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

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Timur made Samarkand his capital in 1370 and spent the next 35 years filling it with the spoils of Persia, India and Anatolia. What stands today — the tomb, the Registan, the great mosque and the street of tombs — was built by him, his family and his grandson Ulugh Beg. This walk links them in a line from south to north. About three to four hours with visits; there is little shade between the Registan and Shah-i-Zinda, so start early in summer.

A short history of Samarkand

The ancient city, Afrasiab, lies on a hill in the north of today's Samarkand, and the Greeks called it Maracanda when Alexander the Great conquered it in 329 BC. It was the heart of Sogdiana and a major stop on the Silk Road. In 712 it was taken by the Arabs, and in 1220 Genghis Khan destroyed it. From 1370 Timur built the capital of his empire here, and his grandson Ulugh Beg founded an observatory in the 1420s that measured the length of the year with surprising accuracy. In 1868 it was taken by the Russians, and between 1925 and 1930 it was the capital of Soviet Uzbekistan. Bukharan Jews lived in the old Jewish quarter for centuries. In 2001 the city was declared a World Heritage Site.

The ten best sights in Samarkand

1
Registan
Three madrasas around one square; see it in the morning and again lit at night
2
Ulugh Beg Madrasa
The oldest of the three, on the west side of the Registan
3
Sher-Dor Madrasa
Look up at the tigers on the portal
4
Tilya-Kori Madrasa
Go inside the mosque for the gold ceiling
5
Bibi-Khanym Mosque
Timur's giant mosque, a short walk up Tashkent Street from the Registan
6
Bibi-Khanym Mausoleum
Across the street from the mosque; small and often missed
7
Shah-i-Zinda
A street of blue-tiled tombs; the most beautiful hour is early morning
8
Gur-e-Amir
Timur's tomb; come back after dark when it is lit
9
Ulugh Beg Observatory
The surviving arc of a 15th-century giant sextant, plus a small museum
10
Afrasiyab Museum
The 7th-century murals of ambassadors are the reason to come

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What is an audio walk?

Tours in Samarkand →

A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Samarkand:

Free walking tours in Samarkand

Timur's Samarkand

Gur-e-Amir · Timur built it for his grandson Muhammad Sultan, who died in 1403, and was buried here himself two years later under a block of dark green jade. In June 1941 Soviet scientists opened his grave; two days later Germany invaded the Soviet Union, and locals still tell it as Timur's curse.
Ruhobod Mausoleum · This plain brick tomb, from the 14th century, is one of the oldest buildings still standing in the city. It belongs to Sheikh Burhaneddin Sagarji, a Sufi teacher, and its name means 'abode of the spirit'.
Registan · Registan means 'sandy place' — it began as the trading square of Timurid Samarkand. Ulugh Beg built the first madrasa on it in 1417–1420; the two others went up two centuries later, Sher-Dor in the 1620s and 30s and Tilya-Kori, with its gilded mosque, by 1660.
Sher-Dor Madrasa · Sher-Dor means 'having tigers'. The portal shows two striped tigers chasing deer, with human-faced suns on their backs — a bold image on a religious building, since Islam usually avoids figures of living things.
Bibi-Khanym Mosque · Timur ordered it in 1399, after his campaign in India, and wanted it to be the largest mosque in the world. Built too fast and too big, it began to crumble within decades, and the earthquake of 1897 brought down much of it; the domes you see were restored in Soviet and later times.
Shah-i-Zinda · The name means 'the living king'. Legend says Kusam ibn Abbas, a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad who brought Islam here in the 7th century, was beheaded and walked into a well with his head in his hands, still alive; Timur's family buried their women and generals along the lane to his shrine.

Paper, stars and saints

Around Samarkand are the places that explain why the city mattered long before Timur: the mound of ancient Maracanda that Alexander the Great took, the observatory where Ulugh Beg measured the year, and the mill where Samarkand paper is still made. The route ends further out, at the tomb of the most important scholar of Islamic tradition and in the hills of Urgut. This is a car day of about 120 km; Urgut's bazaar is liveliest on Sunday mornings.

Afrasiyab Museum · In 1965 road builders uncovered the walls of a palace room painted around 660 for King Varkhuman. The murals show ambassadors arriving from China, Korea and Persia with gifts — the Silk Road court of Sogdian Samarkand, before the Arabs came.
Ulugh Beg Observatory · Ulugh Beg built it in the 1420s around a sextant with a radius of about 40 metres, cut into the hill. His star catalogue of more than a thousand stars was the most accurate of its time; after his murder in 1449 the observatory was destroyed, and its remains were found only in 1908.
Konigil Meros · Tradition says Chinese prisoners taken at the battle of Talas in 751 taught papermaking in Samarkand, and Samarkand paper became famous across the Islamic world. Here it is made again from mulberry bark, beaten by a water-driven mill and polished with stones.
Imam al-Bukhari Mausoleum · Muhammad al-Bukhari, born in Bukhara in 810, collected the sayings of the Prophet into the book most Sunni Muslims hold second only to the Quran. He died in 870 in the village of Khartang near Samarkand, and his tomb is now a large pilgrimage complex.
Urgut Bazaar · Urgut, in the foothills south-east of Samarkand, is known for its suzani — large embroidered hangings that brides once brought to their new home. The weekend market is where dealers and families sell both new and old pieces.
Chor Chinor · Chor Chinor means 'four plane trees'. The giant planes around the spring and the old mosque here are counted among the oldest trees in Uzbekistan, some of them hollow with age.

Bukharan Jews of Samarkand

Jews have lived in Samarkand for many centuries, part of the community known as the Bukharan Jews, who spoke their own Jewish dialect of Tajik-Persian. In the 19th century they built a quarter of their own behind the bazaar, and by the 20th they were a large part of the city's merchants and craftsmen. Most left for Israel and the United States in the 1990s, but the synagogue, the cemetery and the lanes remain. About two hours on foot, with a short taxi to the river for St Daniel.

Jewish Quarter · In 1843 the Jews of Samarkand were allowed to buy land and build their own quarter, the Mahallai Yahudiyon, next to the bazaar. Until then they had lived scattered among Muslim neighbourhoods; the new quarter had its own synagogues, baths and schools.
Gumbaz Synagogue · Gumbaz means 'dome', and the synagogue built in 1891 is named after its domed roof. It is the one synagogue in the quarter still holding regular services, kept going by the few Bukharan Jewish families left and by visitors from Israel.
Siyob Bazaar · Bukharan Jews were long known across the region as dyers of silk and cotton and as cloth merchants; in many towns the indigo dyeing trade was almost entirely theirs. Their shops lined the bazaar a few minutes' walk from the quarter.
Bukharan Jewish Cemetery · Many of the black stones here carry engraved photographic portraits of the dead, a custom that spread among Bukharan Jews in Soviet times. Families abroad still pay caretakers and come back to visit graves before the High Holidays.
Ashkenazi Jewish Cemetery · In the Second World War Samarkand took in Jewish refugees from Poland and the western Soviet Union. Many died here of hunger and typhus, and the Ashkenazi cemetery holds their graves beside those of the Russian-speaking Jews who settled after the Russian conquest.
Tomb of St Daniel · Tradition says Timur brought relics of the prophet Daniel from Susa in Persia, and the 18-metre sarcophagus is said to grow a little every year. Jews, Christians and Muslims all come here to pray, and the spring below is held to be healing.

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Getting to Samarkand and getting around

Samarkand International Airport · 15 minutes from the Registan; some flights from Europe and Russia come direct
Samarkand Station · Afrosiyob trains to Tashkent in about two hours and to Bukhara in under two
Bukhara bus stand · Buses and shared taxis west to Navoi and Bukhara leave from the ring road

Cheap eats in Samarkand

Samarkand is the bread capital of Uzbekistan: its heavy, glossy non is sold at the Siyob bazaar and carried home all over the country. Plov here is made the Samarkand way, in unstirred layers, and is a lunch dish — by evening most kazans are empty. Somsa, lagman and green tea fill the gaps, and everything is cheap.

Siyob Bazaar bread · A Samarkand non loaf about 6,000-10,000 som, halva by weight
Non Bazar · Fresh round loaves near the Jewish quarter, about 5,000-8,000 som
Sambusakhana · Tandoor somsa near the Registan, about 8,000-12,000 som
Osh Markazi · Plov at lunchtime, about 35,000-45,000 som
Ibrahim Xoja Lagmon · Hand-pulled lagman, about 25,000-35,000 som
Bibikhanum Choyhona · Tea and plov facing the mosque, a plate about 40,000-50,000 som

Museums in Samarkand

Afrasiyab Museum · The ambassadors' murals and finds from ancient Maracanda
Gumbaz Synagogue · Bukharan Jewish synagogue; cover your head, ask at the gate
Ulugh Beg Observatory · Small museum on Timurid astronomy
Gur-e-Amir · Timur's tomb; the gold-blue interior is the highlight
Konigil Meros · Watch paper being made; buy a notebook

Nature and day trips near Samarkand

Chor Chinor · Shade under ancient planes in the Urgut hills
Afrasiyab hills · Walk the grassy ancient mound at sunset
Imam al-Bukhari gardens · Quiet gardens around the pilgrimage complex
Konigil stream · Shade and running water by the paper mill

Things to do in Samarkand with kids

Eternal City · A recreated Silk Road town with crafts and shows
Konigil Meros · Children can watch the water wheel and make paper
Registan at night · The lit madrasas after dark; bring an ice cream

Where to eat in Samarkand

Platan · Well-known restaurant with a garden; book for groups
Karimbek · Big Uzbek restaurant west of the centre
Emirxan · Next to the Registan, for dinner with a view of the lights
Zarqand · Uzbek dishes on Registan Street
Ko'k-Saroy · Dinner near the Registan

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Frequently asked questions about Samarkand

What is there to see in Samarkand?

The top sights in Samarkand are Registan, Ulugh Beg Madrasa and Sher-Dor Madrasa. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.

How many days do you need in Samarkand?

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

Is there a free walking tour in Samarkand?

Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Samarkand, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: Timur's Samarkand.

How do you get to Samarkand and get around?

The main ways are Samarkand International Airport, Samarkand Station and Bukhara bus stand. Full details are in the transport section on this page.

Where to stay in Samarkand, and for how much?

sleepntrip shows only rooms in Samarkand 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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