Tashkent
Plane trees and an ancient Qur’an
The capital and the usual starting point. Old mosques and a great bazaar sit beside wide avenues and the first metro in Central Asia.
Most journeys begin in Tashkent, and the city deserves a day rather than a transfer. Rebuilt on a generous scale after the earthquake of 1966, it is a capital of broad avenues under plane trees, of parks and fountains, and of the first metro in Central Asia, whose stations are finished in marble, ceramic and chandeliers. It lives outdoors, and its pace is easier than its size suggests.
The old city is a short drive from the centre. At the Hazrati Imam complex, madrasas and a mosque enclose a quiet square, and the library keeps one of the oldest Qur’ans in the world. A few streets away, Chorsu Bazaar fills a great domed hall and the lanes around it with spices, bread, dried fruit and the melons of the season. The Museum of Applied Arts, in a house decorated by the city’s master craftsmen, is the place to understand suzani, ceramics and carved wood before you meet them in the regions.
We use Tashkent as the hinge of a journey: the first night after a long flight, an unhurried evening before the train, a last dinner before you leave. Your private guide walks you through the old mahallas and takes you down into the metro, and your travel designer, who lives here, knows which chaikhana is worth the detour and on which evening the Navoi Theatre is worth a ticket. Plov in Tashkent is cooked in the morning and eaten at midday; that alone is a reason to stay the day.
The way here and on
Onward
- Tashkent to Nukus
- Domestic flight, about 1 hour 20 minutes in the air.
- Tashkent to Urgench
- Domestic flight, about 1 hour 10 minutes in the air.
- Urgench to Khiva
- Private car with driver, about 40 minutes.
- Tashkent to Bukhara
- Afrosiyob high-speed train, through service, about 4 hours.
- Tashkent to Samarkand
- Afrosiyob high-speed train, about 2 hours 10 minutes.
- Tashkent to Fergana Valley
- Private car with driver, over the Kamchik pass, about 5 hours.
- Tashkent to Chimgan and Charvak
- Private car with driver, by the Charvak reservoir, about 1 hour 30 minutes.
Travel times are typical, not a timetable, and your designer confirms each one.
Experiences here
When to go
| Month | Typical high / low | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| JanuarySunrise and sunset: 07:47–17:18 | 6° / −2° | Cold |
| FebruarySunrise and sunset: 07:18–17:56 | 9° / −1° | Cold |
| MarchSunrise and sunset: 06:35–18:29 | 15° / 4° | Unsettled |
| AprilSunrise and sunset: 05:44–19:03 | 22° / 10° | Best |
| MaySunrise and sunset: 05:05–19:34 | 28° / 14° | Best |
| JuneSunrise and sunset: 04:49–19:58 | 34° / 19° | Good |
| JulySunrise and sunset: 05:03–19:55 | 36° / 21° | Hot |
| AugustSunrise and sunset: 05:32–19:23 | 34° / 19° | Hot |
| SeptemberSunrise and sunset: 06:03–18:33 | 29° / 14° | Best |
| OctoberSunrise and sunset: 06:35–17:43 | 21° / 8° | Best |
| NovemberSunrise and sunset: 07:11–17:04 | 14° / 3° | Cold |
| DecemberSunrise and sunset: 07:42–16:54 | 8° / −1° | Cold |
Typical conditions by month. Long-run averages, not a forecast — real days land either side. Sunrise and sunset on the 15th of each month, in Uzbekistan time.
Journeys that go there
Silk Road Classic
The four great cities in one week: Tashkent, Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand, with a day across the desert and high-speed trains between them.
Tashkent: 2 nights (1 + 1)
The Grand Journey across Uzbekistan
All four Silk Road cities in eleven days, with a night in a yurt beside Lake Aydarkul and a day in Shakhrisabz, the town where Timur was born.
Tashkent: 2 nights (1 + 1)
From the journal
Plov: how it is cooked, and where to eat it
Plov is the national dish, cooked in a kazan in the morning and eaten by noon. How it is made, how Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and the Fergana Valley differ, and where and when to eat it.
Tashkent in a day
Most journeys begin in Tashkent with a day to spare. How to spend it, hour by hour, from the old city at nine to a chaikhana at dusk.
Begin your journey
Tell us when you would like to travel and what you would like to see. One designer will reply within one working day.