About an hour and a half from Sofia to Istanbul, about four and a half more to Tashkent, and your watch moves only two or three hours. Bulgarian citizens need no visa for stays of up to 30 days. We are a tour operator in Tashkent. You buy the flight, and from the moment you land we take care of the rest: hotels, trains, guides and transfers through Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva.
English-speaking guide on our guided tours; for a Bulgarian-speaking guide, ask us
Your trip, step by step
From the change in Istanbul to the last evening in Khiva: what each part of the trip looks like, what is worth knowing, what to eat, and where we can help.
The way in: one change, usually in Istanbul
There is no nonstop flight from Sofia to Tashkent, so expect one change. The common route is Turkish Airlines through Istanbul Airport: about an hour and a half to Istanbul, then about four and a half hours to Tashkent. Uzbekistan Airways, Qanot Sharq and Centrum Air fly that second leg too. Pegasus from Sofia lands at Sabiha Gökçen, on the other side of Istanbul, so if you buy two separate tickets, check which airport your onward flight leaves from.
A driver meets you with a name sign and takes you to the hotel, and with fast-track passport control you are out of the airport sooner. If your flight lands in the small hours, we book the room from the night before or ask for early check-in, so you sleep before the first walk. Your watch has moved only two or three hours, so by the afternoon you can go down into the metro, where every station has its own theme, and on to Chorsu bazaar under its blue dome, 86 metres across.
A little over two hours from Tashkent on the Afrosiyob high-speed train. Come to the Registan twice: in the morning, while the square is quiet, and after dark, when the three madrasahs are lit. Then walk up the street of blue mausoleums at Shah-i-Zinda and stop under Timur's ribbed dome at Gur-e-Amir.
You can walk the whole old town: the Ark fortress, the Kalyan minaret, the covered trading domes and the pool of Lyabi-Hauz, where the teahouses fill up at dusk. Ask a Bukharan why the minaret outlived Genghis Khan and you will get a story about a hat. For one of your evenings here, we can book dinner as guests of a local family.
Itchan Kala is a walled town of 26 hectares where people still live, and you can cross it in twenty minutes. Climb the walls for the sunset. If you have a spare night, we can take you to a yurt in the Karakum desert near Khiva. Flights land in Urgench, about 30 km away, and our driver meets you there.
The Fann Mountains of Tajikistan, with their turquoise lakes, are close to Samarkand, and one of our 8-day routes joins Tashkent with Bishkek and Almaty. Entry rules differ from country to country, so tell us your citizenship and we will check them for each border on your route.
Hotels, train tickets, guides and transfers, timed to your arrival and departure. You buy the international flight; we arrange everything inside the country.
An easy arrival
Fast-track passport control in Tashkent, a driver with a name sign and a first night planned around your landing time.
A route around your flights
A ready tour as it is, or the same route moved to your dates and pace. Tell us how many days you have on the ground.
Your guide
An English-speaking guide is included on our guided tours. A Russian-speaking guide is available on request. For a Bulgarian-speaking guide, ask us.
Registration
Foreign visitors must be registered within three days of arrival. Hotels do this at check-in, so on a tour you hardly notice it.
On call during the trip
We are a team in Tashkent, on call 24/7 while you travel.
Send us your flight dates, even rough ones, and we will suggest a route that fits them.
Good to know before you fly
April–May and September–October are the best months for the cities. July and August afternoons average 35–37 °C; winter is quiet, around 7 °C on a January afternoon.
Travel on a valid passport: a national ID card is not accepted here. We recommend at least six months left on it.
Your Visa or Mastercard works in almost every card terminal. Euros change as easily as dollars; keep some so’m in cash for bazaars.
Your plugs fit: Uzbekistan uses types C and F at 230 V, the same as Bulgaria. A local SIM bought with your passport works for 60 days without registering the phone.
Take travel insurance that covers medical treatment for every day and every country on your route. Bulgaria has an embassy in Tashkent, and we are on call throughout your trip.
Bottled water is sold everywhere, in many brands, so drink that. Bring regular medicine with its prescription; some medicines with codeine are restricted here.
Tours that suit a trip from Bulgaria
With one change of plane each way, eight days on the ground cover the four main cities. The price is on each tour page or on request.
No. Bulgarian citizens can stay up to 30 days without a visa, counted from the day they cross the border. For a longer stay you need a visa before you travel. Bring a valid passport, not an ID card; we recommend at least six months left on it.
How do I get to Uzbekistan from Bulgaria?
With one change of plane. There is no nonstop flight from Sofia to Tashkent, and the common route is Turkish Airlines through Istanbul: about an hour and a half to Istanbul and about four and a half hours on to Tashkent, plus the time of your connection.
Do you book the international flights?
No, you buy the flight yourself. Send us the flight times and we build the trip around them: transfers, hotels, trains and guides.
What is the time difference?
Tashkent is on UTC+5 all year, with no summer time. That is 3 hours ahead of Sofia in winter and 2 hours ahead in summer.
When is the best time to go?
April–May and September–October. July and August are hot, so in those months we plan sightseeing for the mornings and evenings. Winter is cool and quiet.
How many days do I need?
Eight days on the ground cover Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva. With ten or eleven days you see the same cities at an easier pace or add places most visitors miss.
Will the guide speak Bulgarian?
An English-speaking guide is included on our guided tours, and a Russian-speaking guide is available on request. For a Bulgarian-speaking guide, ask us when you send your dates.
Plan my trip
Your flight dates (even rough ones), how many travellers and what you would like to see. We reply with a route and prices.
Deutsch
English
Español
Français
Italiano
Polski
Português
Suomi
Svenska
Türkçe
Ελληνικά
Български
Русский
עברית
한국어
中文
日本語
