Bukhara travel guide

Bukhara, Uzbekistan

By the Travel Wiki editorial team

Bukhara

Introduction

Bukhara is one of the great historic cities of Transoxiana, and for centuries it prospered alongside neighbouring Samarkand thanks to its position on the Silk Road. That long history is still what draws travellers today: the city's historic core is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it remains the capital of the surrounding region.

Before you go

Bukhara is a place where you will want to understand the layers beneath what you see. The city dates back at least 2,500 years, and the region around it was once part of Sogdiana, an ancient East Iranian civilisation whose remains survive at the Ark of Bukhara, Varakhsha, Vardan, Paykend and Ramitan. It became Islamic after the Arab conquest, flourished as a religious and cultural centre under the Samanid Dynasty, was sacked by Genghiz Khan, and reached its heyday under the Shaybanid Khanate, when the town centre was a vast marketplace astride the Silk Road. Much of what you see today rests on that period, so a little background reading will make your walks through the old town far richer. Language matters here. The main language of Bukhara is the Tajik dialect of Persian, with Russian as the second language and Uzbek used to a lesser extent; historically the city, like Samarkand and other cities of Central and Southern Uzbekistan, was populated by ethnic Tajiks and Bukharian Jews who spoke Tajik alongside their own dialects, which today include some Uzbek and many Russian loan words. Russian remains a lingua franca, though many people in the service sector know some English. Be aware that tourist information embodies the mercantile spirit of the Silk Road: every few metres in the Old Town you will find a place calling itself a tourist office, but it is simply a ticket and tour agency or a shop selling overpriced knick-knacks.

Getting there

Bukhara is served by its own international airport, a small facility with limited amenities, with several flights a day from Tashkent and daily services from Urgench, Moscow and Istanbul. It sits only a short distance from the town centre, so a taxi is inexpensive and the walk is manageable if you have the time. By rail, Bukhara Railway Station (sometimes shown as Bukhara 1) has four or five trains a day from Tashkent via Samarkand and Navoi, with the fastest service covering the route in about four hours. There are also several daily connections to Urgench and Khiva, and a weekly service via Nukus and Atyrau to Volgograd. Trains can sell out, so check times and buy tickets in advance. Note that the station is in the suburb of Kogon, some distance southeast of the city; walk out to the bus stop just beyond the station precinct, where buses run to the centre with no timetables or signage, so ask around. Taxis wait for custom but are overpriced, and if you arrive in the evening a taxi may be your only option once buses stop. By bus, the bus station has hourly services from Tashkent and Samarkand, though these sell out, so set off early. Shared taxis also arrive here, covering the same routes in half the time for twice the fare, and Max Comfort buses are fast and comfortable, with air conditioning and entertainment but no toilet. Buses from Urgench and Khiva take about five hours, and westbound they may already be full if they started from Tashkent. Shared taxis run from Qarshi, Shakhrisabz, Termiz on the Afghan border and Denau, and from Olot, where you change if coming from Turkmenabat in Turkmenistan. The bus station is a few kilometres north of the city centre near Kar-von bazaar, linked by frequent buses, and you may find a direct service from the railway station. By road, Bukhara is 560 km from Tashkent via the M39 through Jizzah and Samarkand, crossing a corner of Kazakhstan that is treated as a no-man's-land with no passport checks, though you should keep yours handy, then continuing west on M37 via Navoi.

Getting around

Bukhara's historic core is compact and largely pedestrianised, so walking is the best way to explore the Old Town: the major monuments, mosques and madrasas are comfortably reached on foot, and basing yourself in or near the old core turns most sightseeing into a stroll rather than a commute. The wider city and its transport hubs sit a few kilometres out, so you'll likely combine walking with short rides on buses or taxis.

Where to stay

Most of Bukhara's accommodation clusters around Lyab-i Hauz, and several of the best options occupy restored 19th-century merchant houses. The Lyab-i House Hotel sits right on the square in the former Kukeldash Madrasa and has a good restaurant. The Amelia Hotel, a small friendly place in a Jewish merchant's house a short walk east, has a beautiful terrace and also runs the similar Alexia Suite nearby. The Hotel Grand Nodirbek, on the south side of the square, is tranquil and clean, ranged around a courtyard, while the Rustam & Zukhra and the Hotel Malika-Bukhara are pleasant, central and often busy with tour groups. The Hotel Amulet, built as a madrasah in the early 19th century, has small rooms and limited catering, and the charming Komil Hotel offers just eight richly decorated doubles.

If you prefer a modern chain, the Wyndham Bukhara and the Grand Bukhara stand about a kilometre south of Lyab-i Hauz, and the Mercure Bukhara Old Town is a clean modern option to the north. For a cheaper stay, the Rumi Hotel and Hostel, half a kilometre south of the square, is authentic and inexpensive with friendly staff and dorm beds. Note that hotels charge a tourist tax on non-citizens, usually on top of the quoted rate, and some places take cash only.

Food & drink

Bukhara's food scene ranges from teahouses to old-town guesthouse restaurants. Bolo Khauz Teahouse, on Afrosiab Street next to Bolo Khauz Mosque, is atmospheric but charges touristy prices. Doston House, in a charming 19th-century guesthouse in the old town, sits about 100 m east of the Lyab-i Hauz bus stop. Minzifa, just south of Toq Sarrafon, has a good veggie selection though the quality overall is disappointing. Around the main square, the Lyab-i Hauz Hotel on the north side has a decent restaurant, and Rustam & Zukhra on the south side also serves non-residents. You may also be invited to a local home for dinner, for instance near Kalyan Mosque — treat it as an authentic experience and leave your hosts some money afterwards.

For drinks, Silk Road Tea House on Khakikat, on the south side of Po-i-Kaylan, is both a shop and a cafe, serving spice and herbal teas, saffron and ginger tea, coffee with cardamom, green and black tea, and sweets such as halva, qandalat and nabat. On the south side of Lyab-i Hauz, Shorud Wine Tasting is a wine shop offering tastings, run by a friendly, helpful owner.

What to see and do

Start at Lyab-i Hauz, the grand plaza and pool at the heart of the Old City, laid out in the 16th century and, in legend, created after a dispute between the khan and the Jewish widow who owned the land. "Hauz" means a pool, and this is the one survivor of the city's several water-supply pools. Ranged around it are the Kukeldash Madrassah on the north side, built in 1568 and in its day the largest in the Islamic world, now a hotel; the Nadir Devan-begi Madrassah on the east side, built in 1622 as a caravansarai and hurriedly converted into a madrassah; and the Nadir Devan-begi Khanaka on the west side, built in 1620 as lodging for itinerant Sufi priests. Nearby in Sarrafon is a synagogue built around 1640, in legend part of the peace deal with the widow who owned the Lyab-i Hauz site; closed by the Soviets and never again in use after the Jewish community emigrated, it is now a small museum.

The Magok-i-Attari Mosque is the oldest surviving mosque building in Central Asia, dating back to the 800s and reconstructed in the 1500s, now a carpet museum; its name means "pit" because it was built over a former Zoroastrian temple and has sunk some six metres below ground, so its domes barely reach the street. A short block south is Toqi Sarrafon, a trading dome covering a bazaar that traditionally hosted the moneychangers. The Po-i-Kalyan religious complex is magnificent, laid out in the 16th century: the Kalyan Minaret of 1127 is the only survivor of an earlier complex wrecked by Genghis Khan, the Kalan Mosque was completed in 1515 with a blue dome over the grand mihrab, and the Mir-i Arab Madrassah of 1535 has remarkable blue tilework. Elsewhere you can see the Ulugbek Madrassah of 1417, a rare survival from the Timurid dynasty, with the Abdulaziz Khan Madrassah immediately south, now a craft market, and the Toqi Zaragon trading dome just west, traditionally for the jewellers. The Ark Citadel is a heptagonal enclosure with earth brick walls up to 20 m tall, containing palaces, temples, barracks, offices, the mint, warehouses, workshops, stables and an arsenal; you enter through the grand west gate to see the museum, throne room, royal courts and mosque, while the eastern half has not been restored. Opposite stands the Bolo Hauz Mosque of 1712, with a free-standing minaret and painted wooden pillars added in 1917, and a small hauz in front. The Ismail Samani Mausoleum, the oldest Muslim monument in the city, has elements of Zoroastrian design such as the sun motif. Further out are the lavish summer palace of the last emir, the Baha' al-Din Naqshband Mausoleum, and the large Chor-Bakr necropolis. For something different, the traditional Hammam Borzi Kord bath house sits within Toqi Telpak Furushon, with mornings only for local men and later hours for tourists of mixed gender.

When to go

Bukhara has a cool arid Central Asian climate, with cold winters and very hot, dry summers. Winter afternoons are cool and the nights are cold, so pack warm layers; this is the quietest and cheapest time to visit. Summer brings the hottest stretch of the year, with intense dry heat in the afternoons, so plan your sightseeing for early in the day.

Three days in Bukhara

Day one: Start in the Old Town, the UNESCO World Heritage Site at the heart of Bukhara, and get your bearings on foot among its monuments. Bukhara sits in Transoxiana, the region once known as Sogdiana, and its East Iranian past is layered with everything that followed: the Samanid Dynasty, the Shaybanid Khanate, and the mark left by Genghiz Khan. Climb to the Ark, the fortress that overlooks the city, and take in the view before the heat builds. In the afternoon, slow down in the shade and let the scale of the place settle. Bukhara is a city of the Silk Road, and the old caravan routes still shape how the lanes run.

Day two: Look beyond the walls. Varakhsha, Vardan, Paykend and Ramitan are the older settlements of the oasis, and each tells you something about how this land was lived in long before the city you see today. If you want a longer run, Samarkand lies to the east along the same Silk Road corridor, and the route between the two is the classic pairing of the region. Back in Bukhara, spend the evening with the city's languages and peoples: Tajik and Persian, Russian and Uzbek are all part of daily life here, and the Bukharian Jews have their own long story in these streets. English is spoken in the places that see visitors, but a few words of Tajik or Uzbek go a long way.

Day three: Take the day at the pace the weather sets. Bukhara's summers are hot and dry, its winters bitterly cold, so plan around the middle of the day rather than fighting it. Use the morning for anything you missed in the Old Town, then eat well: the cooking of Central and Southern Uzbekistan draws on Persian, Tajik and Turkic traditions, and Bukhara's own table is one of the reasons to stay a third day. If you are moving on, Bukhara Railway Station connects toward Tashkent, Urgench and Navoi, and there are flights onward to Moscow and Istanbul. Leave time to sit with the city before you go.

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