Uzbekistan in December: weather, New Year and winter tips
Places in this article: Samarkand · Bukhara · Khiva · Tashkent
On 21 December the sun is up over Tashkent for 9 hours and 15 minutes, the shortest day of the year, and it sets at 16:58. In Samarkand that morning you can stand in the courtyard of a 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. with no one else in it. December is cold, short and quiet, and it ends with the biggest night of the year.
We live in Tashkent and work right through the winter. This is low season in the old towns, the ski lifts start turning in the mountains, and the last week belongs to New Year. Here is what to expect, city by city, and how we plan a December trip.
Weather in Uzbekistan in December
Average daytime highs and night lows from the long-term climate normals (1991–2020), the same figures we use across this site. Khiva's numbers come from the weather station in Urgench, 35 km away.
| City | Day | Night | Rain in the month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tashkent | 9 °C | 0 °C | 58 mm |
| Samarkand | 9 °C | 0 °C | 39 mm |
| Bukhara | 8 °C | −1 °C | 13 mm |
| Khiva | 4 °C | −4 °C | 13 mm |
Afternoons are five or six degrees cooler than in November, and nights reach freezing. A typical December day in Samarkand or Bukhara starts below zero, warms to 8–9 °C by lunch and cools quickly after sunset. Bukhara and Khiva are the driest, with about 13 mm of rain or snow in the whole month; Tashkent gets the most.
Khiva is the coldest of the four: about 4 °C in the afternoon and −4 °C at night. In some winters snow settles on its clay walls and flat roofs, and the old town turns white and silent.
Daylight: the shortest days of the year
Uzbekistan runs on one time zone, UTC+5, with no daylight saving, so in Khiva the sun rises and sets about 35 minutes later than in Tashkent.
- Tashkent, 1 December: sunrise 07:28, sunset 16:56, about 9 hours 30 minutes of daylight.
- Tashkent, 21 December: sunrise 07:44, sunset 16:58, 9 hours 15 minutes.
- Khiva, 1 and 31 December: sunrise 08:03 and 08:23, sunset 17:32 and 17:40.
We plan December days around the light: open-air sights from about nine until four, then museums, bazaars and a long dinner. The fast train from Tashkent leaves at 07:00 every day except Sunday and reaches Khiva at about 14:30, which leaves you around three hours of daylight inside the walls. Details are in our guide to trains in Uzbekistan.
Quiet courtyards and low season
Until the last week, December is the calmest month in the old towns. In our experience you can have the alley of 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 → in Samarkand or a madrasah courtyard in Bukhara almost to yourself in the morning. Winter is low season for hotels as well, so you have a wider choice of rooms in the historic centres, and rates are generally lower than in spring and autumn.
The exception is New Year. In the last days of December families from Tashkent travel too, and trains and hotels in Samarkand and Bukhara fill up. Train tickets go on sale 60 days before departure, so seats for 30 December open at the very end of October. If you want to see in the New Year in Samarkand, decide by then.
Holidays in December: Constitution Day and New Year's Eve
8 December is Constitution Day, a public holiday; in 2026 it falls on a Tuesday. Offices and schools close for the day.
The real event of the month is New Year's Eve. 1 January is a public holiday, and the night before is when the whole country celebrates, mostly at home around a long table. In the last week of December Tashkent lights up its streets and parks, switches on the country's main New Year tree and holds a Santa Claus parade.
New Year in Samarkand, Bukhara or Tashkent
If you want to be here for the night, we run three New Year routes with fixed dates:
- New Year in Samarkand, 5 days: arrive on 30 December, see 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 → lit up in the evening, a festive dinner on New Year's night, then the fast train to Bukhara on 1 January.
- New Year in Bukhara, 4 days: the festive night in Bukhara, then a day in Samarkand.
- New Year in Uzbekistan, 8 days: from Khiva across the desert to Bukhara, New Year's night in Samarkand and the last day in Tashkent.
We take bookings for these tours up to 21 days before the start. If you would rather stay in the capital, Tashkent has the biggest lights on the night, and the Khumo Arena ice rink holds public skating sessions.
Skiing near Tashkent from December
December opens the ski season in the mountains 65–85 km from Tashkent. Beldersay usually starts in early December, Amirsoy in mid-December and Mountains of the Western Tian Shan about 80 km from Tashkent: hiking in summer, skiing in winter, the Charvak reservoir nearby. Read more → during the month; the exact opening day depends on the snow, and each resort announces it when its slopes are ready. Up there it is real winter: at Chimgan the average is 3 °C in the afternoon and −3.7 °C at night.
Our ski weekend in the Tashkent mountains takes you to Amirsoy, Beldersay or Chimgan with a night at the resort. For a single day, see Chimgan and Charvak in a day; for the lifts, cable cars in Uzbekistan; for the whole area, the mountains near Tashkent.
Routes that work in December
- The 8-day classic tour through Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva and Tashkent, easiest in the first three weeks of the month.
- The 8-day independent tour, with hotels, trains and transfers arranged, if you like to walk on your own.
- Taste of the Road, our culinary tour: cold days are made for Rice cooked in a kazan with carrots, onions and meat: the dish of every Uzbek celebration. Each region cooks it its own way., samsa from the tandoor and long lunches in a A teahouse: green tea, plov and conversation on wide wooden beds called topchan..
Short on time? Two days in Samarkand and one day on the snow near Tashkent make a good winter week.
What to pack for December
- A proper winter coat, a hat and gloves: mornings start below zero almost everywhere.
- Thermal layers if you plan to ski or to spend New Year's Eve outdoors.
- Waterproof shoes with a good grip for wet or icy pavements.
- A light scarf for mosques and mausoleums; the rules are in our guide to what to wear and etiquette.
- A card and some cash for bazaars and small shops: see cards, cash and tipping.
In short
- December is cold and quiet: 8–9 °C in the afternoon in Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara, 4 °C in Khiva, nights around zero or below.
- These are the shortest days of the year, with sunset before 17:00 in Tashkent: start early.
- Low season means calm courtyards and a wide choice of hotels; for New Year, book trains (on sale 60 days ahead) and hotels early.
- 8 December and 1 January are public holidays, and New Year's Eve is the night to be in Samarkand, Bukhara or Tashkent.
- The ski season opens near Tashkent. Next month: Uzbekistan in January.
