Trip readiness checklist for Uzbekistan

What to pack

Uzbekistan is the Silk Road with the tiles still on: Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva in a row, joined by a fast train. Pack for mosque-modest, miles of walking and a desert climate that goes from 40 degrees to frost.

• Comfortable walking shoes

  Madrasa courtyards, bazaars and old-town lanes add up to 20,000 steps a day on uneven stone. Shoes that slip off easily help at mosques and homes.

• Modest, light clothing

  Shoulders and knees covered for mosques and mausoleums, a scarf for women inside the working mosques. Linen and cotton for the heat.

• A hat and a refillable bottle

  The sun is relentless from May to September and shade is scarce in the big squares. Bottled water is cheap, but a refill from the hotel saves plastic.

• Layers for the shoulder months

  Desert nights drop sharply even in April and October; Khiva in November is cold. A fleece goes in every bag.

When to go

April to May and September to October are peak and perfect: warm days, cool nights and tour groups to match, so book the Afrosiyob train and the Bukhara guesthouses early. July and August hit 40 degrees and empty out, which some travellers enjoy. Winter is cold, clear and the cheapest time to have Registan Square to yourself.

Money & getting around

Uzbekistan uses the som (UZS), which comes in bricks of notes; the exchange rate is unified now, so change at banks or ATMs and ignore anyone offering better. Visa and Mastercard work at ATMs and hotels in Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara; bazaars, taxis and guesthouses are cash. Tipping is around 10 percent, often added in tourist restaurants. The Afrosiyob high-speed train links Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara in a couple of hours each and sells out; book on the railway's site weeks ahead. Yandex Go is the taxi app.

Local quirks worth knowing

Uzbekistan is hospitable to the point of insistence, formal about bread and tea, and still fond of paperwork. The rules are old and easy to keep.

• Keep every registration slip

  Hotels register foreign guests with the authorities and hand over a slip. Collect them for every night; immigration can ask for the stack on the way out.

• Bread is sacred

  Non, the round bread, is never placed upside down, never thrown away and torn by hand, not cut. Put it back on the table face up if you have set it down wrong.

• Less tea is more respect

  The host pours a small amount into your bowl and tops it up often; a full bowl is for a guest they want to leave. Receive it with the right hand.

• Plov is a lunch

  The national rice dish is cooked in the morning and eaten at midday in the big plov centres; by evening it is gone. Thursday is the traditional day.

• Shoes off, elders first

  At homes and at the tapchan (the raised platform you eat on), shoes come off and the oldest person is served and greeted first.

A week in Uzbekistan, the list starts here

Quantities scale with your dates, the weather groups arrive once we have your travel days, and your own plans add their gear on Trip Pass.

• Passport & travel documents1
• Phone charger & adapter1
• Wallet, cards & some local cash1
• Toiletries bag1
• Any daily medicationsenough for the trip
• Underwear7
• Socks7
• T-shirts / tops5

• Everything in my carry-on, and why each thing earns its spot
• The packing trick that got me through 3 countries with one carry-on