Samarkand Day Trip from Tashkent by Train

The Two Day Trips Side by Side

The table compares the two day trips on the points that change the real cost and the feel of the day: the listed price per person, the length, the train, the entries and lunch, and the group size. Every figure comes from the tour listings.

How to Choose

The Samarkand Day Trip from Tashkent by Train at $229 per person is the simpler booking. Train tickets, entrance tickets and lunch are in the price, the group stops at 15, and it is the most reviewed of the two with 356 reviews.

The Samarkand One-Day Tour from Tashkent at $178 per person has a lower base price, but entrance fees to the monuments and lunch are paid on the day, and a standard group can reach 100. Its listing also does not name the train ticket as an inclusion, so confirm it before you pay. Both carry free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start.

What Fits Into the Day

Uzbekistan Railways gives the Afrosiyob run as 344 km in two hours and fifteen minutes at up to 250 km/h. That leaves room for the full city loop. Both day trips visit the same five places: Registan Square, the Gur-e-Amir Mausoleum, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, the Shah-i-Zinda necropolis and the Ulugbek Observatory.

The Samarkand One-Day Tour from Tashkent gives about six hours of touring in Samarkand, with breaks, a photo stop and shopping time. The Samarkand Day Trip from Tashkent by Train runs 9-14 hours door to door, starting with a hotel pickup at 7-8am and ending around 5-7 pm.

What a Single Day Leaves Out

A day trip ends when the train leaves, so you miss Samarkand after dark and anything beyond the five-stop loop. The Seven Lakes in Tajikistan and the Aydarkul yurt camp need a night in Samarkand first: see the day trips from Samarkand. If you want Bukhara as well, a two-day train trip or a multi-day route on the Silk Road tours page fits better than two separate day trips.

Sellers pitch the trip as one day turned into a highlight by the high-speed train, and for a traveller with one free day that is a fair description.

The Afrosiyob in Figures

The Afrosiyob high-speed train began running between Tashkent and Samarkand on 8 October 2011. The railway gives the line as 344 km covered in two hours and fifteen minutes, at a top speed of 250 km/h. The tourism committee says it runs twice daily between the major cities, Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara among them.

Twice daily is the catch for an independent day trip. With few departures, a sold-out return leaves you in Samarkand for the night. Both guided trips book the seats for you. On rare occasions when the high-speed train is unavailable, the operators replace it with the most comfortable class of regular train or with a car or minibus, which makes the day longer. For the full picture of the rail network, read the Uzbekistan train guide.

Where to Buy and What the Tours Cover

The tourism committee says Afrosiyob tickets are booked on the national railway e-ticket site, and that tickets are also sold at station ticket offices with timetables online. Buy early: there are only two departures a day.

If you would rather not handle tickets at all, the Samarkand Day Trip from Tashkent by Train includes round-trip Afrosiyob tickets in its $229 per person price. An upgrade to Business or VIP class is extra, on request. The Samarkand One-Day Tour from Tashkent at $178 per person describes the train both ways in its itinerary but does not list the ticket among its inclusions, so ask the operator before booking.

Hour by Hour

On the Samarkand Day Trip from Tashkent by Train, the tour starts at 7-8am with a pickup at your Tashkent hotel and a transfer to Tashkent Railway Station. You meet the driver and guide at Samarkand Railway Station. The group then visits Registan Square, the Gur-e-Amir Mausoleum, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, Shah-i-Zinda and the Ulugbek Observatory, with lunch at a local restaurant. The tour ends around 5-7 pm.

The Samarkand One-Day Tour from Tashkent starts with a twenty-minute car transfer from your hotel, the airport or a train station. In Samarkand a live guide leads about six hours of touring with breaks, a photo stop and shopping time. The train takes you back and a car drops you at your hotel.

What the Guide Covers

The all-inclusive day tour model arranges rail travel, local transport and a professional guide, with Registan Square at the centre. Registan has three madrasahs: Ulugh Beg, Sher-Dor and Tilya-Kori. Gur-e-Amir is the mausoleum of Tamerlane.

Shah-i-Zinda is a necropolis, and both trips also include the Ulugbek Observatory. Wear comfortable shoes: the touring is on foot once the car leaves you.

Inclusions and Exclusions

The table lists what each tour's own listing includes and excludes. Monument entrance fees are not published by any official body, so the excluded entries on the cheaper trip are a cost you meet in cash on the day.

Cash on the Day

On the $178 trip, bring cash for the entrance fees and for lunch. The UK government says the som cannot be obtained outside Uzbekistan, so change money in Tashkent before the trip. Neither listing adds a mandatory extra charge to its price.

Reserve now and pay later is offered on the $178 trip only.

Good Fit, Poor Fit

Book it if Tashkent is your base, you have one day, and you want the Registan and Shah-i-Zinda without planning trains. The Samarkand Day Trip from Tashkent by Train asks for at least a moderate level of fitness and is not recommended for travellers with spinal injuries. The Samarkand One-Day Tour from Tashkent is not wheelchair accessible.

Skip it if you want sunset at the Registan, a slow look inside each madrasah, or a trip on to the Seven Lakes. Stay in Samarkand instead and use the day trips from Samarkand. Both trips depend on good weather and can be cancelled for it, with a new date or a full refund offered on the $178 trip.

Safety in Samarkand

A tourist police force operates in Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva. Canada notes that petty crime is common in Tashkent and Samarkand, and that some foreigners were robbed by people posing as police, so ask to see credentials. More on this in is Uzbekistan safe.

Independent by Train

The tourism committee says that from Tashkent the train reaches Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva and Termez, with tickets at station ticket offices and on the national railway e-ticket site. The risk is the return. With the Afrosiyob running twice daily, a missed or sold-out evening train means a night in Samarkand. A guided walk such as the Samarkand Historical Monuments Walking Tour can still be added once you arrive, with entrance fees paid at each site.

The guided trips remove that risk: the Samarkand Day Trip from Tashkent by Train holds both train seats for you.

By Car

No official road time is published for the drive, so the train's two hours and fifteen minutes is the only fixed time for this link. Car or minibus is what the tours fall back on only when the high-speed train is unavailable. If you plan to cross into Tajikistan later in the trip, Canada advises a multi-entry visa for Uzbekistan plus any visa the other country requires.

See the Uzbekistan visa guide.