General Tips
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).
Getting Around
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 knees.
Field Administration
Plov is the Uzbek national dish made with aromatic rice and meat. The best spots typically run out by 14:00
You will see men leaning into giant kiln-like ovens and slapping bread on the inside walls; that is Samarkand Non.
Savory Somsa, meat-filled pastries baked right onto the inner walls of tandoor ovens—from roadside stands for an incredibly cheap, fast lunch.
Must Try Food
Yandex Go — the Uber for Uzbekistan. We used it to travel within each of the cities we visited. Bonus: you save your cash!
Google Translate — have Russian and Uzbek downloaded to navigate Cyrillic menus.
Must Have Apps
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
2 NIGHTS · MAY 26 – MAY 28
41.2995° N, 69.2401° E
Tashkent
Old Tashkent Heritage
Seems like a new build in 2025/2026, 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 okay - Tashkent felt very unwalkable, so we took YandexGo to get most places and when we could, we took the metro
Where We Stayed
Museums
Sensō-ji — oldest shrine in Tokyo, completed in 645. Fun to walk around Asakusa but a bit out of the way from everything else. We paired this with a side trip to Akihabara (the video game & electronics center) and I wouldn't recommend unless you're a fan of Japanese video games.
Gōtokuji — thousands of lucky cats shrine from the Edo period, a bit out of the way (we didn't go) but it looks very special! You can head there in the morning and explore Shimokitazawa for lunch after.
What We Did
Museums
Tokyo National Museum — we spent a few hours here before heading to catch a bus, you could easily spend a full day here.
Mori Art Museum — art museum with a view; didn't get around to it but on our list for next time!
teamLab — we went to the Borderless experience in Kyoto but have also heard that Tokyo's teamLab/Borderless experiences are incredible. They're basically big warehouses converted into immersive art experiences — fun for adults and kids alike.
FOOD
HEARD THIS WAS GOOD
Fly into Tokyo and
a. head directly to Hiroshima (2 nights) > Okayama (2N, day trips to Naoshima Island & Kurashiki) > Kyoto (4N) > Tokyo (4N)
b. head to Osaka (2-3N) > Kyoto (5 N) >
Tokyo (5N)
WE ATE HERE
Fukuoka (1N) → Aso (1N) → Takachiho (1N) → Kagoshima (3N) → Kumamoto (1N) → Nagasaki (2 nights) → Hiroshima (2N) → Okayama (3N) → Osaka (3N) → Kyoto (3N) → Takayama (1 N) → Kamikochi (1N) → Matsumoto (2N) → Kawaguchio/Mt. Fuji (2N) → Tokyo (6N)
4 NIGHTS · MAY 26 – MAY 28
39.6542° N, 66.9597° E
Samarkand
WHERE WE STAYED
Rabat boutique - Easily our favorite hotel in Uzbekistan!
The hotel was built by a Jewish merchant. He hosted other merchants of many different faiths a built a synagogue that gave a nod to all the different faiths of people he hosted from christians and muslims to buddhists and hindus. The staff walked us through all of the history.
Amazing breakfast spread (which is included) and very friendly staff.
Fresh cherries picked from from the trees to eat all day.
THINGS TO DO
Samarkand Historical Tour
This is what people come to Samarkand to see. We used this audio tour and split it up into two days; only mornings because it was so hot.
Absolutely go back at night and hang out by the steps overlooking Registan Square. The people of Uzbekistan are some of the friendlist we’ve met on our travels.
A day trip to the Seven Lakes in Tajikistan
We met another couple while traveling and they highly recommended this side quest. They introduced us to their guide. We loved spending the day exploring the 7 lakes; absolutely stunning and a great change of scenery, weather & culture (subbed cities for mountains and lakes).
If you are interested, please DM us on instagram @ellisontravels and we can share our guides number
FOOD
HEARD THIS WAS GOOD
Fly into Tokyo and
a. head directly to Hiroshima (2 nights) > Okayama (2N, day trips to Naoshima Island & Kurashiki) > Kyoto (4N) > Tokyo (4N)
b. head to Osaka (2-3N) > Kyoto (5 N) >
Tokyo (5N)
WE ATE HERE
Fukuoka (1N) → Aso (1N) → Takachiho (1N) → Kagoshima (3N) → Kumamoto (1N) → Nagasaki (2 nights) → Hiroshima (2N) → Okayama (3N) → Osaka (3N) → Kyoto (3N) → Takayama (1 N) → Kamikochi (1N) → Matsumoto (2N) → Kawaguchio/Mt. Fuji (2N) → Tokyo (6N)
4 NIGHTS · MAY 28 – JUNE 1
39.7745° N, 64.4286° E
Bukhara
WHERE WE STAYED
Rabat boutique - Easily our favorite hotel in Uzbekistan! We loved their breakfast spread (included!) and how friendly the staff were
They were picking cherries from the tree and shared a whole bunch with us
Loved the history behind the hotel as well, the hotel staff walk you through the most special details of the place
THINGS TO DO
Samarkand Historical Tour
This is what people come to Samarkand to see. We used this audio tour and split it up into two days; only mornings because it was so hot.
Absolutely go back at night and hang out by the steps overlooking Registan Square. The people of Uzbekistan are some of the friendlist we’ve met on our travels.
A day trip to the Seven Lakes in Tajikistan
We met another couple while traveling and they highly recommended this side quest. They introduced us to their guide. We loved spending the day exploring the 7 lakes; absolutely stunning and a great change of scenery, weather & culture (subbed cities for mountains and lakes).
If you are interested, please DM us on instagram @ellisontravels and we can share our guides number
FOOD
HEARD THIS WAS GOOD
Fly into Tokyo and
a. head directly to Hiroshima (2 nights) > Okayama (2N, day trips to Naoshima Island & Kurashiki) > Kyoto (4N) > Tokyo (4N)
b. head to Osaka (2-3N) > Kyoto (5 N) >
Tokyo (5N)
WE ATE HERE
Fukuoka (1N) → Aso (1N) → Takachiho (1N) → Kagoshima (3N) → Kumamoto (1N) → Nagasaki (2 nights) → Hiroshima (2N) → Okayama (3N) → Osaka (3N) → Kyoto (3N) → Takayama (1 N) → Kamikochi (1N) → Matsumoto (2N) → Kawaguchio/Mt. Fuji (2N) → Tokyo (6N)
3 NIGHTS · JUNE 5 – JUNE 8
41.3775° N, 60.3617° E
Khiva
WHERE WE STAYED
Rabat boutique - Easily our favorite hotel in Uzbekistan! We loved their breakfast spread (included!) and how friendly the staff were
They were picking cherries from the tree and shared a whole bunch with us
Loved the history behind the hotel as well, the hotel staff walk you through the most special details of the place
THINGS TO DO
Samarkand Historical Tour
This is what people come to Samarkand to see. We used this audio tour and split it up into two days; only mornings because it was so hot.
Absolutely go back at night and hang out by the steps overlooking Registan Square. The people of Uzbekistan are some of the friendlist we’ve met on our travels.
A day trip to the Seven Lakes in Tajikistan
We met another couple while traveling and they highly recommended this side quest. They introduced us to their guide. We loved spending the day exploring the 7 lakes; absolutely stunning and a great change of scenery, weather & culture (subbed cities for mountains and lakes).
If you are interested, please DM us on instagram @ellisontravels and we can share our guides number
FOOD
HEARD THIS WAS GOOD
Fly into Tokyo and
a. head directly to Hiroshima (2 nights) > Okayama (2N, day trips to Naoshima Island & Kurashiki) > Kyoto (4N) > Tokyo (4N)
b. head to Osaka (2-3N) > Kyoto (5 N) >
Tokyo (5N)
WE ATE HERE
Fukuoka (1N) → Aso (1N) → Takachiho (1N) → Kagoshima (3N) → Kumamoto (1N) → Nagasaki (2 nights) → Hiroshima (2N) → Okayama (3N) → Osaka (3N) → Kyoto (3N) → Takayama (1 N) → Kamikochi (1N) → Matsumoto (2N) → Kawaguchio/Mt. Fuji (2N) → Tokyo (6N)