Samarkand
Samarkand is a major city located in southeastern Uzbekistan.
Samarkand is a major city located in southeastern Uzbekistan. Among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central Asia, it has a population of 882,000 inhabitants as of 2026, making it the second-largest city in Uzbekistan after Tashkent. It is the capital of the Samarkand Region and a district-level city, that includes the urban-type settlements of Kimyogarlar, Farkhod and Khishrav. Earlier it also served as the initial capital of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic from 1925 until 1930.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Samarkand
10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Bibi-Khanym Mosque
The Bibi-Khanym Mosque is one of the most important monuments of Samarkand, Uzbekistan. In the 15th century, it was one of the largest and most magnificent mosques in the Islamic world.
700 m · historical mosque in Samarkand, Uzbekistan · Wikipedia - 02Ulugh Beg Observatory
The Ulugh Beg Observatory is an observatory in modern day Samarkand, Uzbekistan, which was built in the 1420s by the Timurid astronomer Ulugh Beg. This school of astronomy was constructed under the Timurid Empire, and was the last of its kind from the Islamic Medieval period.
3.4 km · observatory in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, built in the 1420s · Wikipedia - 03Afrasiyab
Afrasiyab is an ancient site in northern Samarkand, present-day Uzbekistan, that was occupied from c. 500 BC to 1220 AD prior to the Mongol invasion in the 13th century.
2.1 km · archaeological site in Uzbekistan · Wikipedia - 04Afrasiab Museum of Samarkand
The Afrasiab Museum of Samarkand is a museum located at the historical site of Afrasiyab, one of the largest archaeological sites in the world and an ancient city that was destroyed by the Mongols in the early 13th century. The museum building and archaeological site are located in the north-eastern part of the city of Samarkand in the Central Asian country of Uzbekistan.
2.2 km · history museum, Historic site in Samarkand, Uzbekistan · Wikipedia - 05Hazrat-Hyzr Mosque
The Hazrat Khizr Mosque is a historical monument in Samarkand, Uzbekistan; associated with the name of the legendary Islamic prophet Khizr. The building was erected on the site of an ancient mosque.
1.2 km · mosque in Samarkand · Wikipedia - 06Samarkand State Medical University
Samarkand State Medical University, or SSMU, is a higher educational institution in Uzbekistan. The University is located in the city of Samarkand.
1.4 km · medical educational university in Uzbekistan · Wikipedia - 07Chorsu
Chorsu, also called Charsu, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, is a domed, hexagonal shape building with a large central dome surrounded by six smaller domes. Chorsu is located at southeast of the Registan at the intersection of the roads connecting Samarkand, Tashkent, Bukhara, and Shahrisabz.
100 m · bazaar in Samarqand · Wikipedia - 08Samarkand State University
Samarkand State University; Russian: Самаркандский государственный университет имени Bobomurodova Barno) is a public university in Samarkand, Uzbekistan established by a government decree of the Government of Uzbekistan on 10 November 2000 in the city of Samarkand. The university is commonly known as Samarkand University.
1.7 km · university in Samarkand, Uzbekistan · Wikipedia - 09Dynamo Samarkand Stadium
Dinamo Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Dynamo Samarkand.
2.1 km · multi-use stadium in Samarkand, Uzbekistan · Wikipedia - 10St. John the Baptist Church, Samarkand
The St. John the Baptist Church is the only Catholic church in the city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
2 km · church in Samarkand, Uzbekistan · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Things to do
- 01Eternal City and Eternity Square
Opened in 2022, a very beautiful tourist complex near a large Samarkand Rowing Canal, about 10 km east of the historical center of Samarkand.
- 02Afrasiyab
If you don't mind dust and love archaeology, then in the historical center of Samarkand, there are the ruins of ancient Samarkand, now called Afrasiyab.
- 03Football
The main football club in Samarkand is Dinamo Samarkand, which participates in the Uzbekistan Super League (the highest level of the country's leagues).
- 04Samarkand Regional Anton Chekhov Russian Drama Theater
If you understand Russian, there is an Anton Chekhov Russian Drama Theatre in the Soviet part (West) of Samarkand, where performances are entirely in Russian.
- 05Samarkand Regional Theater of Musical Drama
- 06Samarkand Grand Concert Hall
From Wikivoyage: Samarkand, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
Plov is the staple dish, rice stewed with meat and veg. The local version uses more oil and yellow carrots than elsewhere, sometimes enlivened by an otherwise useless horse. Samarkand Non, the local bread, is almost a bowl or cake.
- 01Historic
Great local restaurant in a side street only a few meters from the Registan.
- 02Cafe Magistr
Slick central place with veggie choices, staff speak good English.
- 03Joni Osh
70,000 som for a "half" portion, salad, bread and drink.
- 04Karim Bek
Istiqlol, Amir Temur 157 (next to Karim Bek),.
- 05Merci
Orzi Makhmudov 14,.
From Wikivoyage: Samarkand, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Samarkand
- Airports
- Samarkand (SKD), 5 km · Dushanbe (DYU), 202 km · Bukhara (BHK), 214 km
- Stations
- Samarkand International Airport, 5.1 km
- Bukhara → Samarkand217 km · quickest by road, 5h 7m · $24–33
- Tashkent → Samarkand261 km · quickest by air, 3h 35m · $120–180
- Namangan → Samarkand426 km · quickest by air, 5h 52m · $140–220
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Samarkand
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Samarkand. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inIt's 5 km northwest of city centre, take the tram or marshrutka as below, or a taxi (price in the night is US$10-15 (2025)).
- Get inSamarkand is 290 km southwest of Tashkent, about four hours to drive; buses and shared taxis leave from Sobir Rahimov bus station.
- Get aroundMarshrukas - white city minibuses - are tired, wheezy and crowded.
- Go nextYou can find a taxi to the border from the center for 80,000-100,000 so‘m (bargain hard) or go to Kaftarkhona Station first and get a minivan from there.
From Wikivoyage: Samarkand, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 0157 km
- 02236 km
- 03768 km
- 041,007 km
- 051,122 km
If you know how people move in Samarkand – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Samarkand
- Samarqand Districtdistrict in Samarqand Region, Uzbekistan9.4 km
- Gulabadhuman settlement in Uzbekistan7.9 km
- Farhodhuman settlement in Uzbekistan8.4 km
- Hishrauhuman settlement in Uzbekistan7.7 km