Top 10 Things to Do in Samarkand

1. Registan at sunrise

The three medressas glow gold before the crowds arrive. Worth every early alarm.

2. Shah-i-Zinda necropolis

A tiled corridor of mausoleums with the most extraordinary blues in Central Asia.

3. Bibi-Khanym Mosque

Once the largest mosque in the Islamic world, still humbling in scale.

4. Siyob Bazaar

Smell the non bread, taste the parvarda candy, watch grandmothers haggle over saffron.

5. Gur-e-Amir

The tomb of Tamerlane. Visit at dusk when the lapis dome lights up.

6. Ulugh Beg Observatory

The 15th-century astronomer-king who measured the year to within a minute.

7. Konigil paper village

Watch silk-route mulberry paper still made by hand.

8. Hazrat Khizr Mosque

The terrace gives the best free view of Samarkand.

9. Plov at Karimbek

The cauldrons start at dawn. Go before 1pm or there is none left.

10. A night walk on Tashkent Street

Locals out, fountains on, music drifting from the cafés.

Ready to go?

Our Samarkand Stopover covers all of this in 3 days. See more about Samarkand.