Know before you go: Uzbekistan

Quick answer: Most Western, EU, Gulf, and many Asian passport holders can enter Uzbekistan visa-free for up to 30 days, everyone else can usually get an e-visa online in a few days, and the country runs on cash-plus-card with the Uzbek som, so plan a September to November or March to May trip and save 112 for emergencies.

Visa & entry

Uzbekistan has one of the more open visa regimes in Central Asia. Uzbekistan has one of the most open visa policies in Central Asia, with citizens of 90+ countries able to enter visa-free for up to 30 days, while most others qualify for a fast online e-Visa. Passport holders from the EU, UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, UAE, Israel, Turkey, and most CIS countries can enter Uzbekistan without a visa for stays of up to 30 days for tourism.

A handful of neighbours get longer visa-free stays: citizens of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine can stay with unlimited time, and Kyrgyzstan gets up to 60 days.

If your nationality isn’t on the visa-free list, apply for an e-visa well before travel. If your country is not on the visa-free list, you apply online at e-visa.gov.uz; the standard e-Visa costs USD 20, is valid for 90 days, and allows a stay of up to 30 days, with processing usually taking 2 to 3 business days. Check your passport’s validity too: your passport must be valid for at least 3 months after your planned exit date and have at least one blank page for the entry stamp.

Hotel registration matters on exit. Hotels and official guesthouses register you automatically and give a small paper slip, and you should keep every slip until you leave, since border officers may ask for them on exit.

Visa rules change often, and lists of eligible countries are periodically revised, so before booking flights, confirm your specific nationality’s current status on the official e-visa portal or embassy website, not on third-party blogs.

Getting around

Uzbekistan’s biggest travel asset for tourists is its rail network linking the main Silk Road cities. Uzbekistan has a good rail network, and taking the train is the best way to go between Tashkent, Samarkand, Bokhara and Khiva. The flagship service is the Afrosiyob high-speed train: it is an ultra-modern, high-speed train that connects most major cities, so you can easily travel between Tashkent, Samarkand, and Bukhara. A newer option now runs alongside it: the Jaloliddin Manguberdi is a modern high-speed train that started operating in May 2026. Book ahead where possible, since the high-speed trains are very popular and fill up very quickly during the holidays or high season, so you should book your tickets a month in advance if you want to take the high-speed train during high season. Arrive early too, as it’s worth arriving at least 30 minutes in advance at the train station, since there might be long queues at the entrance, especially in Tashkent and Samarkand, where luggage and passports get checked.

Within Tashkent, the Soviet-era metro is cheap, scenic, and efficient. It was the seventh metro system to be built in the former USSR, opening in 1977, and the first metro in Central Asia, and now consists of four lines operating on 70.4 kilometres of route serving 50 stations. Pay with the local contactless card rather than cash tokens: the ATTO transport card lets you quickly and conveniently pay for travel on public transport in Tashkent, and it is currently accepted on all buses of JSC “Toshshakhartrans” and at all turnstiles of the metro. Cards are sold widely and top-ups are easy, since ATTO cards are sold at all points of sale of the city transport company as well as at all metro cash desks, and the balance can be topped up through mobile apps such as ATTO, MyUzcard, Payme, and Upay.

Between cities without a train link, or for flexibility, ride-hailing apps and shared taxis are common and inexpensive; agree on a price or use an app-metered fare before you get in, especially for intercity trips.

Money & costs

The local currency is the Uzbek som (UZS), and Uzbekistan is largely a cash-and-card hybrid economy. Uzbekistan travel works best when you use both payment rails every day, one active card and one cash buffer in Uzbek som; use cards for hotels, larger restaurants, and supermarkets in major cities, and cash for taxis, bazaars, small vendors, and many regional stops. Outside the main tourist centres, cash still dominates: outside Tashkent, expect to use cash for 80% of purchases.

Card and ATM access has improved a lot in recent years. ATMs commonly accept Visa, Mastercard and UnionPay cards, and some also accept Plus and Cirrus cards, though some machines only take one network. Be aware of the practical limits: ATMs in Uzbekistan have a maximum withdrawal limit per transaction of UZS 3 million, and some banks have daily withdrawal limits of 60 bank notes. Fees are also standard: there are no fee-free ATMs in Uzbekistan, and the majority of bank ATMs charge anywhere between 1% to 2% of the transaction amount as an ATM access fee for foreign card holders. Reliable machines cluster around tourist areas: Tashkent, along with Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva, has steadily improving ATM access, with machines typically located near hotels, metro stations, bank branches, and tourist markets, and ATMs operated by banks such as Agrobank, Kapitalbank, and Ipak Yuli Bank are considered the most reliable.

It’s smart to carry a small emergency stash of US dollars as backup: since using your card to both pay and withdraw cash is easy nowadays, you don’t need to bring much foreign currency as cash, but it’s wise to have at least $200 just in case something goes wrong with your bank cards. When paying in dollars is not possible (it never is for local purchases), remember you won’t be able to spend USD in Uzbekistan directly, so any cash you bring needs exchanging locally. Uzbekistan is not an expensive destination overall: budget travellers typically spend far less per day than in Western Europe, but confirm current exchange rates before you go, since the som floats freely against the dollar.

Best time to visit

Uzbekistan has a continental desert climate with hot, dry summers and cold winters, so the shoulder seasons are widely considered the best time to travel. Spring (roughly March through May) and autumn (September through November) bring mild, comfortable daytime temperatures for walking around Samarkand’s Registan, Bukhara’s old city, and Khiva’s walled Itchan Kala, without the extreme summer heat that regularly pushes past 40°C in July and August, or the freezing winter conditions in December and January. Autumn also coincides with the grape and melon harvest in many regions. If you plan to combine sightseeing with the Afrosiyob or other high-speed trains, book tickets well ahead for these peak shoulder-season months, since seats sell out quickly.

Emergencies & safety

Uzbekistan has consolidated its emergency numbers into a single hotline in recent years, though the older sector-specific numbers still work. The unified dispatch service 112 is now operational across all regions of Uzbekistan, and the system is fully functional nationwide. The existing emergency numbers, 101 for the fire department, 102 for police, 103 for ambulance, and 104 for gas, remain in operation alongside the new system.

For tourists specifically, there is also a dedicated line: emergency numbers in Uzbekistan for tourists are 112, police 102, ambulance 103, fire 101, gas 104/1104, and Tourist Police 1173. Use the tourist police line for lower-urgency issues: for tourist situations without immediate danger, such as getting lost, a conflict, or needing help as a foreign visitor, use 1173 and inform your hotel, guide, or local tour operator.

Uzbekistan is generally considered safe for travellers, with petty crime such as pickpocketing in crowded bazaars being the main risk rather than violent crime. The country is generally safe for tourists, but you should still take care in crowded areas to avoid pickpocketing, keep your cash split between a money belt, wallet, or zipped pouch, and avoid flashing large sums of money in public places or bazaars.

Medical care is a genuine consideration outside the capital. Outside of the large cities in Central Asia, there are few good hospitals, so it is generally highly advised to contact your own doctor at home in case of serious illness or injury, or to fly back home, and to always take insurance that covers repatriation. Travel insurance with medical evacuation cover is strongly recommended for any trip into rural or desert regions.

Official sources

• Uzbekistan e-Visa Portal (official)
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan
• Uzbekistan Railways (official rail operator, Afrosiyob and other trains)
• Tashkent Metro (official operator)
• ATTO Transport Card (official Tashkent public transport payment system)
• Visit Uzbekistan (official tourism board portal)