Checklist of unusual places and activities in Uzbekistan
Going on a tour to Uzbekistan and want to know more about what is unusual to see and do in Uzbekistan, besides visiting the well-known Registan? We have gathered for you the most amazing places to visit, as well as interesting activities that will help you enjoy your trip to Uzbekistan to the greatest extent, get to know it from a new side for you, get to know it “better”.
- Walk the corridor of the spectacular Shahi Zinda in Samarkand
- Attend a concert by one of Tashkent’s innovative jazz bands
- Watch opera in Tashkent at the reconstructed Navoi Opera and Ballet Theater
- Stand under the Kalon Minaret in Bukhara, look up at its top and imagine yourself thrown from it in a sack, as it was done centuries ago, then listen to the legend about the cunning of one of the girls who escaped death
- Eat one watermelon a day (in the summertime)
- Go to the bazaar during the lunchtime pilaf, not only to enjoy the taste of this wondrous dish, but also to listen to the discussions and just watch the people involved – that’s where the real life of the city boils!
- Explore the Aral Sea Ship Cemetery near Muinak
- Get an invitation to a wedding from a local resident.
- Witness the work of silk weavers in Margilan
- Buy pottery in authentic Rishtan or Gijduvan workshops.
- Take a picnic trip to Zaamin National Park
- Try Korean food everywhere in Tashkent from the Korean diaspora in Tashkent
- “Hunt” for petroglyphs on shiny black slates in Sarmishsai
- Discover magnificent palaces, mosques and the forgotten history of the Kokand Khanate
- Learn how to grow silkworms.
- Watch birds on the lake Aidarkul
- Distract from the noisy and multifaceted Tashkent and experience paragliding over the silent Charvak reservoir
- Follow in the footsteps of Amir Timur, from his palace in Shakhrisabz to his tomb in Samarkand
- Visit Urgut and its biggest bazaar in Uzbekistan to find authentic suzane
- Feel the thrill of visiting the “prison pit” in Bukhara
- Check out the strange murals at the Amir Timur Museum in Tashkent
- Read touching wishes to children at Seattle Peace Park in Tashkent
- See a unique collection of Soviet-banned art at the Savitsky Museum in Nukus.
- Join musicians in a jam session at the Amet and Ayimkhan Shamuratov home museum in Nukus
- Find your rustic idyll in the forests of Sentyab
- Visit the ruins of the once mighty Khorezm Khanate and its Kala Fortress
- Get invited to a yurt in Karakalpakstan and discover the beautiful crafts and customs of this region
- Climb the protective rampart in Khiva
- Go hiking or rafting in Chatkal National Park
- Look at the world’s oldest Quran splattered with bloodstains
- Stop at the Namangan Bazaar to get a feel for the Fergana Valley 33.
- Haggle over your purchases under the dome of the Chorsu Bazaar in Tashkent.
- Find Buddhist heritage on the Afghan border outside Termez
- Visit the Archaeological Museum in Termez and afterwards, take time to visit the Jarkurgan Minaret and the numerous mausoleums, forts around Termez
- Taste bread everywhere you go in Uzbekistan, wherever you go.
- Saddle camels and ride them through the Kyzylkum desert to spend the night in a yurt watching the endless sky and stargazing (in warm season)
- Find the last of the Bukhara Jews and visit the Synagogue in Bukhara
- Drive to unremarkable Karshi to see the largest World War II memorial you’ve ever seen
- On your way to Afghanistan, go through Tamerlane’s Iron Gate.
- Make a deal for gold and jewelry with “one-browed” Tajik women in the gold bazaar of Bukhara
- Take a stroll down Wool Street and admire the magnificent wood carvings at Kosonsoy Mosque
- Buy a handmade knife or crock from Chusta artisans.
- Slowly delve deep into the Boisun region’s heritage: music, dance and fashion every day
- Make fantastic bargains in the handicraft stores in Shahrisabz
- Try to “work” in the cotton fields (in the fall)
- Let the music of shashmakom master your mind in Bukhara, or listen to the songs of the Ferghana Valley at Katta Ashula evening
- Go around the workshops of ceramics, skullcap, embroidery, metal, leather goods and woodcarving in Boisun and visit the Craft Centre Boisun.
- Go to Sayrob to see two 950-year-old chinara trees
- Drink tea at a teahouse and chat with old men
- Visit Katta Langar to see its spherical mosque, and explore the canyon
- Take a stroll through the Denau Botanical Gardens and taste the local rum and wine
- Explore the galleries of Tashkent and get to know the local artists
- Get invited to a dastarkhan on Nowruz and end the day playing kok boru.
- Excavate the Fergana Valley’s past at the significant (but rarely visited) ruins of Aksikent and the sarcophagi of Pope
- Visit villages in the Fergana Valley such as Nanai, Brichmulla, Aktash or Kumsan, and let the local mountain honey make your head spin
- Rent the only helicopter in Uzbekistan and descend the longest slope of your life
- Experience all the delights of an Uzbek bathhouse and a peculiar but “revitalizing” massage in Bukhara
- Walk through the streets of Bukhara and find slowly deteriorating hidden gems of masonry craftsmanship
- Take a 5 a.m. tour and be amazed at the completely different look of the city in Bukhara
- Visit one of the carpet workshops in Khiva
- Travel to Samarkand along the Golden Road and make stops at various small minarets, caravanserais, bazaars and ruins along the way, like Karmana, Tim, Wabkent and Rabat-e-Malik
- Visit a yurt camp in the desert and watch the sunrise
- Take an intercity train somewhere and have a “heart-to-heart” conversation with one of the locals
- And just enjoy your time in Uzbekistan!
We hope that this checklist will diversify the cultural program of your tour in Uzbekistan.