Please help Plan a Balanced Uzbekistan Itinerary (Plus a Possible Georgia Stop!)

[Soupdragon3]

Hi everyone! 😊

I’m planning a solo trip as a seasoned traveler to a destination that’s been on my bucket list for years — and after reading so many wonderful posts here, I’ve decided that this is the year!

I’ll be flying into Tashkent during the first week of October, and from there I’d love to explore Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva. I’m not planning to venture into the desert this time, but I do want to make sure I’m giving each city enough time to really enjoy it — without turning the trip into a non-stop marathon!

I’d really appreciate your advice if you’ve been (or are planning to go) — especially around:

• How many days you’d recommend for each city?
• Would you visit them in the order: Tashkent > Samarkand > Bukhara > Khiva? Or does it make more sense to change the route depending on train routes/schedules?
• Best train apps or reliable taxi options (like Lift/Bolt)?
• Which cities require a taxi or bus from the train station to get into the city center?

A couple of other questions:

• Are US dollars widely accepted or should I exchange into UZS?
• I’ve read that apps like Curve (linked to your debit card) can help avoid international fees — has anyone used this in Uzbekistan?

My must-sees in Tashkent include the beautiful metro stations and Chorsu Bazaar, but I’m open to all recommendations for each city — hidden gems, places to eat, anything you loved!

If I have time, I’d also love to add a short stop in Tbilisi, Georgia either en route or on the way back. Would 3 days be enough to explore the old town, take the cable car up to the castle, and get a feel for the city? Any favorite spots or local tips?

I’ve got around 18 days total for this trip — would love to make the most of it without rushing.

Thanks in advance to anyone who’s happy to share their experiences or suggestions — it’s all really appreciated!

Correct me if I'm wrong but it looks like you've used chatgpt to write your post, why not use it to answer itself?

I went last year and loved it. We flew to Tashkent, spent a couple of nights there, then got a night train to Bukhara and spent 2 nights there (quite enough). If I was doing it again I would have taken the train right through to Khiva then worked back to Tashkent via Bukhara, Samarkand. Spent 1 night away in a Yurt camp in the mountains (organised via a local travel agency). We were picked up from Bukhara, driven up to the mountains and then dropped back in Samarkand - whole trip was very reasonable, around $200 which included driving and all food for 2 days plus overnight accommodation.
Spent 4 nights in Samarkand in a wonderful hotel (Antica Family guesthouse - breakfasts were to die for). Then over to Margilan for 1 night (not really worth it unless you really want to see silk making - there's nothing much else there).
In Tashkent you must go to the Central Asian Pilaf Centre - the best Plov in all Uzbekistan! Save a whole day for Chorsu - it's huge.
Book train tickets in advance via the Uzbekistan Railway website, you will get a QR code emailed. In Tashkent use the local taxi app - most taxi's hailed in the street have no idea where they are going and we ended up directing them via google maps until we got the app which gives the drivers a route.
Dollars are accepted but it was no problem betting Som out of the cashpoints. Just get a Revolut card and then there are no charges. Maybe take some as back up.
Have a wonderful trip! I would love to go to Georgia and is definitely on my list

Yes i did use chat GPT, this was an attempt to make my original post more concise. Not everyone is great at writing in a way that keeps engagement whilst getting the main points across.

I am after peoples experience who have been, there are many things that AI is unable to offer.

And if we all used Chat GPT for reference points then this entire section would cease to exist!

Did you wish to add anything constructive about travelling to Central Asia?

I wasn't meaning to be unhelpful, I don't use chatgpt but everyone tells me it can answer everything and compiling all the online reviews seemed like it might be something it would be useful for as you obviously do know how to use it

I assume there must be lots of travel bloggers who have written about the area that it could search out

Georgiana (@hrhgeorgiana on Instagram - https://tr.ee/jN0bxyZA0w) recently visited Uzbekistan - first post here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMXJNKRNAip/?igsh=b24xbHF4ZmUwaHJ6

Watching as off to Georgia next week!

I was there a fair while ago but also are to Ed in Tashkent and then headed up to Khiva and either my way back from there. Worked well. It might be getting chilly by October so do take layers. I remember goi g to a local hammam in Bukhara for an afternoon (our accommodation had no running water, we were travelling on the cheap…) and it was a wonderful experience, we were well and truly welcomed by the local women.

Georgia is fab too abd you’d see a fair bit of the city in 3 days

According to my DS (who had a good holiday in Uzbekistan) you should allow for at least 2 full days in Samarkand.

My husband and did a independent trip through Uzbekistan in 2009, so not recent experience and I imagine it's developing fast and has changed quite a bit since then. At that time had to get some random travel agent guy in Uzbekistan to sponsor a visa for us and he also sorted the overnight train travel for us. It worked well, but felt a bit risky at the time. We flew into Tashkent, and then the following evening took an overnight train to Khiva. Spent 2 days in Khiva, including a day trip by taxi to visiting crumbling castles in the desert, this outing would have really benefitted from a guide but we only had a driver. Then shared long distance taxi to Bukhara (think there is now a train), 2 days in Bukhara, train to Samarkand and 3 days in Samarkand and then back to Tashkent evening of Day 3. So basically reverse of your order. I think the Samarkand was probably the highlight, so maybe makes sense to reserve it for the end. I haven't yet been to Georgia, so can't help with that.

https://caravanistan.com/
This is a site I use when heading to central Asia.I found the forum useful and he normally answers complex queries quickly if needed.Hope you find it useful.

I’ve read that apps like Curve (linked to your debit card) can help avoid international fees, has anyone used this in Uzbekistan

There's several standard and more commonly app based bank account debit cards and credit cards that can be used worldwide to pay without fees or commission. Eg Chase, Kroo, Monzo, Starling, Santander, Nationwide, some Halifax etc - Moneysavingexpert has a good guide. I don't see what advantages 'second layer' cards offer over these.

I would assume that, if dollars are accepted, the exchange rate will be unfavourable, although of course that's not a given.

Local currency is likely to be useful, depending on the cash vs cards culture but almost certainly will need ordering specially in the UK.

If it was me I would look on the foreign office and other official websites like 'visit Uzbekistan' because they're more reliable than forums and ChatGPT to learn more about the practicalities of obtaining cash and how people pay for things but have a debit card from a 'spending account' as my primary means of payment or withdrawing cash but also have a credit card and access to my normal bank account as a back up. I'd try to take some cash or get some there unless your research tells you it's a (near) cashless society, because in many places smaller retailers don't like taking cards for small purchases.

Also make sure you understand or have an app for currency conversion so you know if someone tells you it's X UZS or Y dollars if the conversion is fair and how much it is in £.

Always useful if the local currency has a wildly different value to the UK. When we were in Iceland everything was thousands or tens of thousands of Króna so I found it useful to remember that 1000 was about £6 and 10000 was about £60. But we paid for everything with cards and I can't remember seeing anyone use cash.

For travel routes rome2rio.com is a good starting point to find out what trains, buses etc exist, how much they cost and links to local websites. Counterintuitivey, Google maps can be poor for planning ahead on public transport and ChatGPT will just suggest things that don't exist or are ridiculous in practice, eg travelling from A to B then C when A and C are 20 miles from each other and B is 300 miles from A and C.

@Bjorkdidit

This is really helpful, the recommendation for Curve was from an American source, and having been to Korea where getting money was very difficult initially I wanted to explore in advance if there was a benefit from the more common Monzo/Starling etc. I will check out MSE and Foreign Office advice. And see above on my non reliance on GPT. Always have the horrors where multiple zero’s make buying anything seem wildly expensive to discover it was 6p!

@PeachTrifle & @TeamGeriatric & @ExistentialThreat
Fabulous info and has made me rethink how i shall tackle this, I will go furthest and work backwards towards Tashkent. Allowing plenty of time but not overdoing it. Infact i may look at popping into another “Stan” for flavour as it seems I may have time to spare. Also for the great advice about layering, weather has been a hard one to try and predict.

@jayapura Thanks, I’m off to read up on his forum now. It sounds like you’ve had lots of Central Asia experiences. Always happy to hear them as it keeps the wishlist running.

@SamarkandUzbekistan Thank you, and yes confirms enough time for here. I did think i may do 3 days to just let my eyes drink it all in.

@SpecialPatrolGroupp Enjoy Georgia and please return and share your adventures with us.

@cyvguhb Thanks for clarifying the Chat GPT ref: To be honest i had fallen down a rabbit hole of blogs and grams, this was an attempt to get some info quickly and hopefully with a bit more reality.

@TeaandHobnobs Thank you, I will check this out.

If you have a chance pop into Kyrgyzstan - the lake and the mountains are stunning. I have very happy memories of boiling in hot springs abd then dashing across an alpine field to leap into a snow melt stream! Happy days