Bukhara: a first-timer's guide to Central Asia's holy city

Why visit Bukhara

For more than a thousand years Bukhara was one of the great centres of Islamic learning and trade, with hundreds of mosques and madrasas. Much of its historic centre survives, and because people still live, pray and trade within it, it feels like a town rather than a museum. It is compact, flat and best explored slowly on foot.

Lyabi-Hauz

The heart of the old town is Lyabi-Hauz, a pool shaded by ancient mulberry trees and framed by the Kukeldash Madrasa and the Nadir Divan-Beghi Madrasa, whose portal shows two phoenixes and a sun with a human face. Teahouses around the water serve shashlik and plov, and in the evening it is the place to be.

Poi Kalyan

The Kalyan Minaret has stood over Bukhara since the twelfth century. Legend says even Genghis Khan spared it. Beside it, the vast Kalyan Mosque and the working Mir-i-Arab Madrasa face each other across a square that is magical at sunset, when the brick turns gold.

The Ark and beyond

The Ark is the massive fortress where the emirs of Bukhara ruled until 1920, with museums inside its walls. Across the road, the Bolo Hauz Mosque has slender carved wooden columns reflected in a pool. A short walk away, the Samanid Mausoleum, built in the tenth century, shows how much beauty can be made from simple baked brick. Do not miss Chor Minor, a little gatehouse with four turquoise domed towers hidden in a residential lane.

The trading domes

Bukhara's medieval covered bazaars still trade. Each dome was once devoted to one trade, such as jewellers or money changers, and today they sell carpets, suzani, ceramics, miniatures and the famous stork shaped scissors made by local blacksmiths. Take your time, chat with the craftspeople and bargain politely.

Outside the old town

The Sitorai Mohi Hosa palace, the last emir's summer residence, mixes Russian and Uzbek styles with a light touch of eccentricity. The Bahauddin Naqshband complex is one of the most important Sufi shrines in Central Asia, and the Chor Bakr necropolis is a quiet city of tombs. Further afield, yurt camps near Aydarkul Lake in the Kyzylkum desert offer camel rides, starry skies and a swim.

Food

Bukhara is known for its own style of plov and for oshi sabo, a slow cooked dish made in clay pots. Try fresh bread from the tandoor, samsa and green tea in a teahouse by the pool. Several restaurants have rooftop terraces with views over the domes at sunset.

Where to stay

Stay inside or close to the old town. Bukhara has many boutique hotels in restored merchants' houses, with courtyards, carved wood and painted ceilings, as well as simple family guesthouses and hostels. All are within walking distance of Lyabi-Hauz.

Getting there and around

High speed trains link Bukhara with Samarkand and Tashkent, and the station is in Kagan, a short taxi ride from the centre. Bukhara airport has domestic and some international flights. Onward to Khiva, take the train or a long but scenic road trip across the desert with a licensed driver arranged through your hotel. In the old town, walk everywhere.