Getting around
Getting Around Uzbekistan: Rail, Road and Air
Independent travel across Uzbekistan has been transformed since the Afrosiyob high-speed line opened, turning what were once long overland hauls between the Silk Road cities into a string of two-to-four-hour train rides. The rail spine covers the classic circuit comfortably; reaching Khiva in the far west, crossing into the Fergana Valley, or striking out to the Aral Sea means adding a domestic flight, an overnight train or a shared taxi — none of it difficult, but each worth understanding before you plan.
Updated 2026-08-19
The Afrosiyob and the Rail Spine
The Afrosiyob, Uzbekistan's Spanish-built high-speed train, is the backbone of independent travel here: it covers Tashkent to Samarkand in around two hours and continues to Bukhara in around four, with comfortable economy and business classes and a punctuality that has made it the default for most visitors. A slower conventional service, the Sharq, runs the same corridor for those who miss a fast train or prefer a cheaper seat, taking longer but reaching the same cities.
The one thing worth planning around is seats: the Afrosiyob sells out on the busy Samarkand and Bukhara runs during the spring and autumn peak seasons, so booking ahead through the official railway site or a reputable agent in Tashkent is worth doing rather than assuming a same-day ticket. Outside those windows the trains are quieter and last-minute travel is usually fine.
Reaching Khiva and the West
Khiva sits outside the high-speed network, and getting there is the one real logistical decision on a standard circuit. Most visitors either fly into Urgench, the regional airport about thirty kilometres from Khiva's old town, or take the overnight train from Tashkent or Bukhara, arriving in the morning — a long ride, but a sleeper berth turns the distance into a night rather than a day. A newer fast train has cut the daytime Bukhara-Khiva run considerably as the network expands, so it is worth checking what currently runs before defaulting to the overnight option.
Domestic flights also connect Tashkent to Nukus, the gateway for Karakalpakstan and the Aral Sea, and to Termez in the far south, both a long way from the rail spine. For the western and southern edges of the country, a short internal flight often saves the better part of a day over the alternatives.
Shared Taxis, Marshrutkas and the Road
Where the train does not reach, the shared taxi is Uzbekistan's workhorse. Cars gather at set stands on the edge of each city and leave when full for a fixed destination; you can pay for a single seat and wait for the car to fill, or negotiate the whole vehicle to leave straight away and stop where you like. Agreeing the price and whether it is per seat or per car before setting off avoids the only real friction, and the system is used by locals and visitors alike without difficulty.
Marshrutka minibuses cover shorter hops and city-to-village routes more cheaply again. The one road worth naming is the Kamchik Pass, the mountain crossing that carries all road traffic from Tashkent into the Fergana Valley — a scenic but winding drive that shared taxis and buses both use, and the reason many travellers time the Fergana leg for daylight and good weather.
Getting Around in Town
Tashkent is the one city where public transport is a sight in its own right: the Soviet-era metro, whose stations were designed as individual works of art and were only cleared for photography in 2018, is cheap, frequent and by far the easiest way to cross the capital. Elsewhere, the historic cores of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva are compact and walkable, with the major monuments close enough together that feet are usually all you need once you have arrived.
For door-to-door trips, ride-hailing apps operate in the larger cities and give a fixed price without the negotiation a street taxi involves, which particularly helps visitors unsure of local rates. Ordinary taxis are plentiful too, and in practice almost any car will stop if you flag it — agree the fare before getting in, as meters are rarely used.