Uzbekistan tours from Europe: flights from the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, entry and money
Places in this article: Samarkand · Bukhara · Khiva · Tashkent
On Tuesdays and Fridays, Uzbekistan Airways flight HY 256 leaves Milan Malpensa at 19:45 and lands in Tashkent at 06:00. Six hours and fifteen minutes in the air, and after breakfast the fast train has you in Samarkand in two and a half hours. From much of Europe, Uzbekistan is one night flight away, and EU, UK, Swiss and Norwegian passport holders have 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 → to arrange. We are a tour operator in Tashkent, and this is how a trip from Europe works: flights, entry, money, your phone and the tour that fits.
Direct flights from Europe to Tashkent
Every nonstop flight from Europe lands in Tashkent. In the 2026/27 winter schedule, Uzbekistan Airways flies from these cities (local times):
| From | Days | Departs – arrives | Flight time |
|---|---|---|---|
| London Heathrow | Tue, Fri | 18:00 – 05:55 | 6 h 55 min |
| London Gatwick | Sun | 18:00 – 05:55 | 6 h 55 min |
| Paris Charles de Gaulle | Tue, Fri | 18:50 – 05:45 | 6 h 55 min |
| Frankfurt | Mon, Thu | 09:05 – 19:25 | 6 h 20 min |
| Munich | Sun | 10:45 – 21:05 | 6 h 20 min |
| Milan Malpensa | Tue, Fri | 19:45 – 06:00 | 6 h 15 min |
| Riga | Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri | 15:00 – 23:00 | 5 h |
London Heathrow, Paris, Frankfurt, Munich, Milan and Riga are also in the airline's timetable for summer 2027. Days and times shift a little from season to season, so check yours when you book.
From Spain and the rest of Europe, the usual route is one stop in Istanbul. Turkish Airlines and Uzbekistan Airways fly from Istanbul to Tashkent several times a day, in about four and a half hours, and Turkish Airlines also flies from Istanbul to Samarkand, Bukhara and Urgench, the airport for Khiva. From Madrid, Uzbekistan Airways sells through tickets via Istanbul to Tashkent, Samarkand and Urgench. Airports and connections are covered in our guide to flights to Uzbekistan.
The flights from London, Paris and Milan land around six in the morning, hours before the usual check-in. Book the first hotel night from the evening before, or ask us for early check-in, and sleep before your first walk.
Clocks: Tashkent is on UTC+5 all year, with no summer time. In winter that is five hours ahead of London, four ahead of Berlin, Paris, Rome and Madrid, and three ahead of Riga. From the end of March to the end of October, while Europe is on summer time, the gap is one hour less.
Entry: 30 days without a visa
Citizens of all EU countries, the UK, Switzerland and Norway enter Uzbekistan without a visa for up to 30 days, counted from the day you cross the border. Iceland and Liechtenstein are on the same list. The 30 days are not extended on the spot: for a longer stay, apply for a visa before you travel.
Travel on a passport. A national ID card is not accepted, and every child needs their own passport. The passport must be valid for at least three months after arrival; to be safe, we recommend six months beyond your return date.
Every foreign visitor must be registered within 3 days of arrival. On a tour you will hardly notice: hotels register guests at check-in. Keep the confirmations until you fly home. More in our article on registration and customs; if someone in your group holds another passport, see our visa guide.
Money: your card first, euros are fine
Bring the Visa or Mastercard you use at home. Almost every card terminal in the country reads them: hotels, restaurants, shops, museums and railway stations. Cash, in so'm only, is for the bazaar, street vendors and some taxis. How we split card and cash on our own trips is in cards, cash and tipping.
There is no need to buy dollars for the trip. Banks and exchange offices change euros and US dollars alike, from Tashkent airport, where the exchange offices stay open around the clock, all the way to Khiva. Take your passport and keep the receipt; changing money in the street is illegal. Details are in where to exchange currency.
Many ATMs in Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara give out so'm on foreign cards. Ask your bank about fees for withdrawals and payments abroad before you leave.
Phone and internet
Roaming on your home SIM or a travel eSIM needs no paperwork here. If you buy a local SIM, take your passport: the card is issued in your name. Foreign visitors on a local SIM have 60 days before the phone has to be registered, so a one- or two-week tour needs nothing at all. Who does need to register, and how, is in our guide to phone IMEI registration.
When to come
The season in the cities runs from March to June and from September to November. April and May are warm and dry, and fast trains and well-placed hotels sell out first, so we book early. In July and August afternoons average 35–37 °C; if summer is your only window, we plan sightseeing for the mornings and evenings, or add the mountains near Tashkent. Winter is the quiet season: around 7 °C in the afternoon in Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara in January, and empty squares. Month by month: when to go.
How many days, and which tour
You buy the flight from your city, and we handle everything on the ground: hotels, train tickets, guides and transfers. With two or three flights a week from most European cities, the flight days often set the length of the trip, so tell us yours and we fit the route around them.
About a week. Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva in eight days: our 8-day classic tour, or, if you like travelling in a group, the 8-day group tour of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva. How we lay out such a week is in Uzbekistan in 7 days.
Ten days or more. The same cities at an easier pace on the 11-day classic tour, or places most visitors skip on the 10-day off-the-beaten-path tour. Our day-by-day plans are in Uzbekistan in 10 days and Uzbekistan in 14 days; for photographers there is the 12-day photo tour.
A short break or the holidays. The 4-day Samarkand group tour fits a long weekend, and over the winter holidays we run New Year in Uzbekistan over eight days.
This site is also in German, French, Italian and Spanish. On our private tours, such as the 8-day and 11-day classic routes, a local guide in your language is included: tell us which one when you book. Not sure which route fits your dates? Our tour finder will narrow it down.
In short
- Nonstop flights to Tashkent from London, Paris, Frankfurt, Munich, Milan and Riga, 5 to 7 hours; from elsewhere in Europe, one stop in Istanbul.
- EU, UK, Swiss and Norwegian passports: 30 days without a visa. Bring a passport, not an ID card.
- Tashkent is four hours ahead of Central Europe in winter and three in summer.
- Pay by card almost everywhere; for cash, euros are changed as easily as dollars.
- A local SIM works for 60 days without registering your phone, longer than any of our tours.
