Places in this article: Samarkand · Bukhara · Khiva · Tashkent
Uzbekistan tours from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia: visa-free entry, flights from Riga, Vilnius and Tallinn and the best weeks of 2027
The earliest coin hoards found in Estonia are Arabic silver dirhams of the 8th century, and thousands of later Samanid coins have turned up around the Baltic, many of them struck in Samarkand and in al-,Did you know? Tashkent means “Stone City”, but it was long called Chach Al-Biruni explained the name as Turkic tash, “stone”, plus Persian kent, “city”. The area was earlier known as Chach, written ash-Shash by the Arabs, and Chachkand became Tashkand only after the 11th century. In 2009 the city marked 2,200 years. Read more → today’s Tashkent. The road those coins took is now an afternoon flight: Uzbekistan Airways flies nonstop from Riga to Tashkent in about five hours, and on a Latvian, Lithuanian or Estonian passport you need no .Entry rules depend on your passport. Once you are here, each stay must be registered within three days, and hotels do it for you; customs and registration rules are in our guide. Read more → We are a tour operator in Tashkent, and this is our guide to Uzbekistan tours from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia: entry rules, flights from Riga, Vilnius and Tallinn, the best weeks around the school breaks, Easter and midsummer 2027, and routes for 7 to 10 days.
Entry for citizens of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia: 30 days without a visa
Citizens of all three countries enter Uzbekistan without a visa and can stay for up to 30 days, counted from the day they cross the border. Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have been on the visa-free list since 1 February 2019, and the foreign ministries in Riga, Vilnius and Tallinn give the same 30 days in their own travel advice. For a longer stay, or to work, you need a visa before you travel.
Travel on your passport. It must be valid for the whole trip, and we recommend at least six months left on the day you fly. Keep it at hand: you need it at hotels, when you buy train tickets and when you change money.
Every foreign visitor is registered within three days of arrival. Hotels do it at check-in through the national E-mehmon system, so in a hotel you do nothing yourself. For a night in a village home, we check in advance how it is done there. Keep the registration slips until you fly home. Details are in our article on registration and customs and in our visa guide.
Take out travel insurance that covers medical treatment in Uzbekistan for every day of the trip; our article on travel insurance explains what to look for. While you travel, our office in Tashkent is reachable 24/7.
Nonstop from Riga, one change from Vilnius and Tallinn
From Riga. Uzbekistan Airways flies HY 212 from Riga to Tashkent several days a week, leaving in the afternoon and landing in Tashkent late in the evening after about five hours. airBaltic has no aircraft of its own on the route, but sells seats on this flight under its own flight number. From November to March the timetable also lists FlyOne Asia on Tuesdays and Saturdays, in about five hours.
From Vilnius and Tallinn. There are no nonstop flights to Tashkent in the current timetable, and three connections work well:
- Through Riga. airBaltic flies to Riga from both Vilnius and Tallinn in about 50 minutes, and from Riga you continue on the Uzbekistan Airways flight.
- Through Istanbul. Turkish Airlines flies from Vilnius in about 3 h and from Tallinn in about 3 h 30 min to 3 h 45 min. From Istanbul, Turkish Airlines, Uzbekistan Airways, Centrum Air and Qanot Sharq continue to Tashkent in 4 h 20 min to 4 h 50 min.
- Through Frankfurt. Lufthansa flies from Vilnius in about 2 h 15 min and from Tallinn in about 2 h 30 min. From Frankfurt, Uzbekistan Airways, Qanot Sharq and Centrum Air fly nonstop to Tashkent in about 6 h 20 min.
Days and times change between the winter and summer timetables, so check yours when you book. More routes are in our guide to flights to Uzbekistan.
Tashkent is on UTC+5 all year, with no summer time: three hours ahead of Riga, Vilnius and Tallinn in winter and two hours ahead in summer. The Riga flight lands late in the evening, so we plan the first night around your arrival. We can also arrange fast-track passport control and a car to your hotel.
Uzbekistan tours from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia: routes for 7 to 10 days
You book the flight, and we arrange everything on the ground: hotels, train tickets, guides and transfers, timed to your arrival. Your guide speaks English or Russian, and that is included in the price; a guide who speaks Latvian, Lithuanian or Estonian is available on request: tell us when you book.
The classic week, 8 days. Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva on our 8-day classic tour. How we lay out such a week is in Uzbekistan in 7 days.
By train, 8 days. Our Uzbekistan by train tour links the same four cities by rail: the Uzbekistan's high-speed train: Tashkent to Samarkand in about 2 hours 10 minutes, Tashkent to Bukhara in about 4 hours. Tickets are tied to your passport. Read more → to Samarkand and Bukhara, a high-speed train to Khiva and a sleeper back to Tashkent; see our guide to trains in Uzbekistan.
At an easy pace, 10 days. Our classic Uzbekistan at a gentle pace takes the same cities slowly: one or two sights each morning, free afternoons and a flight back from Khiva. A free-form version is in Uzbekistan in 10 days.
For food, 8 days. Our culinary tour of Uzbekistan goes to the markets in every city and includes three hands-on cooking classes; read Uzbek food by city before you go.
For Navruz, 8 days. Our group tour Navruz in Bukhara runs on fixed dates, 18–25 March, around the spring festival on 21 March; more in Navruz in Uzbekistan.
In winter, 8 days. From December to February our winter Silk Road tour takes the train through Tashkent, Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand, with each day planned around the short daylight. Not sure which route fits your dates? Try our tour finder.
Workshops and evenings to add
Three additions fit almost any of these routes. Near Bukhara, a trip to Gijduvan with a ceramics workshop and lunch shows how the town’s plates and bowls are shaped and painted. In Bukhara itself, dinner with a local family is an evening at a family table; tell us in advance about anything you do not eat. From Samarkand, a day trip to Shahrisabz takes you over the mountains to the home town of .Amir Timur (Tamerlane, 1336–1405), founder of the Timurid empire, which had its capital in Samarkand. Born near Shahrisabz. For more craft towns, see our Fergana Valley crafts tour and the article on Rishtan ceramics.
When to go: school breaks, Easter and midsummer 2027
All three countries set their school breaks nationally, so the dates below hold across each country for the 2026/27 school year.
Late winter. Lithuanian pupils have their winter break on 15–21 February 2027 and Estonian pupils on 22–28 February. Tashkent afternoons average 9.5 °C in February, with nights around zero: a mild, quiet season with short queues in the museums. See Uzbekistan in February and Uzbekistan in winter.
Spring breaks and Easter. Latvian schools break on 8–12 March 2027. Easter Sunday falls on 28 March, and Lithuanian pupils have their Easter break on 22–29 March, or on 29 March – 4 April in the upper secondary classes. Estonian schools have their spring break on 12–18 April. Tashkent averages 16 °C in the afternoon in March and 22 °C in April, and Navruz on 21 March fills the streets with spring cooking and music. See March, April and Uzbekistan in spring.
Jāņi, Joninės and Jaanipäev. Midsummer is a public holiday in all three countries: Līgo Day and Jāņi in Latvia on 23 and 24 June, Joninės in Lithuania on 24 June, and Victory Day and Jaanipäev in Estonia on 23 and 24 June. In 2027 they fall on a Wednesday and a Thursday, so one day of leave makes a long weekend. Latvian schools finish on 31 May for most classes and Estonian summer holidays start on 9 June. We will be honest: an Uzbek summer is hot. Tashkent averages 33.6 °C in the afternoon in June and 35.9 °C in July, so in summer we plan the cities for mornings and evenings and add days in the mountains, where Mountains of the Western Tien Shan about 80 km from Tashkent: hiking in summer, skiing in winter, the Charvak reservoir nearby. Read more → averages 26.2 °C in July. See June and Uzbekistan in summer.
Autumn. May and the weeks from September to October are the most comfortable of the year: Tashkent averages 28 °C in the afternoon in May, 29.5 °C in September and 22.2 °C in October. See September, October and when to go.
Money, plugs, food and your phone
- Bring euros. Your home currency is one that Uzbek banks buy every day: on 20 October 2026, 14 banks listed buying rates for the euro, from 12,000 to 13,700 so’m. Change money only at banks and official exchange offices, with your passport. See where to exchange currency.
- Cards. Visa and Mastercard work at most terminals in city hotels, restaurants, shops and stations, and many ATMs give out so’m on them. Bazaars, villages and small shops often take cash only; more in cards, cash and tipping.
- Plugs. Sockets are types C and F at 230 V, the same as in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, so you need no adapter.
- Food. Uzbek cooking is built around bread, rice, vegetables and meat; start with our article on plov. If you eat no meat or follow another diet, tell us in advance and we will take it into account; our guide for vegetarians in Uzbekistan has the words to use.
- Phone. Roaming works, and a local SIM card is issued against your passport; read bringing a phone to Uzbekistan first.
- Water. Drink bottled water: it is sold everywhere, in many brands.
In short
- Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian passports: up to 30 days in Uzbekistan without a visa; your hotel registers you.
- From Riga, a nonstop flight of about five hours; from Vilnius and Tallinn, one change in Riga, Istanbul or Frankfurt.
- The most comfortable weeks are in April and May and from September to October; the Latvian spring break and Easter fall in good weather.
- Bring euros; your plugs fit.
- Your guide speaks English or Russian, included in the price; Latvian, Lithuanian or Estonian on request.
