Places in this article: Tashkent · Samarkand
Tashkent in 3 days or more: what to see when you have time
Most travellers give Tashkent one day between the airport and 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 → Give it a third, and the city opens a different door. In July 2026 ten of its buildings from the 1960s to the early 1990s joined the UNESCO World Heritage List, from a Did you know? A metro designed to ride out a magnitude-9 earthquake The three original lines of the Tashkent Metro were built to withstand an earthquake of magnitude 9.0, and the tunnels lie unusually shallow, only 8–25 m below the street. Read more → station with cosmonauts on its walls to a field of mirrors in the foothills that heats a single point to 3,000 °C. Here is what to see in Tashkent in 3 days, and what to add if you have five days or a week.
We live and work in Tashkent. The first two days, with ,The religious heart of old Tashkent: madrasahs, a Friday mosque and mausoleums. Right next to it stands the new Center of Islamic Civilization, opened in 2026. Read more → ,Tashkent's old bazaar under a big blue-green dome, not far from Hazrati Imam. Bring cash in so'm. Read more → the metro and the main square, are in our plan for Tashkent in 1 or 2 days. This page starts where that one ends: modernism, museums for a slow morning, the mountains, Tashkent with children, the evenings and a day in Samarkand.
Three days, five days, a week: the plan
| Day | What we suggest |
|---|---|
| Days 1–2 | The old city, Chorsu, the metro, Did you know? Legend: “Strength lies in justice” were Timur's own words The equestrian statue of Amir Timur in central Tashkent, unveiled in 1994, bears the motto “Strength lies in justice” in four languages. Tradition attributes the words to Timur himself, but historians cannot confirm he said them. Read more → and the ,Did you know? A 375-metre tower with a viewing deck at 97 m The Tashkent TV Tower, begun in 1978 and operating since January 1985, rises 375 m to the tip of its spire. Its observation deck at about 97 m looks out over the whole city. Read more → as in Tashkent in 1 or 2 days |
| Day 3 | Tashkent modernism and the Did you know? A diplomat's house that became a museum of crafts In 1896 diplomat Alexander Polovtsev bought a merchant's house and had it rebuilt in the Central Asian style. Today it is the Museum of Applied Arts, with over 7,000 pieces of folk craft. Read more → |
| Day 4 | The mountains: Amirsoy, Mountains of the Western Tian Shan about 80 km from Tashkent: hiking in summer, skiing in winter, the Charvak reservoir nearby. Read more → or Lake Did you know? The lake below Chimgan is held back by a 168-metre dam Charvak is a reservoir: a 168 m stone dam on the Chirchiq, built in 1964–1970, holds about 2 km³ of water from the Pskem, Koksu and Chatkal rivers. Its name is traced to the Persian chorbog, "four gardens". Read more → |
| Day 5 | The Big Solar Furnace near Parkent, or a day for the children |
| Days 6–7 | Samarkand and back by train, and an evening of fountains |
Three days show you the city without hurrying. Five add the mountains and the Solar Furnace. With a week you can spend a day in Samarkand and still sleep in the same hotel in Tashkent.
Day three: Tashkent modernism
On 26 April 1966 an earthquake destroyed much of old Tashkent, and the city was rebuilt with wide avenues, a new centre and a metro. Sixty years later, at its session in July 2026, the World Heritage Committee inscribed ten of those buildings as Tashkent Modernist Architecture. This is the day that most first-time visitors miss.
Start at the State Museum of History, built in 1970 as the Lenin Museum. Then see the State Circus of 1976, whose dome is often compared to a flying saucer, and the Peoples’ Friendship Palace, opened in 1981 to a design by Yevgeny Rozanov. Ride the metro to Did you know? A metro station where Ulugh Beg meets Gagarin Kosmonavtlar station, opened in 1984, has ceramic medallions of Ulugh Beg, Galileo, Icarus, Gagarin and Tereshkova, and glass stars in the ceiling that hint at the Milky Way. Read more →, opened in 1984, the only metro station on the list. Nearby stands Zhemchug, the “Pearl”, a residential building that you admire from the street. Chorsu’s blue dome of 1990, which you saw on day one, is on the list too.
Ten buildings are a lot to find on your own. Our two-day Tashkent Modernism tour covers all of them with a guide; in one day we see everything except the Solar Furnace.
The Big Solar Furnace near Parkent
About 45 km from Tashkent, at around 1,100 m in the foothills near Parkent, stands the only part of the UNESCO site outside the city. Built between 1981 and 1987, it works like a giant magnifying glass. Sixty-two moving mirrors on the slope, the heliostats, send sunlight onto a curved concentrator made of 10,700 mirrors, and at its focus the temperature reaches 3,000 °C. The site is open to visitors. Plan half a day with the drive and choose a clear morning. A transfer there and back is one of our Travel Moments, and the furnace opens our Stars of Uzbekistan astronomy tour.
Museums worth a slow morning
The State Museum of History was founded in 1876 and reopened on 24 July 2026 after two years of renovation. Its collections hold more than 350,000 objects: archaeology, coins, manuscripts and ethnography. Look for the well-preserved alabaster Buddhist relief from Fayaz Tepe near Termez.
The Museum of Applied Arts is smaller and more personal. In 1896 the diplomat Alexander Polovtsov bought a merchant’s house and had it rebuilt in the Central Asian style. Today it holds more than 7,000 pieces of folk craft. We bring guests here before Samarkand and Bukhara: after an hour among suzani and ceramics, you recognise good work at the bazaar.
If you still have energy, the Amir Timur (Tamerlane, 1336–1405), founder of the Timurid empire, which had its capital in Samarkand. Born near Shahrisabz. Museum, opened in 1996 on the south side of Amir Timur Square, tells the story of Timur and his age.
In the surroundings of Tashkent: Chimgan, Charvak and Amirsoy
The mountains begin an hour and a half from the city. Everything is in one district, Bostanliq: Amirsoy is 65 km from Tashkent, Lake Charvak about 80 km and Chimgan about 85 km, all on the same road through Gazalkent. In July the average afternoon in Tashkent is 35.9 °C; at Chimgan it is 26.2 °C.
Our usual summer day: the Amirsoy gondolas to 2,290 m in the morning, lunch on the way down, and the afternoon by the reservoir at Charvak. From December to March the same road leads to the ski slopes. The hour-by-hour plan is in our Chimgan and Charvak day trip, and the resort itself in our guide to Amirsoy. Go by car with a driver: in the mountains there are few taxis for the way back. We organise this day as Amirsoy and Chinorkent, with lunch and a cable-car ride.
Tashkent with kids
A day for the children fits easily into a longer stay. These are the places we suggest to families:
- Magic City: a 21-hectare park on Did you know? The founder of the Mughal Empire was born in Andijan Babur was born in Andijan on 14 February 1483 and, at twelve, took the throne of Fergana in its capital Akhsikath. Later he founded the Mughal Empire in India; his memoir, the Baburnama, still describes the valley's towns. Read more → Street with rides, a castle, a lake and an aquarium. Entry to the park is free; you pay per ride. Stay for the fountain at sunset.
- Tashkent Zoo: open every day of the year, and children under 7 go in free.
- The planetarium: opened in 2003, with one hall for the Solar System and deep space and another with exhibits on the planets.
- The puppet theatre: in its own building near Kosmonavtlar station since 1979, with shows in Uzbek and Russian.
- Tashkent Land: an amusement park beside the TV Tower, open from late March to the end of October, with the city’s aqua park next door.
Older children love the metro stations and the Solar Furnace. Children under 7 must ride in a child seat, so give us their ages when you book a car. More ideas are in Uzbekistan with kids.
Evenings in Tashkent
With three or more days, you have three or more evenings, and Tashkent is good at them. The fountain on the lake in Tashkent City Park plays at 18:30, 19:30, 20:30 and 21:30, with jets up to 80 metres. Along the Burjar canal at Seoul Mun the fountains run from 17:00 to 22:15. The Center of Islamic Civilization is open until 22:00, and its dome is lit after dark. The metro runs until midnight.
Routes, show times and dinner ideas are in evening Tashkent. If you would like company, our guided Evening Tashkent walk covers Tashkent City, Seoul Mun and Magic City in about three hours.
Samarkand for a day
With a week in Tashkent, take the train to Samarkand for a day. The 06:33 Afrosiyob arrives at 08:46, and the fast trains back leave Samarkand in the evening, around 7 to 8 p.m. That gives you about ten hours: enough for 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 → ,Did you know? Legend says the architect asked the queen for a kiss Legend says the architect of Bibi-Khanym would finish on time only for a kiss from Timur's wife, and Timur punished him. In fact the mosque was Timur's own project; his wife Saray Mulk Khanum built her madrasah across the road. Read more → ,Samarkand's main bazaar, right next to Bibi-Khanym: Samarkand bread, dried fruit, nuts and halva. Read more → 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 → and ,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 → all on foot.
Tickets go on sale 60 days ahead and the Afrosiyob sells out, so book as soon as your dates are fixed. Train, car and day tour are compared in Tashkent to Samarkand. If you would rather not deal with tickets, our Samarkand in a day tour takes you there and back from your hotel.
Before you go
- Getting around. In the city, the metro: one flat fare for any distance, trains from 05:00 to midnight. For Magic City, Parkent and the mountains, a Yandex Go taxi or a car with a driver.
- When to come. March to June and September to November are the most comfortable months. In July, see the sights in the morning and spend the hot afternoon in museums.
- Hours. The Center of Islamic Civilization is open daily until 22:00 with timed tickets; the Amirsoy gondolas start at 9:00; the Registan in Samarkand opens at 8:00.
- How much time. Three days for the city and modernism, five with the mountains and the Solar Furnace, a week with a day in Samarkand.
- Money and papers. Cards work in the centre, but keep some som in cash for bazaars and the mountains: see cards, cash and tipping. Your hotel registers you on arrival.
The whole city, district by district, is on our Tashkent page.
In short
- Days one and two: the old city, Chorsu and the metro, as in our plan for Tashkent in 1 or 2 days.
- Day three: the ten modernist buildings on the UNESCO list, and the Museum of Applied Arts.
- Four or five days: add Amirsoy, Chimgan or Charvak, and the Big Solar Furnace near Parkent.
- With children: Magic City, the zoo, the planetarium and the puppet theatre.
- A week: a day in Samarkand on the 06:33 Afrosiyob, and the evenings for the fountains.
© Photos
- Palace of Peoples' Friendship, Tashkent — Humoyun Mehridinov / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
