Uzbekistan: tips & tricks

🧭 Summary

Uzbekistan is easy and cheap to travel, from about 12–14 USD a day on a budget or 50–70 USD mid-range, but it runs on a few local systems that catch foreigners out. Almost every hotel wants payment at the desk, and every foreigner must be registered with immigration wherever they sleep.

The best way between cities is the fast Afrosiyob train, booked a few days ahead in the UzRailway app. Inside cities, Yandex Go taxis are very cheap. Cards (Visa/Mastercard) work in shops and restaurants, but sights, mosques and small food stalls want cash.

Foreign cards often fail on Uzbek websites (3-D Secure, SMS codes, VPNs), so carry more than one card and fall back to physical ticket offices. A local SIM is cheap; register the phone in the IMEI system only if you stay around 30 days or more.

Eat in a chaikhana, not in fancy restaurants. Plov is a lunch dish, shashlik is an evening dish, and portions are huge. The classic route is Tashkent → Samarkand → Bukhara → Khiva, best in April–May or September–October.

🗺️ Map

The classic route runs west from Tashkent to Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva. Tap a city to zoom in, and tap a pin for details and directions.

Sight Food & bazaar Airport & station

🏨 Hotels & registration

Booking and paying

Use Booking or Agoda to find hotels, but expect to pay on arrival at almost every property (the video says ~99%). You pay the price shown in the app, at the reception desk, with a physical card or cash.

A digital-only card (for example, one that exists only in Apple Pay) does not work at the desk. If you need to pay online in advance, look at international chains such as Hilton — they cost more.

Tourist registration

Every foreign visitor must be registered with immigration at each place where they stay. A hotel does this for you, usually electronically, so you do nothing.

Some hotels give you a paper registration slip at check-in or check-out. Keep all of them. The border officer can ask for them when you leave the country — this happened to the author's husband.

Guesthouses and Airbnb

If you stay in a guesthouse or a private flat, the host must register you on the government site emehmon.uz (the video pronounces it "e-mehmon"). If the host does not, you have to go to an immigration office yourself, which is the hardest option. Confirm registration with the host before you book.

🚄 Getting around

Trains: the best option

Take the train, not the plane. Search for the high-speed Afrosiyob train — it reaches most tourist cities.

Book at least 2–3 days in advance. Tickets for tomorrow are usually sold out, partly because travel agencies buy seats early. Use the official UzRailway app; it accepts foreign debit cards.

Arrive at least 30 minutes before departure. Every station has a security post: bags go through a scanner, and staff can ask questions. Queues can be long.

Flights

Foreign cards (European, African, many banks) often fail on Uzbek airline websites because of local payment security. If your card does not work, go to a physical ticket office — a kassa. They are common in cities and accept debit and credit cards.

Taxis

Always use Yandex Go. A 20-minute ride costs about $2. Cars are modern, often Chinese models.

Many drivers speak only Uzbek or Russian and can get lost. Keep a screenshot of your hotel, and write its name in Cyrillic.

💵 Money

International Visa and Mastercard cards work almost everywhere: hotels, restaurants, shops, ticket offices.

Carry cash for small food (samsa, snacks) and for sights. Many mosques and attractions in Samarkand — even Shah-i-Zinda — take cash only.

ATMs are everywhere, so you do not need to bring much cash. Do not exchange money at the airport — the rate is bad. Use the airport ATM instead.

Online card payments

• Websites with 3-D Secure can log you out at the payment step. Try again several times, or buy in person.
• Some websites block payments from a VPN. Turn it off.
• Bank SMS confirmation codes may not arrive on your home number in Uzbekistan. Use app-based confirmation if your bank offers it.
• Carry a couple of cards from different banks as a backup.

💰 Prices & budget

Source: Travel Land's Uzbekistan price guide. The page is labelled 2026, but its figures are from 2022. Expect higher prices now, and use these numbers as a rough scale.

Daily budget

• Budget: 12–14 USD per day — a cheap hostel in Tashkent, two public transport tickets and two meals in a local canteen.
• Mid-range: 50–70 USD per person per day — a comfortable room, taxis and restaurant meals.

Food and drink

Getting around Tashkent

• Metro: 1,700 UZS per trip (2022 fare).
• City bus: 1,700 UZS per trip, the same as the metro.
• Marshrutka (fixed-route minibus): 1,400–4,500 UZS, by distance.
• Travel cards for tourists: AVM (metro) 236,000 UZS, AV (bus) 170,000 UZS. These are for long stays; single tickets suit a short trip.

Mobile internet

• A 1 GB (1,000 MB) package costs about 3.5–4 USD.
• Tourist SIM cards are sold at Tashkent and Bukhara airports. Show your passport with the arrival stamp.
• Operators: Beeline, Ucell, Mobiuz (UMS), Uzmobile and Perfectum Mobile.

📱 SIM cards & internet

A local physical SIM is cheaper and faster than an eSIM. The two main operators are Ucell and Beeline Uzbekistan. Some local services work only with an Uzbek phone number.

IMEI registration (UzIMEI)

Uzbekistan blocks phones that are not registered in its UzIMEI system (like Turkey and Tunisia). A phone with a local SIM that is not registered loses mobile service after 30 days: no calls, no data.

• Stay of 1–2 weeks: no registration needed. Use the SIM and remove it before 30 days.
• Stay of ~30 days or more: register the phone in UzIMEI and pay the fee (about $5 according to the video).
• eSIM-only phone (for example, recent US iPhones with no SIM tray): the lock risk is higher. The video recommends paying for registration directly.

🍲 Food

Uzbekistan is a paradise for food lovers, and the food is halal. Must-try dishes: plov (pilaf), shashlik (grilled meat skewers), samsa, lagman, shurpa and manti (the author's favourite).

Skip fancy restaurants. Eat in a chaikhana (teahouse) — the traditional place for local food.

Timing

• Plov is cooked roughly 10:00–13:00. After that it runs out or is not at its best. Eat it for lunch.
• Shashlik is an evening dish. The best places open from about 17:00 into the night.

Portions

Portions in authentic places are huge. Order a half portion of plov.

Where

In Tashkent, try the Central Asian Plov Centre ("Besh Qozon"), where plov is cooked in giant kazans (cauldrons).

🕌 Samarkand

• Registan Square — three madrasahs, the postcard image of Uzbekistan.
• Gur-e Amir — mausoleum of Timur (Tamerlane), founder of the Timurid Empire.
• Shah-i-Zinda — an old necropolis of blue-tiled mausoleums inside an ancient cemetery. It holds the tomb attributed to Qusam ibn Abbas, cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, who helped spread Islam in the region. Cash only.
• Siyob Bazaar — the main market.

Best time: April–May and September–October.

🏛️ Bukhara

• Lyab-i Hauz — ensemble around a historic pool.
• Kalyan (Kalon) Minaret and Kalyan Mosque.
• The Ark — Bukhara's fortress.
• Mir-i-Arab Madrasah.

Best time: April–May and September–October.

🏜️ Khiva

Khiva is one of the oldest cities in the region and sits isolated in the desert, which helped keep it intact. It is harder to reach: the author could not find a flight and planned to go by train.

• Itchan Kala — the walled old town.
• Kalta Minor — the short, unfinished tiled minaret.
• Kunya Ark — the old fortress.
• Juma Mosque — famous for its forest of wooden columns.

Best time: April, May and September. Do not go in winter (very cold, dry desert wind) or in high summer (extreme heat).

🏙️ Tashkent

Many travellers skip the capital. Do not. The 1966 earthquake destroyed much of the old city, and workers from across the Soviet Union rebuilt it, so less historic fabric remains — but it is still worth a stop.

• Chorsu Bazaar — the big domed market in the centre.
• Hazrati Imam Complex — home to one of the oldest Qurans in the world (the Uthman Quran).
• Tashkent Metro — ornate stations, unlike other post-Soviet metros.
• A large park area with fountains in the centre (the author did not remember the name).

Correction: the video says the earthquake was in the 1980s. It was in April 1966.

📅 When to go

For Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, the best months are April–May and September–October. Khiva is the most extreme: avoid winter and midsummer there.