Why do many people come to Uzbekistan

zbekistan hardly stands front and centre when it comes to potential holiday destinations. Around 1,000 Britons visit it each year, according to ONS figures, putting it on a par with the likes of Armenia and Malawi (for comparison, Spain lures around nine million of us annually).

But getting there is about to become a little easier. From July 15, the country is pruning some of the red tape that surrounds it. UK travellers will be able to visit for up to five days without applying for a visa (so long as they arrive by air and have an onward flight booked), while those wanting to stay longer can take advantage of a new electronic visa system, which promises to take just two days to process applications (and costs $20).  

So what does this Central Asian enigma have up its sleeve for travellers? A surprising amount. Here’s everything you need to know…

It’s a snippet of the Silk Road’s best bits…

If you’re intrigued by the ancient Silk Road but don’t have the time to travel its length from China to Turkey, you’ll find three of the route’s most important cities in Uzbekistan. Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand were key stop-offs for traders, and have all been painstakingly restored to their former glory – think glittering minarets, voluptuous domes and hypnotic mosaics. With a little planning you can squeeze them all into a week, making this the perfect bite of Silk Road splendour.

Khiva

Khiva

…with some Soviet-era muscle

Tashkent – Uzbekistan’s capital – was completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1966, while the country was under Soviet rule. Some 300,000 people were left homeless, but with matchless Soviet muscle the entire city was rebuilt and restored – indeed, it is said that construction work started the day after the quake.

As a result, you’ll find a charming mish-mash of restored 12th-century mosques and classical Russian architecture alongside blocky Brutalist buildings and statues of workers with bulging biceps. Stay at Hotel Uzbekistan – which towers over the city’s main park – to experience some faded Soviet glory up close.

You can't miss it CREDIT: MARC DOZIER

It’s a bit like time travel

The walled city of Khiva is a living museum, protected by Unesco but still populated by Uzbek families and businesses. It was founded in the 6th century, and thrived as a Silk Road trading city – with increasingly ornate mosques, mausoleums and madrassas (religious schools) added to its labyrinth of streets, all of which have been artfully restored.

It’s a popular spot for wedding parties, who visit for photo opportunities under the vibrant turquoise mosaics, and its streets are lined with souvenir stalls hawking everything from handmade teapots to traditional woolly hats. But after 5pm, the local tourists head home – leaving you to explore the city in peace. Wander its streets while swallows swoop in the fading light, its mud brick walls rosy under a pinky sky. It’s easy to imagine you’re in the 12th century.

Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan: turquoise-domed cities of the Silk Road

The Silk Road by rail

You’ll have the place to yourself

Uzbek wedding parties embark on grand tours of Uzbekistan’s ancient cities, armed with camera crews and copious relatives – but aside from them, you’ll only find a handful of tourists in every major site. It’s refreshing to visit a place where domestic tourists far outnumber international ones, and the wedding groups are always in the party spirit. The novelty of seeing a bride posing in full white gown regalia beneath a technicolour 10th-century minaret never wears off.

A bloodthirsty conqueror is their national hero

The undoubted hero of Uzbekistan is Timur, a 14th century conqueror who married a descendent of Genghis Khan and whose armies killed an estimated 17 million people on their rampage across Central Asia. You’ll spy his face on everything from hotel lobby paintings and banknotes/

The oldest cities in the world. Bukhara, Samarkand, Khiva, Shakhrisabz are only the most famous cities of the country. They were founded several thousand years ago and preserved the atmosphere of antiquity. There are entire neighborhoods in Bukhara in which nothing has changed since the Middle Ages. Walking along these old streets is an incredible feeling. And in each city luxurious architectural monuments that belong to world-class attractions have been preserved.

Reason number 2. Food. Tasty, simple, but such interesting Uzbek cuisine will be remembered for a long time. Pilaf, badamjan, chuchvara, shurpa, samsa, kebab ... You can list for a long time. And all this is fresh, prepared with a soul and very inexpensive. From June to October, various fruits, berries and vegetables ripen in Uzbekistan. Perhaps there are no such melons, cherries and tomatoes anywhere. You can just come to Uzbekistan, do not go anywhere, but to sit in a teahouse and the tour is already a success!

Reason number 3. People. Such kindness, hospitality and simplicity is less and less in tourist cities. In the Uzbek outback, all this has been preserved. You can just sit at a table in a teahouse or even on a bench in the park and people will come up to you, talk, talk about your life, about sights, about the city. An incredible sense of the value of simple human communication!

Reason number 4. Lack of language and visa barriers. Nevertheless, Uzbekistan has long been a part of the Russian Empire and the Russian trace continues to be felt here. Many speak Russian. There are fewer young people in the outback; in Samarkand and Tashkent, almost everyone speaks Russian. Therefore, you feel almost at home here. And even the locals, first approach me as a European, and then, after hearing the Russian language, immediately begin to relate as yours. Russians there are not considered foreigners. Almost every man begins to tell how he worked in Russia, they know the geography of Siberia quite well, and follow what is happening here. But they do not speak wisely about politics.

Reason number 5. Safety and tourist orientation. The country has set its sights on openness and attractiveness for tourists (mainly European). Therefore, tourists are treated very well, friendly. Everywhere in the cities there are quite a lot of police, everywhere there are frames, checking bags and backpacks and this creates a feeling of security.