01

Getting there from KL: nonstop and one-stop flights

Two airlines fly nonstop between KLIA and Tashkent at the time of writing (late September 2026), both from KLIA Terminal 1. Uzbekistan Airways, which flies Boeing 787s on the route, says it will step up to as many as four weekly flights from the end of October. Batik Air also flies nonstop but with fewer flights, so confirm the days on sale before booking leave. AirAsia X, which used KLIA Terminal 2, suspended Tashkent from 2 September 2026 with no restart date announced.

Outbound flights take roughly 7 hours 50 minutes to 8 hours. Tashkent is three hours behind Malaysia, so daytime departures land the same afternoon or evening, and return flights leave Tashkent late at night and reach KLIA the next morning.

Amaboxly's own KL fare scan, run on 21 September 2026, found the cheapest one-way fare at about RM 1,229, nonstop on Batik Air for a February 2027 date, and a median of about RM 1,590 across all the fares it found. The cheapest one-stop option connected in Abu Dhabi at about RM 1,265; connections via Doha, Sharjah, Istanbul or Dubai cost more. Prices shift daily, so treat these as a benchmark.

02

Tashkent airport to the city

Islam Karimov Tashkent International Airport (TAS) lies about 12 km from the centre, and international flights use Terminal 2. Prices are indicative, at roughly 2,890 som to RM 1.

• Yandex Go: the simplest option. A car to Amir Timur Square or Tashkent City usually costs 30,000 to 60,000 som (RM 10 to RM 21), taking 15 to 25 minutes outside rush hour.
• Hotel or guesthouse pickup: small guesthouses quote from about 80,000 som (RM 28), and bigger hotels charge more, so ask when you book. Sensible for late arrivals with family.
• Bus 67: runs to Oybek metro station and on towards the centre every 20 to 30 minutes from about 6 am to 10 pm, for a fare of about RM 1 or less. Allow 50 to 70 minutes, and skip it with big suitcases.
• Touts in the arrivals hall: some ask several times the app fare. If you go with one, fix the price in som first.

SIM kiosks for the local networks sit in the arrivals area, so sort out data and some som before leaving the terminal, because you need a connection to call a Yandex car. If you land in the evening, plan on a car, as the buses stop around 10 pm.

03

Where to stay in Tashkent

Tashkent sprawls, but the metro and cheap Yandex rides make most areas workable. Pick a base by priority: mosques, shopping or early trains.

• Amir Timur Square and the centre: the easiest first-timer base, near Amir Temur Hiyoboni and Mustaqillik Maydoni metro stations, the pedestrian street locals call Broadway, museums and many mid-range hotels.
• Tashkent City: a newer district of towers, a landscaped park and a big mall, a short ride from both the centre and the old town. Good for families and shoppers who want modern rooms, lifts and dinner on the doorstep.
• Old town near Chorsu and Hazrati Imam: for walking to Friday prayers, the Center for Islamic Civilization and the bazaar. Expect smaller guesthouses and family-run hotels rather than big international names.
• Near the railway station: practical before an early Afrosiyob train. The fast trains use the main Tashkent (Central) station, while Tashkent South, about 7 km away, handles mostly slow overnight trains, so check the station on your ticket.

Licensed hotels and guesthouses register foreign guests with the authorities for you, one more reason to book them over informal flat rentals.

04

Things to do in Tashkent

The sights divide between the Soviet-planned centre and the old town to the west.

• Center for Islamic Civilization: opened in March 2026 beside the Hazrati Imam complex, it now keeps the Uthman Quran, one of the oldest surviving Quran manuscripts. Foreign adults pay 425,000 som (about RM 147) with an audio guide, and it opens daily from 9 am to 10 pm.
• Hazrati Imam complex: courtyards, madrasas, a Friday mosque and the older Tillashayx Mosque around the tomb of the scholar Qaffol Shoshiy.
• Chorsu Bazaar and Kukeldash Madrasa: a domed hall of spices, dried fruit, nuts and bread beside a 16th-century madrasa. Go in the morning.
• Minor Mosque: white marble beside the Ankhor canal, calm at sunset.
• The metro: Kosmonavtlar, Alisher Navoi and Mustaqillik Maydoni stations are all chandeliers, mosaics and marble, for about RM 0.60 a ride by card.
• Amir Timur Square and the Museum of Timurid History: a useful primer before Samarkand.
• Museum of Applied Arts: carved plaster, suzani embroidery and ceramics inside a decorated old residence.
• Tashkent City Park: lawns, lights and the largest fountain in Uzbekistan, good for evening walks with children.
• The mountains: Amirsoy, Chimgan and Charvak Lake, roughly 65 to 100 km away, for cable cars and cool summer air or winter skiing.

05

What to eat in Tashkent

Uzbek cooking leans on mutton, beef, rice, onions, carrots and bread. Portions are large, seasoning is gentle and chilli is scarce, so bring chilli flakes or sambal if you need the heat.

• Plov (osh): rice cooked with carrots, onions, chickpeas, raisins and meat in huge cauldrons, a lunchtime tradition. Besh Qozon, a big, busy plov centre near the TV tower, is the classic place to try it.
• Samsa: flaky pastries baked on the wall of a clay tandir oven, with minced meat, pumpkin or potato inside.
• Shashlik: charcoal-grilled skewers served with raw onion and bread.
• Lagman: hand-pulled noodles in broth or stir-fried, usually a hit with Malaysians.
• Manti and chuchvara: steamed and boiled dumplings, often with sour cream.
• Non: the round, stamped bread served with everything.
• Kazy: horse-meat sausage, sliced over plov at celebrations.

For a cheap meal, find a chaikhana (tea house), where green tea comes by the pot. Chorsu Bazaar sells dried apricots, nuts and halva that travel well as gifts, and late summer brings sweet, cheap melons and grapes.

06

Halal food and prayer spaces

Uzbekistan is Muslim-majority, so everyday Uzbek food is cooked by Muslims and treated locally as halal: plov houses, chaikhanas and samsa stalls are the natural default. Do not expect a JAKIM-style certificate on the wall, though; think of it as Muslim-owned food rather than formally certified food. Two cautions. Alcohol is legal, widely sold and on many menus, and pork can turn up in some Russian, Korean and European-style restaurants and in supermarket sausages and imported snacks, so read labels and ask. Kazy is horse meat, which the Shafi'i school followed in Malaysia treats as permissible, though some travellers skip it anyway.

Mosques are never far away. Two easy choices for visitors are the Hazrati Imam complex, with its Friday mosque and the Tillashayx Mosque, and the white marble Minor Mosque by the Ankhor canal. Local practice is Hanafi, so the Asr time on mosque timetables is later than you are used to; set a prayer app such as Muslim Pro to your usual method. Women should cover their hair in mosques, and everyone should cover arms and legs.

We could not confirm current prayer room details inside Tashkent airport, so pray at your hotel before heading out and ask airport staff on the day. KLIA Terminal 1 has surau, handy before the long flight.

07

Getting around Tashkent

The metro is the visitor's best friend: three lines plus a circle line, about 50 stations and trains every few minutes until about 11:30 pm. A ride costs 1,700 som (about RM 0.60) if you tap a Visa or Mastercard, Apple Pay, Google Pay or an ATTO transport card at the gate, or 3,000 som (about RM 1) for a paper QR ticket from the station cashier, whatever the distance. Yandex Maps usually beats Google Maps here, so save your route before heading underground. City buses do not take cash: pay with a bank card or an ATTO card.

Grab does not operate in Uzbekistan. Everyone uses Yandex Go, the dominant ride-hailing app, which feels familiar: set the pick-up pin, see a fixed fare, then pay by linked card or som cash. Keep some cash in case your Malaysian card will not link. Rides within the centre usually cost less than the RM 10 to RM 21 airport run. Skip unmarked cars that stop to offer rides, or agree the price before getting in.

For Samarkand and Bukhara, take the Afrosiyob high-speed train (see the final section).

08

Sample itinerary: 4 days in Tashkent

Four days covers Tashkent plus a day in Samarkand. With a week, add a night in Samarkand and two in Bukhara.

• Day 1: Land at Terminal 2, sort out a SIM and som, and check in. Walk around Amir Timur Square and Broadway in the evening, then have shashlik and lagman for dinner.
• Day 2: Old town. Hazrati Imam and the Center for Islamic Civilization in the morning, plov for lunch, then Chorsu Bazaar and Kukeldash Madrasa. End at the Minor Mosque for Maghrib.
• Day 3: Early Afrosiyob train to Samarkand (about 2.5 hours) for the Registan and Shah-i-Zinda, then a 25 km ride out to the Imam al-Bukhari memorial complex before the evening train back. It is a long day; staying overnight is gentler.
• Day 4: Metro station hopping, the Museum of Applied Arts and Tashkent City Park, or in spring and autumn a trip to Amirsoy and Charvak Lake. Overnight flight home.

On a Friday, plan Day 2 around Friday prayers at Hazrati Imam and arrive early.

09

Money, SIM and practical tips

• Currency: the Uzbek som (UZS). The Central Bank rate in late September 2026 was about 2,890 som to RM 1 (roughly 11,800 to the US dollar). Clean US dollar notes are the easiest foreign cash to change at banks; avoid street changers, whose rates are worse and whose trade is illegal.
• Cards: Visa and Mastercard work in hotels, many restaurants, supermarkets and the metro, with Visa the more widely accepted, and ATMs pay out som. Some places add a small card surcharge. Bazaars, small cafes and many drivers want cash, so plan on card plus cash.
• SIM and eSIM: Beeline, Mobiuz, Ucell and UzTelecom have kiosks in the airport arrivals area selling SIMs and eSIMs, and you need your passport to register. Most travel eSIMs bought in advance run on the Beeline network, fine in cities but patchier in the mountains.
• Plugs: 220V sockets with two round pins (types C and F); Malaysian three-pin chargers need a travel adapter.
• Tipping: some restaurants add a service charge, so check the bill before tipping; rounding up is enough for drivers.
• Safety: Tashkent is generally safe. Watch for inflated taxi quotes, padded bills and pushy freelance guides at historic sites.
• Language: Uzbek and Russian. English is spoken in many hotels and tourist businesses but less elsewhere, so keep a translation app ready.

10

Samarkand, Bukhara and Imam al-Bukhari by train

For many Malaysians the deeper pull of Uzbekistan lies beyond the capital: the Silk Road cities and the resting place of Imam al-Bukhari, compiler of Sahih al-Bukhari. The Afrosiyob high-speed train makes Tashkent an easy gateway.

• Tashkent to Samarkand: about 2.5 hours. At the time of writing, fares run around 311,000 som (roughly RM 108) in economy and 455,000 som (about RM 157) in business.
• Tashkent to Bukhara: around 4.5 hours, from about 509,000 som (RM 176) in economy.
• Booking: sales open 60 days ahead on the official Uzbekistan Railways e-ticket website. Popular trains can sell out, so book once your flights are fixed. Keep your passport handy, as stations have security checks and you may be asked for it with your ticket.
• Imam al-Bukhari memorial complex: in Khartang village (also called Khoja Ismail), about 25 km from Samarkand, around 30 minutes by car. Go by Yandex Go or a hired driver, dressed for a mosque visit.

Group tours cover the same ground, but with these trains the route is easy to do on your own.