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A few years ago, I started hearing about countries ending in “stan”, such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and of course Uzbekistan.
Budget travellers spoke of these as superb destinations that were still authentic. In 2021, I went to the World Expo in Dubai and, while visiting the pavilions of these countries, I fell in love with the destinations presented.
More and more agencies are organizing group trips to Uzbekistan, or a combination with a neighbouring country for a cultural experience along the famous Silk Road.
Their duration, typically between 17 and 22 days, is sufficient when including transportation from Canada. We encountered numerous groups, primarily from Europe or East Asia.
For example, G Adventures offers the “Highlights of Uzbekistan” itinerary, a 10-day small-group tour that explores Uzbekistan‘s must-see places, including Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva. This well-planned tour includes accommodation, transport and experienced guides.
With prices starting at CAD 2049 per person, this is an affordable way to discover the country, without having to worry about travel logistics.
For our part, we preferred to make this trip independently. With the help of a travel book and blogs, it was easy to establish an itinerary. Despite the language barrier, getting around between cities was straightforward, and booking hotels via the platforms was no problem at all.
Here is our 17-day itinerary in Uzbekistan, including a brief two-day excursion to Tajikistan:
Tashkent, the bustling capital of Uzbekistan, is well worth spending a day or two. While travellers often have mixed opinions about the city, we found it a worthwhile stop for its modern contrast to the rest of the country, its impressive and sprawling bazaar, and its diverse array of excellent dining options.
Places to discover include: Chorsu bazaar, the city’s metro stations, the TV tower for the panoramic view at the top, the Uzbekistan Hotel, Sayilgoh Street and the surrounding park, the Minor Mosque and the Hast Imam building complex.
On our second day, we hired a private driver to visit the Chimgan region and Lake Charvak, a popular nature escape for city dwellers. Two mountains keep their ski lifts open year-round, offering opportunities to admire the peaks and enjoy some hiking.
In Charvak Lake, you can go mountain biking, horseback riding, para-gliding, swimming or just enjoy the scenery. The area is not accessible by public transport.
It’s best to book with an agency or find a driver for the day. Car rental is possible, but not recommended, as the rules of the road are not respected.
The Fergana Valley is a region of artisans. Here you’ll find several artists’ workshops, open to the public, so you can watch them at work and learn more about local products.
The region is much less touristy than the cities of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, so offers a more typical experience, without the huge tour buses. Fergana served as our focal point, as it is the largest city and offers a wider range of accommodation and restaurants.
From the city, you can head to Margilan to explore its silk production workshops. The most renowned is the Yodgorlik Factory, where you can witness both traditional handcraft and industrial techniques. However, we preferred the free visit to a smaller workshop called Silk Factory, which offered a more intimate and welcoming atmosphere.
In Rishtan, you’ll be captivated by the local ceramic workshops. Here, you can witness every stage of production, even the painters working on their craft. A good place to keep in mind is Rustam Usmanov’s workshop, which invites visitors for free in a truly enchanting setting.
In Choust, there’s a knife-making workshop. However, the town is further from Fergana, and we chose instead to visit Kokand for its Khudayar Khan Palace and Juma mosque.
The city of Khiva is located at the far end of the country, but the distance is well worth it. Strolling through this city, resembling a life-sized sandcastle, truly evokes a “wow” effect.
The city’s beauty is undeniable, both during the day and in the evening when it lights up. The ease of walking inside the fortified walls makes for a truly enjoyable visit.
The tourist pass, valid for two days, covers almost all the attractions. These two days are enough to see most of the buildings.
I recommend adding a third day to explore the desert fortresses around Khiva with a tour agency. Islambek Travel is a great, affordable option for this day trip, which can also be combined with transport to your next destination.
Bukhara charms us with its labyrinthine alleyways. The old town is bustling with life and a pleasant place to stroll in the evening. Several restaurants and boutiques are clustered around the Lyabi Houz artificial swimming pool.
Bukhara is the city where we discovered the best restaurants. The city’s attractions are quickly covered, and I’d say two days are enough to see everything.
Don’t miss the Kalon mosque and its minaret, the merchant domes (a former bazaar used as a commercial space), the Ark citadel, as well as the Mirzo Ulugbek and Abdul Aziz Khan madrasas.
There are also three hammam baths in the town and a blacksmith workshop at the Blacksmith workshop. There’s also a small store where you can sample some surprising local wines.
I’ve read a few times to save Samarkand for last, as its monuments are particularly magnificent and starting there could make the rest of the trip disappointing.
It is true that the famous Shah I Zindah is even more impressive than the others, just like the Registan, which will captivate you both during the day and in the evening with its sound and light show.
However, be prepared to share these attractions with many other tourists. You’ll need to arrive early to avoid crowds in your photos. In addition to these main sights, you can visit mosques and madrasas, but they won’t have the same charm as the ones mentioned earlier.
There’s also an astronomical observatory, which I don’t think is worth the asking price. Samarkand is more spread out than Bukhara and Khiva. You’ll sometimes need to take cabs between attractions, which isn’t a real problem considering they cost around $1 per ride on the Yandex app. The city also boasts some excellent restaurants.
Additionally, Samarkand is a good base from which to visit Tajikistan’s Seven Lakes region on a day tour or overnight stay. No visa is required for Canadians.
The border is just over an hour away, and you can get there for $8-10 by cab. Hire a driver on the other side of the border to drive you between the lakes. For a simpler solution, use an agency that will take care of everything.
Another popular adventure is to travel to the Kyzylkum desert to sleep in a yurt and hike in the Nourata Mountains. However, the yurt experience is more a tradition of the nomadic Mongol or Kazakh peoples, whereas the Uzbeks were sedentary.
The rail network serves the main cities well, and in my opinion is the best way to travel around the country. Trains of different categories all pass through the same stations and are easy to book via the national app.
Some tourist towns are served by fast trains called Afrosiyob. You’ll need to book early, however, as they often fill up several days in advance.
Personally, we booked our transport between three and 10 days in advance and Afrosiyob were never available. Trains have reserved seats and you can view your seats when booking on the Uzrailwaystickets app.
Please note that both the Sleeper and the Coupe are beds with sheets provided. The difference between the two is that the beds in the Coupe are in enclosed four-bed cabins, while the Sleeper is a large open area.
Food vendors roam the aisles during the journey and there are toilets in every carriage. Our trains all left on time.
As far as internal flights are concerned, there are a few regional airports, served by Uzbekistan Airways. Internal flights are a good option for reaching more distant cities, such as Khiva, or for returning quickly to Tashkent. However, they are not as economical as the train.
For short and medium distances, there are several options. The Yandex application works in the same way as Uber, so you can order a cab and pay for all your fares by credit card, without having to negotiate prices or worry about language barriers.
Prices are ridiculously inexpensive, between $1 and $2 for trips of a few kilometers, while a 75-minute trip cost us less than $10. So it’s an option we used almost daily.
Other options include private cabs, which operate on a negotiation basis, without a taximeter. Shared cabs, for which you’ll also have to negotiate and wait until it’s full before it leaves.
There are also shared minibuses, which are very economical, but they keep stopping and driving like crazy!
We booked all our accommodation through Booking and Expedia. However, if you’re planning to pay in points, be sure to check the payment details before booking. Where it says “No credit card required”, payment is often made in cash on the spot.
We found the Expedia app more convenient when card options were limited. Expedia generally gives the choice of paying at the time of booking by card or on arrival. Options were not as flexible on Booking. All accommodations were as advertised.
Here are some practical applications for a trip to Uzbekistan:
As we researched the countries of Central Asia, we quickly realized that the biggest expense would be airfare. Being a destination little known to Canadians, there are no direct flights, and prices vary between $2,000 and $2,500 per ticket.
The total price of the trip is then balanced by the low costs at destination. However, we knew that our main objective was to collect points for the plane tickets. So we naturally turned to a loyalty program we knew well, Aeroplan.
My spouse’s account is already combined with mine (with family sharing) and we each had a TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* CardThe welcome bonus was a great help in accumulating the necessary points.
We then made several of our purchases online rather than in-store, via the Aeroplan eStore. In the end, as we had booked a little too late, we were short of points at the time of booking. So I transferred American Express Membership Rewards points to Aeroplan.
I had accumulated these Membership Rewards points with the American Express Cobalt® Card. The transfer is free, virtually instantaneous, and the rate is 1:1.
For airport lounges, the other card that was our best ally for this trip was the CIBC Aventura® Visa Infinite* Card which each member of the couple owns. This gave us four free admissions to international airport lounges via the Visa Airport Companion app .
For our departure from Montreal, we visited the National Bank lounge with our trusty National Bank World Elite Mastercard®, which gives us unlimited access.
Since our itinerary included two stopovers before arriving at our destination, the passes came in handy. We also opted to stretch our stopovers as far as possible by choosing the longest ones, so that we were able to visit three more cities before our final destination.
We felt like we were on a mini world tour, stopping in two European cities and Istanbul on the way back. We loved this trick, which diversified our trip!
To bring down the cost of accommodation, it was again the CIBC Aventura Points that helped us. To do this, you don’t have to go through their site, so we used our usual booking sites, Booking and Expedia, and while the transaction was pending, we were able to apply the points to it. You have to make sure that the transaction is in Canadian dollars and still pending for it to work.
What’s more, there are regular promotions where it costs less points. During the summer when we planned the trip, there was a promotion where we could pay for our hotel reservations using half as many points. The destinations that were therefore programmed were really economical in points. The others were booked at the regular last-minute rate.
As mentioned above, the snag with Uzbekistan was that many hotels had the stated “No credit card required for booking”. This complicated matters, as it meant that hoteliers either wanted to be paid in cash, or would accept the card on the spot, but the transaction would then be in local currency.
CIBC Aventura and RBC Avion Rewards also allow you to pay for activities with points. Offers were available in major cities such as Bukhara, Samarkand and Tashkent, so this is an option to keep in mind, especially if you want a guide for the day.
Uzbekistan is an ideal destination if you you’re looking for:
Savings this way:
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