Places in this article: Khiva · Tashkent · Samarkand · Bukhara
Tashkent to Khiva: plane, train or car
At 07:00 the fast train leaves Tashkent Central. At 14:31, after about 1,220 km of rail across almost the whole country, it stops in Khiva, at the very end of the line and a half-hour walk from the walls of .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 → Until May 2026 this trip meant either a night in a sleeper or a flight to Urgench. Now there are three good ways to get from Tashkent to Khiva, plus one long one. Here is how we in Tashkent choose between the plane, the high-speed train, the night train and the car.
Tashkent to Khiva by plane: Urgench and the last 30 km
Khiva has no airport of its own; planes land in Urgench, the regional capital. Several airlines, Uzbekistan Airways among them, fly direct from Tashkent to Urgench every day, and the flight takes about 1 h 30 min. In Tashkent, domestic flights leave from Terminal 3, not from the international Terminal 2; the two are about 4 km apart by road. How the airport works is in our Tashkent airport guide.
Urgench airport is about 30 km from Khiva, a drive of 35 to 45 minutes. We meet guests at arrivals with a transfer from Urgench airport to Khiva, in a sedan or a minivan. Add the drive to the airport, check-in and the transfer at the other end, and it is still the fastest way to Khiva.
The high-speed train: Jaloliddin Manguberdi
The Jaloliddin Manguberdi is a Korean-built Hyundai Rotem high-speed train. The first trainset entered service in May 2026 and a second joined it in July. Together they run like this:
- Tashkent to Khiva: 07:00 from Tashkent Central, arriving at 14:31, every day except Sunday. On the way it stops at Samarkand, Bukhara and Urgench.
- Khiva to Tashkent: 07:15 or 07:20, depending on the day, every day except Monday, back in Tashkent at about 15:00.
The journey takes about 7.5 hours. There are three classes, VIP, Business and Economy; in spring and early summer 2026 an Economy seat from Tashkent to Khiva cost 780,000 som. Tickets open 60 days before departure on eticket.uzrailpass.uz, in the Uzrailway tickets app and at station ticket offices, and this train sells out faster than any other in the country. On our routes it is the first ticket we buy. More on classes, refunds and boarding is in trains in Uzbekistan.
The train is slower than the plane but simpler: it leaves from the city centre and arrives in Khiva itself, with no transfer from Urgench. Many travellers also break the trip and ride the same line in stages, through Samarkand and Bukhara.
The night train
The overnight sleepers still run. They leave Tashkent in the evening, usually from the South station rather than Tashkent Central, and reach Khiva around midday the next day, about 14.5 to 15 hours later. Going back, they leave Khiva in the afternoon and arrive in Tashkent early in the morning. They run on set days, not every day, so check the current timetable before you plan around them.
The compartments are four-berth (kupe) or two-berth (SV). The night train is also the cheapest way to Khiva: in June 2026 a berth in a four-berth compartment cost 348,550 som. You save a hotel night but arrive with half a day already gone, so we suggest it to travellers who sleep well on trains. Our Khiva in 3 days tour is built around it: out on Friday night, a full day in Itchan Kala and a trip to the desert fortresses, back in Tashkent on Monday morning. The yoga retreat in Khiva uses the same weekend rhythm.
By car: honestly, it is a long way
By road Tashkent to Khiva is about 1,000 km. The road runs through Samarkand and Bukhara, then about 450 km across 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. desert to the Amu Darya and Khorezm. Tashkent to Samarkand alone takes 4 to 5 hours, Samarkand to Bukhara another 4 to 5, and Bukhara to Khiva 6 to 7. That is 14 hours or more of pure driving, so it is not a one-day trip.
We do not recommend driving from Tashkent to Khiva in one go. If you want to go by road, make it a journey of several days with nights in Samarkand and Bukhara; then each day is a normal drive, and the cities are part of the trip. We arrange each leg with a driver: from Tashkent through our transfer to another city, and across the desert with a private transfer between Bukhara and Khiva. The desert stretch is described in Khiva to Bukhara.
Which way to choose
| How | Time on the way | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Plane to Urgench + transfer | about 1 h 30 min in the air, plus the airport and about 30 km by car | a short trip, or flying on the same day you land in Tashkent |
| High-speed train | about 7.5 h, city centre to Khiva | a day spent travelling in comfort, not on Sundays from Tashkent |
| Night train | about 14.5–15 h | saving a hotel night and the fare |
| Car with a driver | 14 h or more of driving, best split over several days | a slow trip with stops in Samarkand and Bukhara |
One combination works especially well: one way by train, the other by plane. Most of our routes go west by rail through Samarkand and Bukhara and come back from Urgench by air. We can book the flight from Urgench to Tashkent or a train ticket from Khiva. Our Uzbekistan by Train tour does the opposite and comes back on the sleeper. In every tour a guide who speaks your language is included in the price.
Arriving in Khiva
Khiva station opened in 2018 at the end of the line, under 2 km from the old city: half an hour on foot, or a few minutes by car with luggage. Itchan Kala, the walled inner town, is compact, so once you have checked in you will walk everywhere.
The fast train arrives in the middle of the afternoon, which leaves time for a first walk along the walls and sunset from a minaret or a terrace. How we spend one or two days in the city is in Khiva in 1 or 2 days, the monuments are in our guide to Itchan Kala, and the evening outside the walls is in Arda Khiva. For the desert fortresses near Khiva, see fortresses of ancient Khorezm. More on the Khiva page.
In short
- Fastest: a flight from Tashkent to Urgench, about 1 h 30 min, then about 30 km by car to Khiva.
- The high-speed train leaves Tashkent Central at 07:00 and reaches Khiva at 14:31, every day except Sunday; back from Khiva every day except Monday.
- Buy that ticket first: sales open 60 days ahead on eticket.uzrailpass.uz and it sells out fastest.
- The night train takes about 14.5–15 hours, usually from Tashkent's South station, and is the cheapest option.
- By car it is about 1,000 km: split it over several days with nights in Samarkand and Bukhara.
