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Nukus
Capital of Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan

Nukus

Nukus is the capital and largest city of the autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan and the sixth-largest city in Uzbekistan.

Plan a trip to Nukus→From Urgench

The population of Nukus as of 2026 is 349.4 thousand people. The Amu Darya river passes west of the city. Administratively, Nukus is a district-level city, that includes the urban-type settlement Karatau.

Get in

Getting to Nukus

  1. 01
    Nukus Airport
See

Worth seeing

  1. 01
    Karakalpak Museum of Arts
Do

Things to do

Due to being the closest major city to the Aral Sea, Nukus is a good place to start trips to the shore and to Moynoq. The former fishing town is some 200 km away and a witness of the dying Aral Sea. Its main "attraction" is the infamous ship graveyard. A taxi from Nukus to Moynaq costs around US$70, higher if booked through a hotel. For a day trip, start early as it is 3-3½ hr one way.

Eat

Where to eat

There are few options, both the Mona Lisa and the Sheraton restaurants, listed in a popular guidebook, have shut. Searching around you will find acceptable kebab places, such as the one just east of the Savitsky museum (42°27'54.03"N, 59°37'11.17"E, on the corner of Rashidova & Dosnazarov). "Samsa" are popular, samosa-type pastries filled with ground beef and onions. 1,500-3,000 som, and they're rather filling.

How locals move

Getting around Nukus the local way

  • Get inShared taxis run to and from Urgench, which is a major interchange with taxi connections to Khiva, Bukhara, and the airport.
  • Get inTo come from Khiva, start early at the North gate of Ichon-Qala and catch a minivan there to Urgench.
  • Get inIn Urgench, get to a shared taxi (they wait at Olympic Stadium and leave when full) and go to Nukus (more than 2 hr, 100,000 som, 2025).
  • Go nextShared taxis from the South Bus Station leave to Urgench US$10-12 per seat, 2 hr

From Wikivoyage: Nukus, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Agnes Monkelbaan (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons.