Samarkand
The showpiece of the Silk Road: the Registan, the blue domes of Shah-i-Zinda, Timur’s mausoleum and a bazaar that has traded for centuries.
- 2–3 days are enough for the main sights
- About 2 hours from Tashkent by high-speed train
- Easy side trips: Shakhrisabz, Penjikent and the Seven Lakes
About Samarkand
Samarkand is a city of about 600,000 people, and on an ordinary day most of them never go near 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 →. They buy bread at Samarkand's main bazaar, right next to Bibi-Khanym: Samarkand bread, dried fruit, nuts and halva. Read more →, work and study in the town built in Russian and Soviet times, and drive past monuments that visitors cross the world to see. The old town is compact: almost everything worth a ticket lies on one line a few kilometres long, from 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 → to 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 →.
The city first stood on the Did you know? A 7th-century mural shows envoys from Korea Uncovered by road builders in 1965, the Ambassadors' Painting at Afrasiyab shows delegations bearing gifts, Chinese with silk among them, and two men in feathered hats thought to be envoys from Korea's Goguryeo. Read more → hill. After the Mongols destroyed it in 1220, it was rebuilt to the south, and in 1370 Amir Timur (Tamerlane, 1336–1405), founder of the Timurid empire, which had its capital in Samarkand. Born near Shahrisabz. made it the capital of his empire. Most of what you see dates from Timur, his grandson Did you know? Ulugh Beg measured the year to within 25 seconds Working at his Samarkand observatory, Ulugh Beg put the tropical year at 365 days 5 h 49 min 15 s, about 25 seconds too long, closer than Copernicus a century later. Read more → and the 17th century, when the Registan got its other two madrasahs.
History in brief
- c. 700 BCA city grows on the Afrasiyab hill. Alexander the Great takes it in 329 BC; the Greeks call it Maracanda.
- c. 710Arab armies under Qutayba ibn Muslim take Samarkand and bring Islam. The shrine of Shah-i-Zinda is linked to the first Arab campaigns.
- 1220Genghis Khan's army destroys the city on Afrasiyab. Samarkand is later rebuilt to the south, where it stands today.
- 1370Timur makes Samarkand the capital of his empire. The great mosque Amir Timur ordered after his Indian campaign of 1398–1399, one of the largest of its time. Read more →, Gur-e-Amir and much of Shah-i-Zinda come from his reign and his family.
- 1417Timur's grandson Ulugh Beg begins his 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. on the Registan, and in the 1420s builds his observatory on a hill outside the city.
- 1868The Russian Empire takes the citadel, and a new town grows beside the old one. From 1925 to 1930 Samarkand is the capital of Soviet Uzbekistan.
- 2001The historic city joins the UNESCO World Heritage List as Samarkand – Crossroads of Cultures.
What to see
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Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors
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1Registan
Three madrasahs face one square: Ulugh Beg's (1417–1420) on the west, Sher-Dor (1619–1636) opposite and Tilya-Kori (1646–1660) between them. Tilya-Kori means 'gilded': step into its mosque to see why. The square opens at 8 a.m.; come early for the sun on Ulugh Beg's facade, and again in the late afternoon, when the light moves to Sher-Dor.
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2Gur-e-Amir
Timur's mausoleum, completed in 1404; his sons and grandsons, Ulugh Beg among them, lie here too. Outside is a ribbed turquoise dome, inside a gilded interior. Come at the end of the day, when the portal is at its best in the dusk.
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3Bibi-Khanym Mosque
The Friday mosque Timur ordered after his Indian campaign of 1398–1399, one of the largest of its time. It is about 700 m from the Registan along a pedestrian street, so walk there. Across the road stands a small mausoleum of the same name.
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4Siab Bazaar
The city's main bazaar starts right beside Bibi-Khanym and trades from first light until dark. Dried fruit, nuts, halva, spices and more than seventeen kinds of flatbread: come hungry and bring cash in som.
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5Shah-i-Zinda
A narrow lane of more than twenty mausoleums climbs the slope; most were built in the 14th and 15th centuries, many for women of Timur's family. It is a place of prayer, so cover shoulders and knees. Come early in the morning, before the heat and the groups.
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6Afrasiyab
The hill where Samarkand stood until 1220, about a kilometre beyond Shah-i-Zinda, with a museum of what was dug up here. The reason to go is a 7th-century wall painting of foreign embassies at a royal court. The museum is open 9:00–17:00.
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7Ulugh Beg Observatory
In the 1420s Ulugh Beg built an observatory here around a sextant with a radius of 40 m. In 1908 the archaeologist Vassily Vyatkin dug out its buried marble arc, which you now see set into the hill, with a small museum beside it. It is 3.5 km from the Registan: take a taxi.
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8Imam al-Bukhari complex
The tomb of the hadith scholar Imam al-Bukhari, in the village of Khartang about 25 km from the city. Rebuilt and reopened in March 2026, it has a mosque for 10,000 worshippers, four 75-metre minarets and a museum in nine pavilions. Allow three to four hours and dress as for a mosque.
Photos: Siab Bazaar, Samarkand — Adam Harangozó / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0; Afrasiyab ancient settlement, Samarkand — Akhemen / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Neighbourhoods
- The old town, Gur-e-Amir to Shah-i-Zinda The monuments line up north-east from Gur-e-Amir: the Registan, a pedestrian street to Bibi-Khanym and the bazaar, then Shah-i-Zinda. You can walk the whole line in a day.
- Afrasiyab and the observatory North of Shah-i-Zinda lie the site of the ancient city and its museum, and further east the Ulugh Beg Observatory. Quieter than the centre; take a car for the last stretch.
- The Russian and Soviet town Beyond the old town is the city built from the late 19th century on, with administrative buildings, theatres and universities. This is everyday Samarkand rather than a museum.
- A network of caravan routes between China and the Mediterranean. Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva grew rich as stops along it. Samarkand A tourist district on the old Soviet rowing canal, opened in 2022: eight hotels and the Eternal City, an ethnographic park with an open-air amphitheatre. We suggest it for an evening walk by the water.
What to eat
- Samarkand non Round bread baked on the walls of a tandoor, denser and heavier than ordinary non, and it keeps for a long time. Buy it hot at Siab Bazaar in the morning.
- Samarkand Rice cooked in a kazan with carrots, onions and meat: the dish of every Uzbek celebration. Each region cooks it its own way. Here plov is not stirred: rice goes on the platter first, then the carrots, then the meat on top, while in Tashkent everything is mixed. Plov is a midday dish, so order it at lunch.
- Dried fruit, nuts and halva Siab's long rows of dried apricots, raisins, nuts and halva are the best place for presents that survive the flight home. Tasting before you buy is normal.
Getting around
The old town is a walk: about 1 km from Gur-e-Amir to the Registan, 700 m along the pedestrian street to Bibi-Khanym and 800 m more to Shah-i-Zinda. For the observatory, the railway station (more than 6 km from the Registan) and the Imam al-Bukhari complex, take a taxi: Yandex Go works in Samarkand and shows the fare before you ride. The city also has buses and, since 2017, modern trams from the railway station, one line running to Siab Bazaar.
Local tips
- You can buy the Registan ticket online in advance at tickets.registon.uz.
- Cards work in almost all terminals, but carry cash in som for the bazaar and the smaller ticket desks. Read more →
- Shah-i-Zinda and the Imam al-Bukhari complex are places of prayer: cover shoulders and knees, and women should bring a scarf. Read more →
- In summer, see the open-air sights early and keep the hot afternoon for museums and a long lunch.
- The early 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 → from Tashkent arrives before 9 a.m., soon after the Registan opens. Read more →
- Shahrisabz, Timur's birthplace, is about 90 km away over a mountain pass: plan a full day. Read more →
Our take: how many days you need
Two to three days cover the main sights: the Registan, Shah-i-Zinda, Gur-Emir and the bazaar. One day is possible as a trip from Tashkent, but it starts early. Shakhrisabz and Penjikent are separate one-day trips, so add a day for each.
When to go: month by month
Daytime temperature, rainfall, public holidays and our rating for every month.
- Jan7.3° Cool, fewer people Cold: 7.3° by day 41 mm of rain ★ 1, 14
- Feb9.5° Cool, fewer people Cold: 9.5° by day 52 mm of rain
- Mar15.2° Great Cool: 15.2° by day 73 mm of rain ★ 8, 21
- Apr21.4° Great Comfortable: 21.4° by day 63 mm of rain
- May27° Great Comfortable: 27° by day 40 mm of rain ★ 9
- Jun32.4° Good Warm: 32.4° by day 7 mm of rain
- Jul34.5° Hard Hot: 34.5° by day 2 mm of rain
- Aug33.3° Hard Hot: 33.3° by day 2 mm of rain
- Sep28.6° Great Comfortable: 28.6° by day 3 mm of rain ★ 1
- Oct22° Great Comfortable: 22° by day 16 mm of rain ★ 1
- Nov14.4° Great Cool: 14.4° by day 40 mm of rain
- Dec9.1° Cool, fewer people Cold: 9.1° by day 39 mm of rain ★ 8
- 1 Jan — New Year
- 14 Jan — Defenders of the Motherland Day
- 8 Mar — International Women’s Day
- 21 Mar — Navruz
- 9 May — Day of Remembrance and Honour
- 1 Sep — Independence Day
- 1 Oct — Teachers’ Day
- 8 Dec — Constitution Day
- Ramadan Hayit (Eid al-Fitr): the date changes every year
- Kurban Hayit (Eid al-Adha): the date changes every year
Climate source: Википедия, статья «Samarkand», таблица климата (нормы 1991–2020; Pogoda.ru.net, NOAA) — en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samarkand
Rating by daytime temperature: great — 18–30°, good — 12–18° or 30–33°, cool, fewer people — below 12°, hard — above 33°; heavy rain (100 mm and more) lowers great to good. For the cities we also follow our expert: the season is March–June and September–November, with March and November the best months (start and end of the season, few people); winter is not marked as a bad time.
How to see Samarkand
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How many days do I need in Samarkand?
2–3 days are enough for the main sights
How do I get to Samarkand?
About 2 hours from Tashkent by high-speed train More in the article: Uzbekistan tours from Australia: flights, entry, seasons and how many days
When is the best time to go to Samarkand?
Spring (April–May) and autumn (September–October) are the most comfortable; summer days are hot. More in the article: Uzbekistan in April: spring weather, long days and tips
What can I add nearby?
Easy side trips: Shakhrisabz, Penjikent and the Seven Lakes
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