Top Uzbekistan hotels
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If you are budget, please consider trains - they are cheap and fast! For instance, Samarkand - Tashkent train costed in October 2008 7500S (approx. 6$) per person.The only problem is that you may need to book a train a few days earlier.
Should you need transportation in Uzbekistan and you do not have enough time to wait, bus is not a good (fast) mean of transportation. Approx. 300km distance between Bukhara and Samarkand may need even 9 hours by bus... the main problem is that there is no schedules - bus is waiting for passengers... and it happens that once they finally start, they often break down
If you go on a group tour as we did you’ll almost certainly find yourself travelling by bus. Distances can be long (Khiva to Bukhara for instance is an eight hour drive) so we were pleased to find our bus pretty modern and comfortable. It was made in France and was pretty much to European standards – this was fine except in the desert where the air conditioning struggled to cope in the 50 degree heat. It was also not suitable for the rough track that led to our desert camp so was left in the small village of Yangigazgan while we transferred to this old Soviet bus (see photo 2) for the last few kilometres. I wouldn’t have wanted to go any distance in this but it was just what was needed to get us to the camp.
We flew to Tashkent from London’s Heathrow Airport with Aeroflot, via Moscow. This hadn’t been our original plan, but a few weeks before our trip our flights with Uzbekistan Airways were cancelled. We haven’t managed to find out the definitive reason for this – one version was that they’d simply changed their schedules and no longer flew on a Friday; another was that their licence to fly in the European Union had been revoked for safety reasons. The latter seemed plausible to me, especially after our flight to Khiva with them.In any case, the Aeroflot flight was OK: good new planes for both legs, punctual (on the outward journey – the return was another matter), but with unappetising catering and a too-long wait at Moscow Airport. The biggest downside though was that the last minute change in timings meant that we arrived at our hotel in Tashkent at 5.30 in the morning, and although we...
We took a couple of internal flights with Uzbekistan Airways (well, one was technically an international one from Bishkek), and were surprised to note that the planes had a parcel shelf rather than an enclosed overhead locker.On the internal flight someone was sitting in my seat, and the flight crew didn't seem too bothered about getting him to move.However, both flights were on time, and got us to our destination.
Travelling to Uzbekistan is not that difficult, long or expensive !On my trip, I have met several travellers which went from all parts of Europe to Uzbekistan with Aeroflot, transfer flights in Moscow. They had to sit for hours and hours at Moscow airport, without visa for Russia, quite a boring thing to do. And paid more than 800 – 900 Euro.Uzbekistan Airways has very reasonable prices from Frankfurt International Airport to Tashkent, around 500 Euro, depending on the time of travel. The flights are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, leaving FFM at 11:40 a.m., arriving in Tashkent at 20.00. Tuedays’ flight leaves at 20:15 in the evening and arrives at 5:15 a.m. next morning.Frankfurt Hahn Airport, the one for cheap flights, has an excellent bus connection to Frankfurt International Airport (1 hr, 30 min). And, Frankfurt International Airport has an IC(E) train stop just in front of...
Inside Usbekistan there are not frequent trains.Busses might be much better.There are no trains to Turkmenistan and Kirgistan.There are a few trains to Kazachstan and to Duschanbe in Tajikistan.There is one train in the week to Moscow.The flight might be cheaper. So it is only advisable if you want adventureThe trains all have russian standard with three classes.
Flight to Tashkent, mostly via Istanbul or Moscow. International flights tend to arrive/depart around midnight or later. From neighbouring countries also bus or train.The internal traffic system is deteriorating. If you have limited time you can go by plane but all connections go via Tashkent. Tickets are not expensive, often rather good Western planes, the flying staff was trained by Lufthansa. Surface travel offers lots of fascinating surprises. You need an adventurous spirit, good humour plenty of time and some knowledge of Russian or Uzbek/Turkish. Schedules are not worth the paper on which they are printed, if they are. But many locals can give you useful hints how to find your means of transport. For long distances you will be directed to some sorts of 'travel bazaars' in or near most of the towns where different sorts of transport are offered. With some good humour and patience...
There are two express trains between two cities:One leaves Tashkent at 7pm, arrives Samarkand at midnight. Going back from Samarkand at 7am, arriving Tashkent at noon. This one is daily.Another one is even faster, it leaves Tashkent at 7am, arr. Samarkand at 10.50 am. Leaves Samarkand at 5pm, arr. Tashkent at 8.50 pm. This one only runs on Fri, Sat, Sun.These trains are safe and cheap, around $3 one way.
This is a map of UzbekistanI took from lonely Planet website.You should alway carry a map of the countries you travel to understand better where you caould go and how you caould reach certain places.
Lyabi-House Hotel Bukhara
5 Reviews and 16 Opinions This is where we thought we were staying on our first visit to Bukhara - a charmingly restored old...
Best Eastern Orient Star Samarkand
4 Opinions
InterContinental Tashkent Tashkent
2 Reviews and 68 Opinions As I know, the InterContinental Hotel is less that Europian standart, but it really good one. There...
Reviews and photos of Uzbekistan attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Uzbekistan sightseeing.
More Cities in Uzbekistan
Q: Myself and my wife are considering combining Uzbekistan and Kyrgystan in a two week plus trip in the summer of 2012. We are well...
A: It would help if you had more info, as opposed to none, in your profile, so that we would know your country of residence. However, I hazard a guess that it is Canada? ...
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