Arriving at Tashkent airport: terminals, taxis, money, SIM cards and your first evening

Tashkent International Airport, named after Islam Karimov, has two passenger terminals. International flights use Terminal 2, also called Tashkent-2, where arrivals and departures are in separate buildings. Domestic flights use Terminal 3, on the other side of the runway and about 4 km away by road. You cannot walk from one to the other.

A free shuttle bus runs between the terminals once an hour, from 05:00 to 23:30. Flying on to Urgench, Bukhara or Termez the same day? Allow at least three to four hours between flights: you collect your bags, clear customs and check in again at Terminal 3.

A new international airport is being built in the Tashkent region and is due to open by 2030. Until then, everything below is about the airport you will land at.

After you leave the aircraft come passport control, the baggage hall and customs, in that order. Citizens of close to 90 countries enter without a visa for up to 30 days; whether you need one is explained in do you need a visa for Uzbekistan.

For most visitors customs takes a minute. A declaration is required if you carry more than the equivalent of 100 million so'm in cash, roughly $8,000, and it is worth filing for a sizeable sum below that too: you cannot leave with more foreign currency than you brought in. Prescription medicines are declared as well.

The declaration is electronic: you file it in the Yo'lovchi deklaratsiyasi app or at the kiosks in the arrival zone. The same app now registers a phone's IMEI in one step, which matters only if you will use a local SIM for longer than 60 days. Details: registration and customs and IMEI registration.

Your phone is your taxi, your map and your translator here, so sort it out before you leave the building. Operator desks, Ucell and Beeline among them, are in the baggage hall right after passport control. Buy the SIM there, before the final baggage check, and have your passport ready: the SIM is registered to it. If the desk is closed after a night flight, any operator office in the city will sell you one.

With a local SIM issued on your passport, a foreign visitor has 60 days before the phone's IMEI must be registered, so a trip of one or two weeks needs nothing more. A travel eSIM also works, with one catch: a data-only eSIM has no local number, and some local apps send their login code by SMS. Operators and data: internet and mobile network in Uzbekistan.

Taxi by app. What we tell our friends: order a car in an app rather than accept offers in the arrivals hall. Yandex Go shows the fare before you confirm, and you can pay the driver in cash. Since December 2025, Yandex Go drivers with your order may pull up in the first lane, right at the arrivals exit, and wait for you up to 20 minutes; three other services share that lane. MyTaxi, Uklon and WB Taxi also work in Tashkent; their cars use the second lane, where the stop limit is 10 minutes. Without traffic the ride to Amir Timur Square takes 15–20 minutes. Fares rise at night, in the rain and at rush hour, so check the price in the app first.

Official taxi desk. The arrivals hall has a taxi desk where the price is fixed in advance. It is usually higher than in the app.

City bus. Buses stop at the international terminal: number 67 runs past Kosmonavtlar metro station and Amir Timur Square towards Yunusabad, number 40 to the South station and Tashkent Central railway station, and number 11 to Chorsu. Since 1 October 2026 a ride costs 2,500 so'm with an ATTO transport card or a payment app, or 3,000 so'm with a paper QR ticket from a Paynet kiosk; drivers do not take cash. With suitcases, a taxi is simpler.

Metro. The metro does not reach the airport, but it is the best way around the city for the rest of your stay: see the Tashkent metro.

Our transfer. A driver meets you with a name sign and takes you to your hotel: a sedan for up to 2 passengers or a minivan for up to 6, with luggage.

At check-in the hotel registers your passport in the E-mehmon system. That covers the rule of registration within 3 days, and the tourist tax is already in the bill. Keep your passport with you, and keep the confirmations until you fly home.

Set your watch: Tashkent is on UTC+5 all year, with no summer time.

Then go out for an hour or two. Amir Timur Square and the pedestrian Broadway next to it are lively after dark, and the fountains of Tashkent City Park run musical shows in the evening. Where to go is in Tashkent in the evening, or join a three-hour evening walk with a guide.

Two small things for the first night. Buy a few bottles of water at any shop: bottled water is sold everywhere. And if you continue by train, buy the ticket tonight, because the Afrosiyob sells out; see trains in Uzbekistan, or let us book your train or car to the next city. For the next day, use our plan for Tashkent in 1 or 2 days.