Is Uzbekistan worth visiting? An honest answer from locals
Places in this article: Samarkand · Bukhara · Khiva · Tashkent
Short answer: yes, for most travellers. Uzbekistan has four old towns on the UNESCO list, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva and Shahrisabz, and fast trains between them. Citizens of close to 90 countries enter without a 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 →, and government travel advisories ask for normal precautions. The trade-offs are real but easy to plan around: a fierce summer, a long way to Khiva and bazaars that still run on cash.
In 2025 the country received 11.7 million foreign visitors, 46.8% more than a year earlier. About four in five came from neighbouring countries; visitors from China grew 3.8-fold. We live in Tashkent and have been showing Uzbekistan to travellers for twenty years. Here is the honest version: what is great, what to be ready for, and who will love it.
Why Uzbekistan is worth visiting
Old towns you can walk. In Bukhara everything worth seeing is within walking distance of the Did you know? Bukhara's ponds were once its water supply Pools like Lyabi-Hauz, dug around 1620 and 46 × 36 m, were the city's main source of water. Most were filled in during the 1920s–30s because they spread disease; Lyabi-Hauz survived. Read more → pond. In Khiva you can sleep inside the city walls and step out of the hotel straight into Did you know? People still live inside Khiva's museum city Itchan Kala packs more than 50 historic monuments and about 250 old houses inside clay walls 8–10 m high and 5–6 m thick, and families still live and work in its lanes. Read more →. These are living neighbourhoods, not fenced-off ruins.
More than the famous three. Uzbekistan has eight UNESCO World Heritage sites. The newest, added in July 2026, is a group of ten modernist buildings in Tashkent from the 1960s to the early 1990s, so even the capital, which many travellers skip, is now on the list.
Trains that make it easy. The Uzbekistan's high-speed train: Tashkent to Samarkand in 2 hours 30 minutes, Tashkent to Bukhara in about 4 hours. Tickets are tied to your passport. Read more → high-speed train takes 2 hours 30 minutes from Tashkent to Samarkand and under 2 hours from Samarkand to Bukhara. Since May 2026 a high-speed train also runs to Khiva, in about 7.5 hours from the capital. Moving between cities costs you a morning, not a day. Details in our guide to trains in Uzbekistan.
Simple entry. All EU countries, the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea and many others get 30 days without a visa. Check your passport in our visa guide.
The food and the bazaars. Rice cooked in a kazan with carrots, onions and meat: the dish of every Uzbek celebration. Each region cooks it its own way. cooked in huge cauldrons, samsa from the tandoor, warm round bread at every table, and from early summer whole rows of apricots, cherries, grapes and melons at the bazaar.
What to be ready for
Summer heat
The average July high is 37.3°C in Bukhara, and the city has recorded 45.8°C. The hottest stretch of summer, called chilla, can last up to 40 days. In July and August we plan sightseeing before 11am and after 5pm. The gentle months are April–May and September–October, when the average high in Bukhara is about 24°C and 23°C. Month by month: when to visit Uzbekistan.
Distances
The main cities lie almost on one line from east to west, and Khiva sits at the far end, beyond about 450 km of the The Kyzylkum, or Red Sands: the desert between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers that the road and the railway cross on the way to Khiva. Desert from Bukhara. The fast train to Khiva leaves Tashkent every day except Sunday and leaves Khiva every day except Monday, so that leg sets the shape of the trip. Railway stations are also outside the old towns: more than 6 km from 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 → in Samarkand and about 12 km in Bukhara, so plan a taxi or a transfer.
Cash at the bazaar
Visa and Mastercard work at almost every card terminal: hotels, restaurants, shops, museums, stations. Bazaars, street vendors and some taxis take cash only. ATMs that accept foreign cards are scarcer outside the main cities, so withdraw so'm before a trip out of town. Exchange money only at banks and official booths; they refuse damaged notes and US dollars issued before 2013. More: cards, cash and tipping.
Registration and your passport
Every foreign visitor must be registered within 3 days of arrival. Hotels and guesthouses do it at check-in, so you rarely think about it; if you stay with friends, ask the host how they will register you. Carry your passport at all times: police do check. Details: registration and customs.
Alcohol, photos and Ramadan
Alcohol is legal and sold to adults aged 21 and over. Do not photograph military sites, police stations, airports or government buildings. Ramadan is next expected to begin around 7 February 2027. Menus may change and cafés fill up around iftar, the evening meal. Between sunrise and sunset, be discreet about eating, drinking and smoking in public. On dress and manners, see what to wear and etiquette.
Is Uzbekistan safe for tourists?
Yes. Western governments' travel advisories don't advise against travel to any part of Uzbekistan and rate it a normal-precautions destination; the only caution is a 5 km strip along the Afghan border, far from any tourist route. The everyday risk is petty theft in bazaars and on public transport, so keep your phone and cash close. Book taxis through an app rather than flagging a car. Full advice: safety and health in Uzbekistan.
Who will love it, and who might not
You will love Uzbekistan if you travel for architecture and history, for food and markets, or for photography. It also suits anyone who likes trains more than airports and wants a first trip to Central Asia with easy logistics. Families do well too; see Uzbekistan with kids.
It may not be your trip if:
- you want a beach. Uzbekistan is one of only two doubly landlocked countries in the world; the nearest sea is two borders away;
- July or August is your only window and you do not cope with heat. The trip still works, but on a split day;
- you want to pay by card for every single thing. At the bazaar, you will need cash.
If you want mountains rather than domes, they are close: see Chimgan and the mountains near Tashkent.
How to plan it
Seven days cover the four main cities: Uzbekistan in 7 days. Ten days give you an easier pace and a day trip to Shahrisabz: Uzbekistan in 10 days. Two weeks add the Fergana Valley and the desert fortresses: Uzbekistan in 14 days. For money and logistics, see how much a trip costs, flights to Uzbekistan and where to stay. Ready-made routes are in the tour catalogue, or answer a few questions in the tour finder.
In short
- Yes, Uzbekistan is worth visiting: four UNESCO-listed old towns, fast trains between them and 30 days visa-free for close to 90 countries.
- In 2025 it received 11.7 million foreign visitors, 46.8% more than in 2024.
- Be ready for summer heat, the long leg to Khiva and cash-only bazaars.
- It is safe: government advisories ask for normal precautions; the real risk is pickpockets.
- Best months: April–May and September–October.
