Uzbekistan: 13 Days on the Silk Road
Shah-i-Zinda Mausoleum
General tips
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Travel between cities via Uzbek Rail. As of June 2026, bookings open 45 days in advance. The website glitches often and was quite frustrating, but it eventually worked using the mobile app.
Within the cities, we used Yandex Go (Central Asia’s Uber).
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Plov, palov or osh, the Uzbek national dish made with aromatic rice, meat, veggies and spices. The best spots typically run out by 14:00.
Samarkand Non, the bread being slapped into giant kiln-like ovens at the market.
Savory Somsa, meat-filled pastries baked right onto the inner walls of tandoor ovens—from roadside stands for an incredibly cheap, fast lunch.
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Yandex Go - the Uber for Uzbekistan. We used it to travel within each of the cities we visited. Bonus: accepts international credit cards!
Google Translate - have Russian and Uzbek downloaded to navigate Cyrillic menus.
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Money -cash is king, very few places accept cards.
Registration Slips -save the paper receipts your hotels give you each night; immigration border guards can legally audit this continuous paper trail when you fly out.
FWIW, no one asked for our slips.Dress Code -keep a lightweight scarf at the top of your daypack to cover shoulders and/or knees for visiting mosques.
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Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan - Peter Frankopan was a guest on our favorite podcast, Empire: World History, speaking about the Byzantine empire. I learned so much from his episode that I immediately downloaded Silk Roads as my overall book to read for our Central Asia run. Silk Roads refocuses history away from Europe, placing Central Asia at the center of how the modern world took shape.
Ancient Khorezem by UNESCO - historical overview of Khiva and it’s Khorezem ancestry.
Itinerary
What we did
Day 1-2: Tashkent
Day 3-6: Samarkand (w/ Tajikistan sidequest)
Day 7-10: Bukhara
Day 11-14: Khiva
What we’d recommend instead
Day 1-2: Tashkent
Day 3-5: Samarkand (w/ Tajikistan sidequest)
Day 6-7: Bukhara
Day 8: Khiva
Tashkent
2 NIGHTS · MAY 26 – MAY 28, 2026
Alisher Navoi metro station
Getting there
We flew into Tashkent from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and ordered a Yandex Go to our hotel.
Where we stayed
Newly built, best decor and ambiance out of our other hotels. Very clean and well managed with the added bonus of a pool! Excellent breakfast buffet.
Location was close enough to tourist areas. Tashkent felt very unwalkable, so we took YandexGo to get most places and when we could, we walked and took the metro.
Do we recommend our hotel? Yes!
What we did
Hazrati Imam Complex at dusk
Museum of Applied Arts - small but mighty museum showcasing the best craftsmanship across the country. Thanks to the museum, we were introduced to Yuliya’s audio guides here. The museum offers one of her audio guides for free but she also has a Tashkent audio guide. We realized this too late so can’t directly comment on it but it looks very thorough!
Tashkent Metro - after the Museum of Applied Arts, we walked to the nearest Metro stop, Kosmonavtlar, and rode it to the Chorsu Bazaar stop. The metro ride teleports you to the Soviet era of Uzbekistan with it’s blend of Russian architecture and traditional Uzbek motifs. Note: if you don’t get on the train quick enough, station workers will push you in.
Chorsu Bazaar - the bazaar was winding down by the time we arrived but we ate delicious samsas right next to the Plov Center and a baklava for dessert after.
Hazrati Imam Complex - stopped by before sunset to see the stunning M’s of Tashkent (mosques, madrasahs, mausoleums, museum) at golden hour. We did not go into the Islamic Civilization Center and a fellow traveler told us it was skippable - judge for yourself by learning more here.
Seoul Munn - we were intrigued by this river lined with shops and restaurants but were very disappointed in the Korean food we ordered.
Magic City - a free Disneyland with its own castle and lake and wild arcade games. This is a mix of a theme park and a giant outdoor mall with a variety of local chain restaurants. If you have kids, this seemed pretty fun.
What we ate
Fresh non at Chorsu Bazaar
Karasaray Lagman - our favorite bowl of lagman and manti. we did try to go twice but it was closed earlier than it said so online. We went for lunch our first half day before heading to the Imam Complex.
Gunaydin Kebap & Steakhouse - delicious turkish, got us hyped for our upcoming month in Türkiye.
Kimpab - just including this here so you don’t eat there.
Plov Center - samsa’s in Chorsu Bazaar, decent plov but get there earlier. Plov after 2pm is no bueno.
Samarkand
4 NIGHTS · MAY 28 – JUNE 1, 2026
Getting there
Samarkand train station
We took the Sharq (“slower”) train from Tashkent to Samarkand which cost $32 for both of us and took about 3 hours and 15 minutes. Be sure to book tickets well in advance for this route as it sells out quickly. When you arrive, order a Yandex Go to your accommodation.
Where we stayed
Rabat Boutique - Our favorite hotel in Uzbekistan!
Built in 1906 as a family home by a Jewish merchant, the home turned hotel has been welcoming travelers of many faiths for over a century. Inspired by his guests, the merchant wove symbols of Christianity, Islam and Buddhism into the synagogue’s building design. The staff share the family history and symbolism in the room during the amazing (and included in your rate) breakfast.
In May, fresh cherries picked from the trees to eat all day.
Do we recommend our hotel? Yes!
What we did
Samarkand Historical Tour
Registan square
Registan Square, Shah-i-Zinda Mausoleum Street, Tamerlan’es largest mosque, and more with the help of this local guide’s audio tour. We split the tour up into two days; only mornings because it was so hot.
Go back at night and sit on the steps overlooking Registan Square. The people of Uzbekistan are some of the friendliest we’ve met on our travels and will stop to chat with you. There is also a fun light show that happens after sunset.
A day trip to the Seven Lakes in Tajikistan
We met another couple while traveling and they highly recommended this tour & guide. We loved spending the day exploring the seven lakes; it was stunning and a great change of scenery, weather & culture. We took a Yandex to the border crossing and our guide met us at the Tashkent border on the other side. We had no issues crossing but note that impatient locals will try and cut you in line so stand your ground!
If you are interested, please DM us at @ellisontravels and we can share our guides number.
What we ate
Manti na Zakaz - you know a restaurant is going to be amazing when there’s only one thing on the menu. Strongly recommend.
Sharof Bobo Oshxonasi - not the best plov we ate but it was tasty enough, we probably came here too late.
Shokhrukh Nur - solid shashlik and delicious lagman.
Sam Craft Pub - crisp craft beer and decent burgers for when you’re ready to take a break from plov or shaslik.
Kafe Bobur - but when you want more meat on a stick, our favorite shashlik spot.
Kokandskaya Somsa - we did not venture here but this came strongly recommended from a friend, best somsa in Central Asia according to him!
Bukhara
4 NIGHTS · MAY 28 – JUNE 1, 2026
Getting there
We took the Sharq (“slower”) train from Samarkand to Bukhara which cost $41 for both of us and took about 2 hours and 30 minutes. Be sure to book tickets well in advance for this route as it sells out quickly. When you arrive, you can order a Yandex Go to your accommodation.
Where we stayed
We loved this location, it was perfectly centered between Bukhara’s two main sections so we found it really easy to explore.
Breakfast was decent but if you stay there, make sure to get to the buffet early. Most days we left before 8am to start touring before the sun was too hot. The one day we arrived late, we found they don’t re-stock some breakfast items.
Room was on the smaller side with a weaker A/C.
Do we recommend our hotel? Maybe not if you want stronger A/C. I would recommend staying within this area in Bukhara (see map). The heart is the hotel.
What we did
Silhouettes of Nathalie & Abdulaziz Khan Madrassa
Bukhara Audio Tour. We did this very slowly and split it across 3 days but you can easily do it in 1 or 2. We saved entering the Ark for sunset and highly recommend this. You’ll get golden hour pictures of the city and the sun setting through Shukhov Tower.
Pavillon Kalon - gorgeous boutique store offering something different from the run-of-the-mill souvenirs you’ll see on the streets. Coffee & tea shop upstairs have the best view of Poyi Kalon Complex.
If you’re searching for a souvenir that isn’t a magnet, buy hand-forged embroidery scissors shaped like a stork’s beak. They’re a Bukharian speciality tied to the history of ancient craftsmanship and trade on the Silk Road. Read more about the history of these scissors here.
Where we ate
Donuts and Coffee - we saw this all over social media and thought, it can’t be as good as it’s being advertised… and we are happy to report: the donuts are incredible. They’re freshly made to order and pair so nicely with the iced americanos we downed. We also had their chicken lavash for lunch and couldn’t stop talking about it for days. We were in Bukhara for 3 days and we ate here 4 times.
JOY Gastro - a fancier meal that we had to make reservations for. We walked to the restaurant earlier that morning and had no issues reserving a table that night.
Coffee House - solid option for a quick dinner.
Zolotaya Buhara - good for big groups, gets really busy as well so come on the earlier side.
Old Bukhara - not our favorite meal but we enjoyed the view from the rooftop at sunset.
Khiva
3 NIGHTS · JUNE 5 – JUNE 8, 2026
Getting there
We took the 6 hour sleeper train from Bukhara to Urgench. It cost $35 for the both of us. Takes a little longer to order a Yandex here but we got one after waiting 10 minutes.
Don’t make our mistakes: There is a station that opened closer to Khiva but it runs on certain days. Our dates didn’t line up so we booked a train to Urgench and rode a Yandex to Khiva.
Where we stayed
If you have one day in Khiva, definitely stay inside the city walls. If you’re not inside the walls, you have to pay an entrance fee. Note: we didn’t pay this fee and avoided buildings that required you pay an additional fee to enter.
If you are staying inside and exit, security guards may stop you on your return. Just show your hotel booking and they will let you through.
Do we recommend our hotel? Yes, the family was really kind and the hotel was clean & quiet. Breakfast was simple but got the job done. They upgraded our room & offered us a free ride to the airport.
What we did
Standing over ancient Khorezm fortress ruins
DIY Walking Tour
Hire a guide or read this Unesco Guide on Ancient Khorezem and DIY! (includes a map of Khiva and more information on each spot)
Note: because we were staying inside the city walls, we did not buy a pass and therefore we would have had to pay individual fees for certain buildings. We opted to skip buildings that were not free to access given the heavy touristing we had already done across Uzbekistan.
Day trip to Khorezem Fortresses
Don’t make our mistakes: if you book the Khorezem Fortresses tour with your hotel, request a guide if you’re not reading up on it beforehand. We booked a car with our hotel and thought there would be more information shared. This was our bad for not confirming. This Ancient Khorezem Unesco Guide added a lot of color for us after the tour. If you’re interested in 4th & 3rd century BCE fortresses, this will be your cup of tea. The standard route:
Ayaz-kala I, II & III - three fortresses clustered together on a prominent hill spanning 4th century BCE up into 6th/7th century CE.
Toprak-kala - my personal favorite fortress, dated around 2nd and 3rd centuries CE. It was the best preserved building out of the three and you can better envision how the palace was structured back then.
Kyzyl-kala - built in the Late Antique period, 1st to 4th centuries CE and then rebuilt in the 12-13th centuries before Mongol invasions.
Nurullabai Palace - summer palace for the last Khanate of Khiva until the establishment of the Khorezem People’s Soviet Republic in 1920, fascinating blend of Russian & Central Asian architecture.
We skipped this, but next time…
Savitsky Nukus Museum of Art - collection of Russian artists of the first half of the 20th century, an impressive era of art was created here during the repressive Stalinist regime. We met a fellow traveler who said this was the highlight of her Khiva trip, her partner felt otherwise. If you love art, this is a must.
Aral Sea tour - the sea was one of the world’s largest inland salt seas until it was severely reduced in size through extensive irrigation projects during the Soviet era. The tour consists of going to see abandoned fishing vessels in what has become a desert. Unfortunately we had to choose between the fortresses and this tour. Note: this tour is considerably longer than touring Khorezem.
What we ate
What are the best restaurants in Khiva? Spoiler: we found all the best food to be outside the walled city.
Inside the walls:
Terrassa Cafe & Restaurant - food was okay. There was a dance performance that I believe happens every night that was quite fun… but this is definitely a big tourist group restaurant.
Murod Josh- we did not look at reviews before sitting at this crowded spot for some shade and a snack. They have a whopping 1.6 stars on Google Maps and I understand why. Our fries were uncooked and they kept forgetting we existed but if you’re only there for a cold beer, it’s a pretty good place to sit and people watch.
Outside the walls:
Xokim Somsa - spot with really good lagman & samsas after the Khorazem fortress tour.
Khiva Moon - our first time trying Shivit Oshi. Dill tinted green noodles with a hefty serving of beef stew, served with a side of yogurt. You can only find this dish in Khiva.
FeedUp - fast food chain, was pretty impressed with quality!
Safia - had a sugary soda here, wish we had tried the pastries because they looked quite beautiful and tasty.
Restoran Tandiriy - stunning interior design, the most aesthetically pleasing restaurant - we watched an engagement happen! Tasty food but a little more $$$.
