Uzbekistan is the beating heart of the Silk Road, where turquoise domes rise from desert plains. Samarkand dazzles with the tiled grandeur of Registan Square and the Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, while Bukhara preserves a labyrinth of medieval madrasas, trading domes and the towering Kalon Minaret. Walled Khiva feels like an open-air museum frozen in mud-brick. Modern Tashkent layers Soviet boulevards and ornate metro stations over ancient bazaars. Fast trains stitch the cities…
Samarkand has fascinated travellers since Marco Polo: Registan Square, ringed by three madrasas, ranks among the most beautiful in the world.
Tashkent's metro, with its marble palace-stations, was off-limits to photography until 2018 — it was a secret military site.
The fast Afrosiyob train links Tashkent to Samarkand in 2 hours: book early. An eSIM helps: Yandex Go in town, Uzbek translation and cash withdrawals scouted in advance.