Why this ride
From Tashkent it runs 628 km to Bukhara; allow about 8 h 57 of riding. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,050 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Uzbekistan Silk Road Route: Tashkent to Bukhara
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 628 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 8 h 57
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Tashkent
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and the big, green, slightly surprising gateway to the Silk Road. It is a city of two million people with wide avenues, shady plane trees, fountains and a good deal of Soviet architecture, because a catastrophic earthquake in 1966 flattened much of the old town and the whole republic helped to rebuild it. What survived is mostly in the old quarter, around the Chorsu bazaar, with its blue-domed hall, spice stalls and mountains of bread, nuts and dried fruit.
Read the complete Tashkent write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tashkent is where the day begins. Next is Samarkand.
2. Samarkand
Samarkand is one of the oldest cities in Central Asia, and a name that has meant romance to travellers for two and a half thousand years. It sits in the green valley of the Zeravshan River, with the Pamir-Alay mountains rising to the south, on the great trade route that carried silk, paper, spices and ideas between China and the Mediterranean. Alexander the Great took the city, then called Marakanda, in 329 BC, and the mound of its ancient site, Afrasiab, still lies on the northern edge of the modern town. The paper trade is said to have reached the Islamic world here in the eighth century, when Chinese prisoners taught the craft after a battle on the Talas River.
Read the complete Samarkand write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Samarkand comes up about 328 km into the recorded legs. Next is Bukhara.
3. Bukhara
Bukhara is a city made of brick and memory, a trading hub on the Silk Road with a history of more than two thousand years, and its old centre is one of the best preserved in Central Asia. The Zeravshan River once watered the oasis around it, and the town's wealth came from carpets, silk, gold embroidery and its position between east and west. Genghis Khan's army burned much of it in 1220, but the city recovered and became a great centre of Islamic learning, with scores of madrasas and mosques.
Read the complete Bukhara write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 628 km.
Leg by leg
Tashkent to Samarkand
Tashkent → Samarkand is 328 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Samarkand to Bukhara
Samarkand → Bukhara is 300 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.