furnace at work are not held at weekends, and not on every weekday, so we confirm your date before we go. A transfer there and back is one of our Travel Moments: the Solar Furnace, and the furnace opens our Stars of Uzbekistan astronomy tour. The other nine buildings on the list are in our article on Tashkent modernism.
About 20 km from the furnace is Sukok, a mountain village in the Parkent district at the foot of the Did you know? Snow leopards live in a reserve near Tashkent The Chatkal Biosphere Reserve, founded in 1947, spans 1,500–3,900 m on the Chatkal Range. It protects 770 plant species and rare animals including the snow leopard and Menzbier's marmot. Read more → range. In April and May it is known for its samsa with spring greens, a dish on the national register of geographical indications. Our trip to Sukok takes about five hours with transport and a guide. The Parkent foothills are also wine country: the family winery Uzumfermer, closer to the city in Kibray district, keeps more than 100 grape varieties, and our Uzumfermer tasting is for guests aged 21 and over.
Samarkand in a day on the Afrosiyob
Samarkand is not a short trip, but the high-speed train makes it a day. The 06:33 Afrosiyob arrives at 08:46, and the fast trains back leave Samarkand in the evening, around 7 to 8 p.m. That gives you about ten hours: enough for the Registan, ,Did you know? Legend says the architect asked the queen for a kiss Legend says the architect of Bibi-Khanym would finish on time only for a kiss from Timur's wife, and Timur punished him. In fact the mosque was Timur's own project; his wife Saray Mulk Khanum built her madrasah across the road. Read more → the ,Samarkand's main bazaar, right next to Bibi-Khanym: Samarkand bread, dried fruit, nuts and halva. Read more → Did you know? Why Shah-i-Zinda means 'the Living King' The necropolis grew around the shrine of Qutham ibn Abbas, a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad. Legend says he did not die in battle but went down a deep well to a garden of paradise, where he lives on. Read more → and .Did you know? Timur's tombstone went to Persia and came back The dark-green jade slab on Timur's grave in Gur-e-Amir was carried off by Nader Shah in 1740. It broke, and on his advisers' urging he sent it back to Samarkand. Read more → Tickets go on sale 60 days ahead and the morning trains sell out, so we buy them as soon as your dates are fixed.
If you would rather not deal with tickets, our Samarkand in a Day tour from Tashkent takes you there and back from your hotel, with a guide in your language, meals and entrance tickets included in the price. Train, car and day tour are compared in Tashkent to Samarkand; with more time, read Samarkand in 1, 2 or 3 days.
Turkestan: possible in a day, better in two
Turkestan, in southern Kazakhstan, has the mausoleum of ,Did you know? Legend says Yasawi spent his last years in an underground cell Legend and his biographers say Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, the Sufi poet of Turkestan, withdrew at 63, the age at which the Prophet died, into a cell he dug underground. His Divan-i Hikmat, the "Book of Wisdom", is still read in Turkic. Read more → ordered by Amir Timur (Tamerlane, 1336–1405), founder of the Timurid empire, which had its capital in Samarkand. Born near Shahrisabz. and left with its main portal unfinished; it was Kazakhstan’s first UNESCO site, in 2003. The road runs through Shymkent: about 120 km to Shymkent, then another 160 km or so to Turkestan, about 300 km in all.
A day trip is possible, but it means about 600 km and two border crossings in one day, and the border takes its own time. We prefer two days, and that is our private tour to Turkestan from Tashkent. Check the Kazakh entry rules for your passport, and if you are on an Uzbek e-,Entry rules depend on your passport. Once you are here, each stay must be registered within three days, and hotels do it for you; customs and registration rules are in our guide. Read more → make sure it allows a second entry. Everything else is in Turkestan from Tashkent.
The Fergana Valley in a day: honestly, it is a stretch
We are asked about this often, so here is the straight answer. The valley is beyond the Qurama range, and the road crosses the Kamchik pass at 2,268 m, which can close in winter. The train is the realistic option: No. 730 leaves Tashkent at 07:20 and reaches Did you know? Legend says Margilan is named after chicken and bread Legend says locals greeted Alexander the Great with chicken and bread, 'murg' and 'non', and the dish gave the town its name. In fact Alexander never reached here; the name Margilan is recorded from the 10th century. Read more → at 11:02; No. 729 leaves Margilan at 16:10 and is back in Tashkent at 19:55.
That is a twelve-hour day for about five hours in Margilan: enough for the Yodgorlik silk factory and lunch, not for Did you know? Legend says a Rishtan apricot made a great scholar praise God Legend says 12th-century Rishtan folk brought a new apricot to their countryman Burhan al-Din al-Marghinani in Samarkand; he tasted it and said 'Subhanallah' three times, so it is called subhoni. The scholar is real: he wrote al-Hidaya. Read more → or Did you know? Kokand's Friday mosque stands on 98 columns from India Muhammad Umar Khan built Kokand's Juma Mosque in 1812–1818. Its 100-metre iwan rests on 98 carved red-wood columns brought from India, and its minaret is 22 m tall. Inside is a small museum of applied arts. Read more → as well. For the valley we plan at least two days with a night in Fergana or Margilan; our Fergana Valley crafts tour gives it four. How we plan it is in our Fergana Valley guide.
Which trip for which season
- Summer (June–August): the mountains. Chimgan, Amirsoy, Beldersay and the Charvak shore are where the city escapes the heat.
- Winter (December–March): skiing at Amirsoy or Beldersay. The Kamchik pass can close, but the Fergana train keeps running.
- Spring and autumn: the best months for Samarkand, Turkestan and Fergana, and for walks in the foothills; April and May are the season of the Sukok samsa.
- Any season, on a clear day: the Solar Furnace near Parkent.
Practical notes
- Getting there: for the mountains and Parkent, a car with a driver; the driver waits while you walk or ride. For Samarkand and Fergana, the train.
- Drive times: Amirsoy, Chimgan and Charvak about 1.5 hours each way; the Solar Furnace about an hour and a quarter.
- Documents: no special permit for Chimgan, Beldersay, Amirsoy, Parkent or the shore of Charvak; carry your passport anyway. For Turkestan, your passport and a visa that allows you back into Uzbekistan.
- What to bring: a warm layer for the mountains even in July, sun protection and some cash in som for roadside stalls. Bottled water is sold everywhere.
- Dress: at the Yasawi mausoleum cover shoulders and knees; see what to wear in Uzbekistan.
- While you are out: our office is on call 24/7, so if the weather changes the plan, you call us and we rearrange the day.
All our tours from the capital are in the tour catalogue, and the city at a glance is on our Tashkent page.
In short
- Chimgan, Amirsoy, Beldersay and Lake Charvak are 65–85 km from Tashkent, about 1.5 hours each way.
- The Amirsoy gondolas run in summer and winter to 2,290 m; Beldersay’s lifts close at 17:00.
- The Solar Furnace near Parkent is a guided visit on a clear day; Sukok is 20 km on.
- Samarkand works as a day by Afrosiyob: about ten hours in the city.
- Turkestan and the Did you know? Legend says Fergana's 'heavenly horses' sweated blood Legend says the horses of Dayuan, as Chinese chronicles called Fergana, sweated blood, and around 102 BC Emperor Wu of Han sent an army to bring some home. The 'blood' was most likely a skin parasite that causes tiny bleeding spots. Read more → are possible in a day, but we plan two.
© Photos
- Gondola cabins above the slopes of Amirsoy — Iplossusvulpes19 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
- The Afrosiyob train at Tashkent Central station — Nikolai Bulykin / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
