You want to hear about the greatest country to visit these days? If so, keep reading because I will tell you all about Uzbekistan. Between me and my wife, we have seen around 50 countries and although we pretty much enjoyed all these places, we are absolutely in love with Uzbekistan!
TRANSPORTATION
To start with, everything is so convenient. All the major touristic cities are connected with very comfortable and reliable trains. If you want to take a taxi, 2-3 Euros will take you to most places, pay 5 Euros and you could go to the Moon. Just use Yandex Go and make sure you leave a big tip. All the spots that you would want to visit are within walking distance and these places are completely closed off to traffic, including motorcycles and bicycles. So you will have complete calmness and a slow pace of life around you at all times and that creates a very nice ambience. If you have kids, just let them free without fearing a traffic accident, they can run around and have fun rather than sticking to your legs.
GENERAL
It's a very orderly country. Everything is thought of and they keep the place clean, you never see any kind of garbage laying around. The restaurants also have very high hygiene standards so you don't fear if you'll get sick or anything. Tourist police is everywhere in case you might need them. Prices for anything a tourist could need is extremely reasonable. There isn't much traffic as far as we experienced and drivers don't do crazy stuff. Any touristic place you would want to visit has very high levels of infrastructure and they are built in an aesthetically pleasing way.
WHAT TO SEE
We visited Tashkent, Samarkand, Shahrisabz, Bukhara and Khiva. It has been nothing but magical. I will certainly treasure the memories I made in this country. I think the photos I shared above speak for themselves but go and see it on your own! Real life is always better looking than photos.
SOUVENIRS
This is yet another area where Uzbekistan shines like the North star. When you visit most places around the world, all the stuff you will see is mass produced, cheap garbage unless you start spending hundreds or thousands of your preferred denomination. In Uzbekistan, pretty much every single thing is hand made. They still make stuff like it's the golden age of the Silk Road. You will find massive amounts of handcrafted, unique items displayed at shelves and they are a lot cheaper than you would care to spend on them. So bring a very empty suitcase and stock up on those Turkic minyatur paintings, wooden carvings, handmade cloths, rugs, silk scarfs, stunning porcelains and the all other stuff... I guarantee you that your mind will be blown.
HOTELS
We don't splurge and often stay in mid-budget places but we were quite satisfied with all the hotels that we stayed in. So I'll just recommend them for similar minded people like us. All these hotels were spotless clean, conveniently located, not expensive at all, hosts were incredible and breakfasts were quite satisfactory.
EATING
Food quality is very high and prices are very low. We found everything to be quite tasty and all the ingredients very fresh. One thing I have to warn you is the famous Uzbek pilav. We tried it at the Besh Qozon in Tashkent near the TV Tower. The restaurant is nice and you can stroll through the kitchen and it is an experience itself. But there is so much animal fat in the dish and we were not accustomed to it so we decided to share a single plate just in case. It was the right decision, we got to eat other stuff instead and that turned our experience to a better direction. I would suggest that you do not dive into it like there is no tomorrow. Because otherwise, tomorrow might be spent sitting on the toilet. So to keep it brief, I'll list our MOST favorite restaurants but I do have to say that any place we ate was clean, affordable and tasty.
UZBEK PEOPLE
I wanted to open up a new chapter just to talk about the locals. They are the most welcoming and kindest people we have ever encountered on our trips and our 40 years of life. You never feel like they are taking advantage of you. Shop owners will not harass you. Museum workers will happily welcome you. Restaurants will go out of their way to make you happier than you already are. There is a massive presence of women. They are practically doing all the work in the tourism industry. It's absolutely safe to be alone at any time of the day, including at sunrise and very late at night. We did not have a single moment with negative energy. It's an incredible place and the Uzbek population is an absolute gem in terms of humanity. Our interaction with the locals has been as valuable to us as the places we have visited. We consider it an intangible treasure that we got to experience. We are grateful to the culture and society that they have created.
CLOSURE
When we were at the airport, leaving the country, we were a bit emotional and wondered if we could ever come back and have a similar experience in Uzbekistan. Maybe we won't have that opportunity, maybe the place will change... but right now, as we experienced it in early September 2026, it was the most beautiful place on Earth and the most exciting destination we had ever seen.
As always, any questions, ask away, I might try and answer.