If you're based in Tashkent for several days (common for business travellers or long layovers), several day trips are feasible:
1. Chimgan Mountains + Charvak Lake (80–100 km east, 1.5h drive) - Summer: hiking trails, cable car, lake swimming. - Winter: skiing at Beldersay. - Best by shared taxi from Chorsu or private car.
2. Samarkand (Afrosiyob train, 2h10 each way) - Depart 7:00, arrive 9:10. Full day at Registan + Shah-i-Zinda + Siyob Bazaar. - Return 18:00 train, back by 20:10. Tight but doable.
3. Fergana Valley highlights (4h each way by car) - Margilan silk factory + Rishton ceramics + Kokand palace. - Long day (12–14 hours door-to-door). Better as an overnight, but possible.
4. Samarkand wine tasting (combine with Samarkand day trip) - Bagizagan Winery — 30 min from Samarkand centre. Tasting + vineyard walk. Book ahead.
5. Nurata + Sarmish Gorge (3h to Nurata, 2h to Sarmish) - The sacred spring + petroglyphs. Possible as a very long day trip (leave 6 AM, return 10 PM).
Not recommended as day trips from Tashkent: - Bukhara (4h each way by train — too long for a day return) - Khiva (too far) - Nukus (too far)
Tashkent in photos
A short visual companion to this entry — photographs of Tashkent from our travel archive.
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