Bukhara: what to see, where to stay and how to get around

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Bukhara's old town is the most complete medieval Islamic city in Central Asia, and it can all be walked. This route goes from the pond at Lyab-i Hauz through the 16th-century trading domes to the square under the Kalon minaret, the heart of the city for nine centuries. Every stop is still in use — as a shop, a school or a mosque. About two hours on flat lanes, longer if you shop; it is cooler under the domes at midday.

A short history of Bukhara

Bukhara has stood on its site for more than two thousand years, and in the 9th and 10th centuries it was the capital of the Samanid dynasty and one of the great centres of learning in the Muslim world; the physician Ibn Sina (Avicenna) studied here. The 10th-century Mausoleum of Ismail Samani has survived, as has the Kalyan Minaret, built in 1127, which Genghis Khan spared when he destroyed the city in 1220. From the 16th century Bukhara was the capital of a khanate and later an emirate, until the Red Army captured it in 1920. This was home to the community of Bukharan Jews, who kept their own language and customs for centuries, and their synagogue in the old quarter is still in use. In 1993 the historic centre was declared a World Heritage Site.

The ten best sights in Bukhara

1
Lyab-i Hauz
The pond under the mulberry trees is the meeting point of the old town
2
Nadir Divan-Begi
Look for the two phoenixes on the madrasa portal facing the pond
3
Magoki Attori
The oldest mosque in town, sunk below street level; now a carpet museum
4
Ulugh Beg Madrasa
The oldest madrasa in Central Asia, across from Abdulaziz Khan
5
Kalon Minaret
The symbol of Bukhara; come back at sunset when it glows
6
Mir-i Arab Madrasa
A working madrasa; you may enter only the entrance hall
7
Ark of Bukhara
The emirs' fortress; the museums inside take an hour
8
Bolo Hauz Mosque
Twenty tall wooden columns reflected in the pond
9
Samanid Mausoleum
A thousand-year-old brick cube in a park; best in low sun
10
Chashma-Ayub
Job's spring, under a conical dome; inside, a small water museum

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Domes, madrasas and the great minaret

Nadir Divan-Begi · Nadir Divan-Begi, the grand vizier, built a caravanserai here in 1622; it was turned into a madrasa, and its portal shows two phoenix-like birds carrying deer towards a sun with a human face. Such images were rare on a religious building, and the khan allowed them anyway.
Toqi Sarrofon · Sarrofon means money-changers. Bukhara's coins, and those of traders from India, Persia and Russia, were weighed and exchanged here, at the crossroads where the canal once ran under the dome.
Toqi Telpakfurushon · The 'hat-sellers' dome' was built in the 16th century under the Shaybanids, at a meeting of five streets. Fur and embroidered caps were sold here; today it is mostly books, knives and souvenirs.
Toqi Zargaron · The jewellers' dome, completed around 1570, is the largest of the trading domes, its central cupola resting on a ring of smaller ones. It once held dozens of goldsmiths' workshops.
Ulugh Beg Madrasa · Built in 1417, it is the oldest surviving madrasa in Central Asia. Over the door Ulugh Beg, an astronomer himself, had written that striving for knowledge is the duty of every Muslim man and woman.
Kalon Minaret · The minaret was finished in 1127 and is about 46 metres tall. When Genghis Khan took Bukhara in 1220 he burned the city and its great mosque but left the minaret standing; for centuries condemned criminals were thrown from its top.

Emirs, saints and a summer palace

West of the old centre the city opens out: the fortress of the emirs, the pond-side mosque where they prayed on Fridays, and a park holding the oldest building in Bukhara. The route then takes a car north to the palace of the last emir and east to the shrine that makes Bukhara a place of pilgrimage. Allow a full day, half on foot and half by taxi. The shrine is busiest on Fridays and holidays.

Ark of Bukhara · In June 1842 two British officers, Charles Stoddart and Arthur Conolly, were beheaded in the square in front of the Ark on the emir's orders, a famous episode of the Great Game. The emirs ruled from the fortress until 1920, when the Red Army shelled it and the last emir fled.
Bolo Hauz Mosque · Built in 1712 opposite the Ark, this was the emir's Friday mosque. Its porch stands on twenty tall wooden columns; reflected in the pond they make forty, which is what locals call it.
Samanid Mausoleum · Built in the early 10th century for the Samanid dynasty, it is the oldest building in Bukhara. Its bricks are laid in patterns that change with the light, and it survived the Mongols because it lay buried under silt until archaeologists dug it out in the 1930s.
Chashma-Ayub · Legend says the prophet Job struck the ground with his staff here, in a time of drought, and a spring of clear water came up. The conical dome is a style from Khorezm, rare in Bukhara, and the building now holds a museum of the region's water.
Sitorai Mohi Xosa · The last emir, Alim Khan, built this summer palace in the early 20th century after studying in St Petersburg, and mixed Russian rooms with Bukharan carved plaster. He lived here only a few years before fleeing to Afghanistan in 1920.
Bahauddin Naqshband Complex · Bahauddin Naqshband, who died in 1389, founded the Naqshbandi Sufi order, which spread from here to India, Turkey and the Balkans. Pilgrims walk around his tomb, and many believe that visiting it three times is worth a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Jewish Bukhara

The Bukharan Jews are named after this city, and for centuries it was the centre of their world. They lived in their own quarter south of Lyab-i Hauz, spoke a Jewish dialect of Tajik and kept their own customs; under the emirs they had to wear a rope belt and could not ride inside the city. Almost all left in the 1990s for Israel and New York, but the synagogue, the lanes and the cemetery remain. About two hours on foot; cover your head in the synagogue.

Lyab-i Hauz · A local legend says the land for the pond belonged to a Jewish widow who would not sell it. The vizier dug a canal under her house until it began to crumble, and in the end she gave it up in return for land elsewhere — where the Jews then built a new quarter and a synagogue.
Magoki Attori · The mosque stands on the site of older temples and sits several metres below today's street, so deep has the ground risen since the 12th century. Tradition says the Jews of Bukhara once prayed in this building in turns with the Muslims, before they had a synagogue of their own.
Bukhara Synagogue · This is the community's working synagogue, a modest courtyard building rather than a grand hall: under the emirs, synagogues were not allowed to stand out from the houses around them. Services are still held, with a minyan often made up with visitors.
Old Jewish House · Rich Bukharan Jewish merchants built their houses around inner courtyards, plain on the outside and decorated within with painted ceilings and carved niches. Like their Muslim neighbours, they showed nothing of their wealth to the street.
Museum of Bukharan Jews · The museum shows the dress, books and photographs of the community. Look for the wedding clothes in gold-embroidered velvet and the prayer books in Bukhori, the Judeo-Tajik language written in Hebrew letters.
Bukhara Jewish Cemetery · The inscriptions here are in Hebrew, Russian and sometimes Bukhori. In the 1990s, as the community emigrated, families paid for the walls and caretakers so the graves would not be abandoned, and descendants still come from Israel to visit them.

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Getting to Bukhara and getting around

Bukhara International Airport · Ten minutes east of the old town; domestic flights and some from Europe
Bukhara-1 Station · The station is in Kogon, 12 km away — allow a taxi ride to the old town

Cheap eats in Bukhara

Bukhara's table is the Uzbek one with a Persian accent: plov with quince and dried fruit, spiced tea and a sweet tooth for halva and nuts in sugar. Bukharan Jews had their own dishes, the most famous oshi savo, a Sabbath plov cooked overnight in a cloth bag inside the pot. Eat lunch around Lyab-i Hauz and pay in som; prices near the monuments are higher than in the bazaar.

Lyabi Hovuz teahouse · Green tea by the pond about 10,000 som, shashlik 15,000-20,000 som a skewer
Boloi Hovuz Choyxona · Plov and tea opposite the Ark, about 35,000-45,000 som
Silk Road Tea House · Spiced tea and sweets, about 30,000 som for tea with a plate
Shirmoy bakery · Round non from the tandoor in the Jewish quarter, about 4,000-6,000 som
Nomozgoh bakery · Neighbourhood bread and somsa, about 5,000-10,000 som
Central Bazaar · Dried fruit and nuts by weight, a mixed bag around 30,000 som

Museums in Bukhara

Ark of Bukhara · Throne room, mosque and history museums inside the walls
Museum of Bukharan Jews · Dress, books and photographs; call ahead
Magoki Attori · Carpet museum inside the old mosque
Sitorai Mohi Xosa · Palace rooms and the emir's peacocks in the garden
Chashma-Ayub · Small water museum; drink from the spring

Nature and day trips near Bukhara

Chor Bakr · Quiet necropolis 15 minutes west by taxi
Samanid Park · Shade and lawns around the oldest building in town
Bolo Hauz · The pond and its wooden porch, cool in the evening
Sitorai Mohi Xosa gardens · Gardens and peacocks of the summer palace

Things to do in Bukhara with kids

Gijduvan Ceramics · Watch the potter's wheel and paint a plate
Zindan · The emir's old prison, with its pit; short and memorable
Lyab-i Hauz · The pond, the storks' old nests and ice cream
Chor Minor · Four little towers like a toy castle

Where to eat in Bukhara

Old Bukhara · Uzbek dinner in an old house near the domes
Minzifa · Rooftop terrace with a view of the domes
Mavrigi · Dinner in a restored merchant house
Ayvan · By Lyab-i Hauz; courtyard tables
Chinar · Grills and salads on Naqshband Street

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Frequently asked questions about Bukhara

What is there to see in Bukhara?

The top sights in Bukhara are Lyab-i Hauz, Nadir Divan-Begi and Magoki Attori. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.

How many days do you need in Bukhara?

Three to four days are enough to see the best of Bukhara without rushing, including at least one walking tour.

Is there a free walking tour in Bukhara?

Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Bukhara, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: Domes, madrasas and the great minaret.

How do you get to Bukhara and get around?

The main ways are Bukhara International Airport and Bukhara-1 Station. Full details are in the transport section on this page.

Where to stay in Bukhara, and for how much?

sleepntrip shows only rooms in Bukhara that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.

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