A plan for Tashkent

This area is an oasis in an arid land, and from the 5th century BC a town grew up called Chach, which eventually morphed into "Tashkent", city of stone. Conditions suited settled agriculture rather than a nomadic way of life, but the nomad warlord Genghis Khan wrecked Tashkent in 1220. It recovered through trade, and there was a golden age of mosque building through the 15th century, but the medieval city was outshone by Samarkand and Bukhara. What promoted it into central Asia's greatest city was industrialisation and Russian colonisation from the 19th century.

The original town centre was west of the Chirchiq river, around Chorsu Bazaar. A Russian new town developed east of the river through the tsarist then Soviet eras, boosted during the Second World War when the USSR moved strategic industries and workforce here beyond the reach of Nazi attack. Great damage was caused by the earthquake of 26 April 1966, and the ruins were bulldozed to lay out a modern grid of long, wide boulevards.

Tashkent became the capital of Uzbekistan upon independence in 1991, and its leaders sought to create a showcase city and symbol of national identity. What has come about is a mix of the grandiose, the corporate, and the crumbling. It's impressive rather than beautiful, but never less than fascinating.

The climate is harshly continental with hot summers and cold winters. The best times to visit are Apr-May and Sep-Oct.

Ten modernist buildings in and near Tashkent were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2026: Zhemchug Residential Building, State Museum of History, Central Exhibition Hall of the Academy of Arts, Kosmonavtlar Metro Station, Big Solar Furnace (Sun Heliocomplex) a bit east of the city, Peoples' Friendship Palace, State Museum of Arts, State Circus, Chorsu Bazaar, and the Alisher Navoi Cinema Palace.

Old Town

This refers to the area west of the river around Chorsu Bazaar which has the oldest buildings, but much of it is modern, with boulevards seething with traffic. The little higgledy-piggledy streets further north still have something of an old town ambience, but the developers are laying waste to them with a vigour worthy of Genghis Khan.

1 Khazret Imam Complex is a collection of religious buildings 2 km north of city centre (Metro Gafur Gulom). It was assembled piecemeal from the 16th to 21st centuries, so although it's impressive, it doesn't have the unity or geometry of (for instance) the Registan of Samarkand, and it's transected by the wide pedestrian mall of Zarkaynar Street. The complex is free to enter daily 09:00-21:00, but individual buildings have their own admission.

Barak-Khan Madrasah is west side of the complex, built in 1532. It contains two mausoleums: of Suyunchxoʻjaxon the first Shaybanid ruler of Tashkent, and the "nameless" mausoleum intended for Barakh-Khan or Baroqxun, but he's buried in Samarkand.

Tellya Sheikh Mosque south side of the complex was built from 1890 to 1902.

Moyi Mubarek Madrasah (next to Tellya Sheikh Mosque). Daily 09:00-16:00. This building of 1857 houses the world's oldest Quran, written 644/648 AD (23-27 AH). Adult 40,000 som. (updated Sep 2024)

Hazrati Imam Jome Mosque east side of the complex was built in 2007 in traditional style.

National Library of Uzbekistan is a pseudo-classical building at Navoi 1 in the government quarter (Metro Mustakillik maydoni). It has a comprehensive stock, but you have to register (in Uzbek) to get in.

Parks

1 Alisher Navoiy Park (Metro Milly Bog). Large popular park with fairground and artificial lake. (updated Dec 2024)

2 Do’stlik Recreation Park, Bobur (corner with Shota Rustaveli). Daily 08:00-23:00. Pleasant park with a boating lake. (updated Dec 2024)

3 Aqua Park, Amir Temur 100 (Metro Bodomzor), ☏ +998 71 235 0250. Daily 10:00-20:00. Water park 500 m south of TV tower with several pools, wave machine, water chutes and slides. There's a restaurant and bars within. Adult 100,000 som, child 50,000 som. (updated Dec 2024)

Japanese Garden (200 m south of Aqua Park). Daily 10:00-22:00. Small and overpriced for a few rocks and cherry blossoms. Adult 30,000 som, child 20,000 som. (updated Dec 2024)

Tashkentland is a kiddy theme park east across the pond from Japanese Garden. Free to enter daily 10:00-21:00, you pay individually for rides.

4 Mirzo Ulugbek Recreation Park, Hamidulla Oripov 21 (Metro Khamid Alimjan), ☏ +998 71 237 2379. Daily 09:00-23:00. Leafy park with boating pond and small funfair. (updated Dec 2024)

Anhor Lokomotiv is a funfair and amusement park at Shaykhontohur 28, 200 m north of Navruz Park. It's open daily 10:00-23:00.

Sports

Football: Uzbekistan is part of the Asian Football Confederation, and the men's national soccer team play at Milliy Stadium. Tashkent has three clubs in Super League, the top tier, so you'll always find a match in town during the March-Nov season.

5 FC Bunyodkor, Bunyodkor 47 (Metro Novza). They play in Super League at Milliy Stadium (capacity 34,000), 5 km southwest of city centre. (updated Sep 2024)

6 FC Pakhtakor (Metro Paxtakor). They too play in Super League, and often win it. Pakhtakor Stadium (capacity 35,000, all-seater) is also used for junior internationals such as U21. It's very central, barely 500 m west of Independence Square. (updated Sep 2024)

7 FC Olympic, JAR Stadium (Metro Chorsu). They too play in Super League. The stadium (capacity 8500) is part of a multi-sports complex sprawling over 1 km x 0.5 km. (updated Dec 2024)

Budget

Bravissimo (Junction of Shahrisabz & Movarounnakhr), ☏ +998 99 816 8080. Daily 10:30-22:30. Coffee shop with cakes and local food. (updated Dec 2024)

Cafe Bukhara, Abdulla Kadiry 18 (Metro: Abdulla Kadiry), ☏ +998 99 823 1023. Daily 10:30-22:30. Relaxed cafe near the concert hall and government quarter. (updated Dec 2024)

Besh Qozon, Guards Colonel Khodjaev 1 (100 m north of TV tower), ☏ +998 71 200 9444. Daily 09:00-23:00. Busy, somewhat chaotic place but it serves great plov. Far better value than the restaurant in the TV tower. (updated Dec 2024)

Mid-range

1 Ariston Park, Gandhi (north end of Mirzo Ulug'bek Recreation Park), ☏ +998 71 237 2614. Daily 10:00-23:00. Acceptable place by the park. (updated Dec 2024)

2 Caravan, Abdulla Khalkat 22, ☏ +998 78 150 6606. Daily 11:00-14:00. Good reviews for their trad Uzbek food. (updated Dec 2024)

3 Jumanji, Yunus Khos Khodjib 62, ☏ +998 71 255 4200. Mon-Sat 12:00-23:00, Sun 17:00-23:00. Big portions of high quality central Asian, Chinese and European food. (updated Dec 2024)

Zaytoon is a good Afghan restaurant 100 m further up the street, at Rakatboshi 85.

4 Khangan, Urikzor 153, ☏ +998 94 907 7196. 24 hours. Quality Korean food. (updated Dec 2024)

5 Bella Napoli, Shota Rustaveli 63, ☏ +998 253 9183. Daily 11:00-23:00. Cosy chain pizzeria serving the usual Italian staples. (updated Dec 2024)

6 Pro.Khinkali, 60 Amir Temur, ☏ +998 50 051 0101. Daily 09:00-00:00. Good Georgian restaurant. (updated Dec 2024)

7 Shashleek, Uzbekiston Ovozi 49, ☏ +998 98 101 0111. Daily 12:00-03:00. Family-friendly chain restaurant by the eco-park. (updated Dec 2024)

Tea (choy, чай) fuels Central Asia the way gasoline fuels Texas. It's usually taken black, without milk.

Tap water safety is not guaranteed, drink bottled. Beware that ice (eg for drinks) is probably from unboiled tap water.

Kuratny is the pricy bar, nightclub and shisha cafe within The Chimes on Amir Temur Square, open daily 13:00-03:00.

Scandalist is a cocktail bar at Istiqbol 8, open Su-Th 12:00-01:00, F Sa 12:00-03:00.

The Irish Pub at Taras Shevchenko 30 (by Ming O'rik Metro) smells like an authentic pre-1980s Irish boozer, heavy with cigarette smoke. It's open daily 12:00-00:00.

Bier Regen is a microbrewery at Taraqqiyot 67 near Ashxobod Park, open daily 12:00-23:30.

Ye Old Chelsea Arms, Abdulla Kakhar 25 (200 m south of Dostlik Park). Daily 18:00-06:00. "Ye Old" is the warning that this is overpriced and not remotely like a London pub, but aiming for how they think the punters would imagine one. (updated Dec 2024)

Pelican, Sadik Azimov 47, ☏ +998 97 755 3388. Daily 10:00-01:00. This is primarily a beer store with a few tables where you can sit and drink. (updated Dec 2024)

By metro

The Metro is fast, safe and inexpensive. It's the obvious way to get downtown from the main railway station but doesn't reach the airport or bus terminal. Opened in 1977, it's a typical Soviet-era network with large, richly themed stations, for example Kosmonavtlar celebrates Uzbekistan's contribution to the Soviet space programme. The Metro has four lines:

Chilonzor (red) from Buyuk Ipak Yoli north to downtown and Chinor south.

Oʻzbekiston (blue) from Beruniy northwest to downtown, the main railway station and Doʻstlik southeast.

Yunus-Obod (green) from Turkiston north to downtown and Ming O'rek south. Extension towards the airport has stalled.

Circle Line (gold) from Texnopark (north) to Qipchoq (south). It's incomplete and not a circle, but spans between the south termini of the blue and red lines.

There are three downtown interchanges, all involving a walk through connecting subways: Amir Temur Hiyoboni (red) with Yunus Rajabiy (green), Alisher Navoiy (green) with Paxtakor (red), and Oybek (blue) with Ming Oʻrik (green). Circle Line interchanges are Texnopark with Doʻstlik (blue) and Qipchoq with Chinor (red).

Trains run ever 3-10 minutes until 23:30. A paper ticket with a QR-code is, as of January 2025, 3000 som from the cashier at the stations, by cash or card. Alternately, ATTO or major credit cards work at the gates.

By bus

The main downtown public transport is the bus - these are lime green, and their destination boards alternate between Russian and Uzbek. The trams were scrapped in 2016, those battle-scarred behemoths of the boulevards, with some tramways converted into bus lanes.

Probably the simplest way to plan a journey is to type "yandex bus map tashkent" into your browser. This brings up a live map of buses crawling around the city, as if in a video game, whereupon you zoom onto your start location or destination. Say you're at the airport international terminal, you might see Bus 11 in the vicinity - click on the icon and its route is revealed, north downtown through the government quarter (probably what you want) then away northwest via Chorsu Bazaar. Southbound it's heading to the domestic terminal T3.

Tashkent is generally safe. Beware traffic, safeguard valuables, don't get mixed up in local politics like demonstrations and suspect a scam if a suave local approaches you.

Unified emergency service number: 112 - for all emergencies. A 24/7 service operating without holidays. Call here in any urgent situation.

Optionally, individual emergency numbers are 103 for medical, 101 for fire and 102 for police.

Seek advice from your accommodation on nearby medical, dental or pharmacy services. Standards of health care are well below those in the west, and anything serious will probably need a medical evacuation flight. Your hotelier will know which doctors and hospitals are doing their best within limited facilities, and which are seeking to empty your wallet.