Samarkand sights: tickets, opening hours and how long to stay
Places in this article: Samarkand
The short answer: 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 → costs 100,000 som for a foreign adult and deserves about two hours. The classic circuit from 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 → to 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 → fits into one long day on foot. There is no single city pass: every monument sells its own ticket at its own desk.
We are a Tashkent company and bring guests to Samarkand every week. Below is the table we give our own travellers, then a short card for each sight: what it is, the ticket, the hours, how long to stay, the best time of day, what to wear and our tip. Where we give no price, the desk sets it on the day, so check at the ticket office.
Samarkand sights at a glance
| Sight | Foreign adult ticket | Hours | Allow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registan | 100,000 som | From 8:00 into the evening | 1.5–2 hours |
| Gur-e-Amir | Check at the ticket office | Check at the ticket office | 45 minutes |
| Shah-i-Zinda | Check at the ticket office | Check at the ticket office | 1–1.5 hours |
| The great mosque Amir Timur ordered after his Indian campaign of 1398–1399, one of the largest of its time. Read more → Mosque | Check at the ticket office | Check at the ticket office | 45 minutes |
| Did you know? Ulugh Beg measured the year to within 25 seconds Working at his Samarkand observatory, Ulugh Beg put the tropical year at 365 days 5 h 49 min 15 s, about 25 seconds too long, closer than Copernicus a century later. Read more → | Check at the ticket office | Check at the ticket office | 1 hour |
| 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 → museum | Check at the ticket office | Monday to Saturday, 9:00–17:00 | 1 hour |
| Samarkand's main bazaar, right next to Bibi-Khanym: Samarkand bread, dried fruit, nuts and halva. Read more → | Free | From first light until dark | 1 hour |
| A village near Samarkand where paper is made by hand from mulberry bark, the old way, at a working mill on the stream. paper mill | Check at the ticket office | Check at the ticket office | Half a day with the drive |
The Registan and Gur-e-Amir
Registan
Three madrasas around one square: Ulugh Beg (1417–1420), Sher-Dor (1619–1636) and Tilla-Kari (1646–1660). It took more than two centuries to finish the ensemble you see today.
- Ticket: 100,000 som for a foreign adult, 50,000 som for ages 7 to 18, free for younger children (official online tariff). You can buy it in advance at tickets.registon.uz and pay online.
- Hours: from 8:00. The ensemble keeps longer hours in the season and shorter ones in winter; its latest official notice gives 8:00 to 22:00.
- Allow: 1.5 to 2 hours, plus a second short visit if you can.
- Best time: opening time, when the low morning sun lights the Did you know? Engineers pulled a leaning minaret back upright By 1920 a minaret of the Ulugh Beg Madrasah on the Registan was tilting. In 1932 engineer Vladimir Shukhov straightened it; the second minaret was set upright in 1965. Read more → on the west side. By late afternoon the light moves to Sher-Dor opposite.
- Dress and photos: covered shoulders and knees are the safe norm at every Samarkand monument. Photos are allowed; some sites charge a separate filming fee, so ask at the desk.
- Our tip: buy the ticket online the night before and be at the gate at eight, ahead of the tour groups.
Gur-e-Amir
The mausoleum of Amir Timur (Tamerlane, 1336–1405), founder of the Timurid empire, which had its capital in Samarkand. Born near Shahrisabz., completed in 1404. His sons and grandsons lie here too, among them Ulugh Beg, the builder of the first Registan An Islamic college: student cells and classrooms around a courtyard behind a grand portal. In the old towns many now house museums and craft workshops.. It is about a kilometre from the square.
- Ticket: check at the ticket office.
- Hours: check at the ticket office.
- Allow: 45 minutes.
- Best time: the end of the day, as the last stop of your walk.
- Dress and photos: this is a mausoleum and a place of pilgrimage: shoulders and knees covered, a scarf for women. Speak quietly inside.
- Our tip: step inside and look up before you take a single photo of the ribbed dome outside.
Shah-i-Zinda, Bibi-Khanym and Siab Bazaar
Shah-i-Zinda
A necropolis of more than twenty buildings from the 11th–15th and 19th centuries, set along a narrow lane that climbs a hill. By legend, Qutham ibn Abbas, a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, is buried at the top; the name means "the Living King".
- Ticket: check at the ticket office.
- Hours: check at the ticket office.
- Allow: 1 to 1.5 hours.
- Best time: morning, before the heat; in summer we always go early.
- Dress and photos: it is still a place of pilgrimage, so shoulders and knees covered for everyone and a scarf for women. Never photograph people at prayer.
- Our tip: walk to the top first, then come down slowly: the tilework reads better once you know the layout.
Bibi-Khanym Mosque
Timur's Friday mosque, built in 1399–1405, about 700 m from the Registan along a pedestrian street and about 800 m from Shah-i-Zinda.
- Ticket: check at the ticket office.
- Hours: check at the ticket office.
- Allow: 45 minutes.
- Best time: late morning, on the way from the Registan to the bazaar.
- Dress and photos: covered shoulders and knees, a scarf for women.
- Our tip: plan it together with lunch at Siab Bazaar, which starts right beside it.
Siab Bazaar
The city's main bazaar, next to Bibi-Khanym: dried fruit, nuts, spices, sweets and more than seventeen kinds of flatbread.
- Ticket: free.
- Hours: from first light until dark.
- Allow: 1 hour.
- Best time: morning, when the bread is fresh.
- Dress and photos: no dress code. Ask before you photograph a trader.
- Our tip: carry cash in som: stalls rarely take cards. Our notes on cards and cash explain the rest.
The observatory, Afrosiyob and Konigil
Ulugh Beg Observatory
The remains of Ulugh Beg's observatory of the 1420s. Its sextant had a radius of 40 m; the archaeologist Vassily Vyatkin dug out the buried marble arc in 1908, and a small museum explains how it worked. It is 3.5 km from the Registan.
- Ticket: check at the ticket office.
- Hours: check at the ticket office.
- Allow: 1 hour.
- Best time: morning or late afternoon; you need a taxi or a car.
- Dress and photos: no special dress code beyond the usual covered shoulders.
- Our tip: combine it with the Afrosiyob museum, about 1.5 km away, in one ride.
Afrosiyob museum
The museum on the hill where Samarkand stood from around 500 BC until the Mongols took it in 1220. Its reason to come is the 7th-century wall painting of King Varkhuman receiving foreign embassies.
- Ticket: check at the ticket office.
- Hours: Monday to Saturday, 9:00 to 17:00.
- Allow: 1 hour.
- Best time: before lunch, so you are not racing the 17:00 closing.
- Dress and photos: no dress code; ask at the desk about photography.
- Our tip: go straight to the painting hall first, then the finds.
Konigil paper mill
The village of Konigil, 13 km from Samarkand, where the Meros mill makes paper by hand from natural materials. There is a charkhpalak water wheel and a A teahouse: green tea, plov and conversation on wide wooden beds called topchan. by the river.
- Ticket: check at the ticket office.
- Hours: check at the ticket office.
- Allow: half a day with the drive, about 1.5 hours on site.
- Best time: the third day of a stay, when you need a break from tilework.
- Dress and photos: no dress code. Ask before you film the craftsmen at work.
- Our tip: buy your notebooks and souvenirs at the mill's own shop: the paper is made right there.
Getting there and planning the days
Most of our guests come by train: see Tashkent to Samarkand. To spread these sights over one, two or three days, use our plan Samarkand in 1, 2 or 3 days. The page Samarkand shows how the city combines with Bukhara and Khiva.
If you would rather not queue at eight desks, our Samarkand highlights tour and Samarkand discovery tour come with a guide who handles the tickets, and Samarkand in a day starts from Tashkent.
In short
- The Registan costs 100,000 som for a foreign adult and 50,000 som for ages 7 to 18; buy online at tickets.registon.uz.
- Every other sight sells its own ticket at its own desk: check the price at the ticket office and carry cash in som.
- The Registan at eight, Shah-i-Zinda before the heat, Gur-e-Amir at the end of the day.
- Cover shoulders and knees everywhere; women need a scarf at Shah-i-Zinda, Gur-e-Amir and Bibi-Khanym.
- The observatory, Afrosiyob and Konigil need a car; the rest is a walk.
