Evening Tashkent: where to go and what to see after dark

At 18:30 the first show starts on the lake in Tashkent City Park: a 200-metre line of jets rises as high as 80 metres, lit in colour and set to music. It runs again at 19:30, 20:30 and 21:30. That is the rhythm of a Tashkent evening. The heat lets go, the fountains switch on, and a city that many travellers see only between a plane and a train comes out to walk.

We live here, and this is what to see in Tashkent in the evening: three fountain parks, the central square and its pedestrian street, the old city under lights, the metro and where to have dinner. Our daytime plan is in Tashkent in one or two days.

Evening Tashkent at a glance

Place	What to see	When
Tashkent City Park	A 200-metre musical fountain on a 15-hectare lake	Shows at 18:30, 19:30, 20:30 and 21:30
Magic City	A castle, streets styled as European cities and the largest musical fountain in Tashkent	Best after sunset
Seoul Mun	Colour-music fountains along the Burjar canal	Shows from 17:00 to 22:15
Amir Timur Square and Broadway	The central square, a pedestrian street of painters, the theatre fountain	Any time after dark
Center of Islamic Civilization	The lit façade and dome next to Hazrati Imam	Open until 22:00
The metro	Kosmonavtlar and the stations of the Uzbekistan line	Trains from 05:00 to midnight

Tashkent City Park: the 200-metre fountain

The park opened in October 2019 inside the Tashkent City business district, and its heart is an artificial lake of 15 hectares. The musical fountain runs 200 metres along the water, and every piece of music has its own choreography of jets and light.

For the best view, take a seat in the amphitheatre: it holds 450 people and faces the fountain. Restaurants and cafés line the shore if you would rather watch from a terrace. Come a little early to walk the paths: the park also holds the Orifjonboy Mosque of the early 20th century, one of the first Art Nouveau buildings in Uzbekistan, and a planetarium complex with a wax museum. Pakhtakor and Alisher Navoi metro stations are within walking distance.

If you have a second evening, there is a newer and far bigger fountain in New Tashkent, the new city district now being built. It opened at the end of August 2026 and set a Guinness World Record as the tallest open-air musical fountain, with a jet of 232.69 metres. Light and laser projections on its water screen begin at nightfall. Take a taxi.

Magic City: a castle on the water

Magic City opened in 2021 on Babur Street, on 21 hectares of a former Soviet park. It is half theme park, half shopping centre: streets styled as London, Rome and Barcelona, a castle, more than 35 attractions, an aquarium and a cinema. Its musical fountain fills a bowl of about 8,500 square metres, the largest in Tashkent, with the 60-metre castle behind it.

In the daytime it belongs to children and rides. At sunset it fills with families and young couples who come for the lights and the fountain. The park opens at 10:00 and stays open late into the evening. Travelling with children? Our guide to Uzbekistan with kids has more ideas.

Seoul Mun: fountains along the canal

Seoul Mun is a new embankment on the Burjar canal, opened in 2023 and named after Seoul Street, a sign of friendship between Uzbekistan and South Korea. Colour-music fountains line both sides of its central part, and the show plays every day from 17:00 to 22:15, to Uzbek, Korean and international songs.

The best seats are the two footbridges over the canal. You go down to the water by stairs or an escalator, and a lift shaped like a lighthouse serves anyone who prefers not to use steps. Three levels of cafés, restaurants and shops face the water, some with terraces. Seoul Mun is reached from Babur Street, the same street as Magic City, so the two fit easily into one evening. That is the route of our guided Evening Tashkent walk: Tashkent City, Seoul Mun and Magic City in about three hours.

Amir Timur Square, Broadway and the theatre fountain

Amir Timur Square began as a park in 1882. The equestrian statue of Timur has stood at its centre since 1994, and the modernist Hotel Uzbekistan faces it from the east. It is the natural place to start an evening in the centre.

From the square, Sayilgoh Street, which everyone calls Broadway, runs to Independence Square. It is closed to cars. Painters sell landscapes and Soviet memorabilia and draw portraits while you wait; musicians and street performers come and go without a timetable. In the evening, strings of small lights glow above the street.

A short walk away stands the Alisher Navoi Theatre, opened in 1947 to a design by Alexey Shchusev, with a hall for 1,440 people. Next to it, a fountain with a bronze cotton boll at its centre fills an octagonal granite bowl 32 metres across. It dates from the early 1950s and has played coloured light and music since 2010. To see the theatre’s carved foyers, buy a ticket to an opera or a ballet.

The old city after dark

Chorsu Bazaar is a morning place: the bread arrives warm and the stalls are full before lunch, so we take guests there early (see our guide to the bazaars of Uzbekistan). In the evening the old city belongs to the Hazrati Imam square and the Center of Islamic Civilization next to it.

The Center is open every day until 22:00. Come in the late afternoon, see the halls, and stay until the tiled façade and the 65-metre dome light up and reflect in the water in front. Book a timed ticket in advance; the halls and the route are in our guide to the Center of Islamic Civilization. Hazrati Imam is a working religious complex: cover shoulders and knees, and visit outside prayer times.

The metro in the evening

The metro is the quickest way between these places, and a sight in itself. Trains run from 05:00 to midnight on the three underground lines; the overground Circle Line closes at 23:00. One flat fare covers any distance and any number of changes, and photography is allowed.

Kosmonavtlar, with its space-themed walls and ceramic medallions, is a short walk from Amir Timur Square, and in 2026 it joined the UNESCO World Heritage List with nine other modernist buildings of Tashkent. Pakhtakor and Alisher Navoi bring you to Tashkent City Park. Every station worth a stop is in our guide to the Tashkent metro, and the whole modernist list, from Kosmonavtlar to Chorsu, is the subject of our two-day Tashkent Modernism tour.

Dinner: plov, a courtyard or a view

Plov is a lunch dish. Plov centres light the fires under their kazans in the morning, and by evening many cauldrons are empty. For plov at dinner, choose a restaurant: the Plov Museum on Katta Darkhan Street puts plov from different regions on one menu, cooked by oshpaz invited from across the country, and it stays open late. More in plov in Uzbekistan.

For a dinner in an Uzbek house, Caravan on Abdulla Qahhor Street has served Uzbek food since 1999 in a private house with a small courtyard, and it also stays open late.

For a view, go up the TV Tower: 375 metres to the tip of the spire, an observation deck at about 97 metres and, just above it, the revolving Koinot restaurant with two halls. Go up before sunset to see the city in daylight and then watch its lights come on.

Planning your evening

• Sunset: about 17:00 in late December and about 20:00 in late June. The fountains look their best after dark.
• How long: allow three to four hours for one evening of fountains and dinner.
• Two easy routes: Magic City at sunset, then Seoul Mun and dinner; or Amir Timur Square and Broadway, then the metro to Tashkent City Park for the 20:30 or 21:30 show.
• Getting around: the metro until midnight; a Yandex Go taxi for Magic City, Seoul Mun and New Tashkent.
• Calm evenings: the parks fill with families after sunset, and the usual city sense is all you need. More in safety and health in Uzbekistan.

In short

• Tashkent comes alive after sunset: start with the fountains of Tashkent City Park, Magic City and Seoul Mun.
• Walk Amir Timur Square and Broadway, and stop at the fountain by the Navoi Theatre.
• The Center of Islamic Civilization is open until 22:00, and its lit façade is worth staying for.
• Use the metro until midnight and see Kosmonavtlar on the way.
• Eat plov at a restaurant in the evening, or have dinner with a view from the TV Tower.