Khiva to Bukhara (and back): train, car and what to see on the way
Places in this article: Bukhara · Khiva · Tashkent
Almost all of the 450 km between Bukhara and Khiva is 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., the "Red Sand". The fast train crosses it in about three and a half hours. By car it takes most of a day, and for long stretches you will not pass a single town. Here is how we in Tashkent plan this leg in both directions: by train, by road, and what is worth seeing on the way.
Bukhara to Khiva by train
Since May 2026 the Jaloliddin Manguberdi, a Korean-built Hyundai Rotem high-speed train, runs from Tashkent through Samarkand and Bukhara to Khiva. In July a second trainset joined the first, and together they cover six days a week.
- Bukhara to Khiva: the train calls at Bukhara at about 11:00 and reaches Khiva at 14:31. It does not run on Sundays, the one day it does not leave Tashkent.
- Khiva to Bukhara: it leaves Khiva at 07:15 or 07:20, depending on the day, and is in Bukhara before 11:00. It does not run on Mondays.
So the trip takes about three and a half hours, and from Bukhara you keep the whole morning. Tickets open 60 days ahead on eticket.railway.uz. This train sells out fastest of all, so on our routes it is the first ticket we buy. The details on classes, refunds and boarding are in trains in Uzbekistan.
Two practical points. Bukhara's station is in Kagan, about 12 km from the old city, so plan a taxi or a transfer. In Khiva the station is a half-hour walk from 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 →.
Night trains and other options
The overnight trains from Tashkent to Khiva also stop in Bukhara, in the small hours or early in the morning, and reach Khiva around midday. Between Bukhara and Khiva they take about six and a half hours. In the opposite direction they leave Khiva in the afternoon or evening and reach Bukhara late at night. Some of these trains end in Urgench rather than Khiva; Urgench is about 30 km from Khiva.
They run on set days, not every day, so check the current timetable on eticket.railway.uz. If you need to leave Bukhara on a Sunday or Khiva on a Monday, check whether a night train runs that day; if not, the road is the answer.
Khiva to Bukhara by car: through the Kyzylkum
By road it is about 450 km, and the drive takes 6 to 7 hours with short stops. Most of it is desert: the Kyzylkum covers about 298,000 km², mostly plain with dunes, between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya. For hours there are no towns at all, so drivers fill up before the desert.
At the Khiva end the road meets the Amu Darya, and you cross the river into Khorezm. The change is sudden: after hours of sand come canals, cotton fields, orchards and melon plots. Khorezm is known for its melons, above all the gurvak.
When is the car better than the train? When the fast train does not run on your day, when there are several of you with a lot of luggage, or when you want to stop on the way. We send our guests by car with a driver, never on their own across the desert.
What to see on the way
Honestly, the road itself is the experience: the empty desert and the river at the end. The sights are at the Khiva end, on the right bank of the Amu Darya, in Karakalpakstan.
- Ruins of ancient Khorezm fortresses on hills at the edge of the Kyzylkum, in Karakalpakstan.: fortresses on a hill above the Kyzylkum. The oldest dates from the end of the 4th or the start of the 3rd century BC; they guarded the oasis from nomad raids.
- Toprak-Kala: a palace city that was the capital of ancient Khorezm in the 2nd–3rd century AD. Wall paintings and sculptures were found here in the 20th century.
By car the fortresses can be fitted into the drive as a detour, but it makes a long day longer. We usually do them as a separate trip from Khiva: our Khiva in 3 days tour drives out to Ayaz-Kala, passing Toprak-Kala on the way.
Flights and which direction to choose
For the Bukhara–Khiva leg we use the train or the road. The plane is useful at the end of the route: Urgench airport is about 30 km from Khiva, and Uzbekistan Airways flies to Tashkent several times a day, about 1 h 20 min to 1 h 30 min in the air.
That gives two ways to build a trip:
- West from Tashkent. Samarkand, Bukhara, then the fast train to Khiva, and a flight back from Urgench. This is the route in our Uzbekistan in 7 days and Uzbekistan in 10 days; just keep the Bukhara–Khiva day off a Sunday.
- Khiva first. Fly from Tashkent to Urgench, spend a day or two in Khiva, then take the morning train to Bukhara and have the afternoon in the old town. Keep that day off a Monday.
In Khiva, give yourself one evening outside the walls: our article on Arda Khiva explains why. For a guided day inside Itchan Kala there is our Khiva walking tour, and in Bukhara the Bukhara highlights tour. If you want hotels, trains and transfers booked for you, look at the 8-day independent tour. More on the Khiva and Bukhara pages.
In short
- The Jaloliddin Manguberdi: Bukhara at about 11:00, Khiva at 14:31, not on Sundays; back from Khiva at 07:15/07:20, in Bukhara before 11:00, not on Mondays.
- Buy this ticket first: sales open 60 days ahead on eticket.railway.uz and it sells out fastest.
- By car it is about 450 km and 6 to 7 hours through the Kyzylkum, crossing the Amu Darya into Khorezm.
- The desert fortresses Ayaz-Kala and Toprak-Kala are best as a separate trip from Khiva.
- Flying back from Urgench to Tashkent saves the long way back east.
