Uzbekistan: How is the mysterious Central Asian country trying to entice Western tourists?

20.09.2021 09:16
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With almost half its landmass covered by desert, remote, mysterious Uzbekistan, a landlocked country of 33 million in Central Asia, is slowly starting to unravel its secrets to Western visitors.

Among its UNESCO World Heritage recognised towns and cities, Uzbekistan has some of Central Asia’s most incredible sights along what was the Silk Road, the ancient network of trading routes that linked China with Europe, writes euronews.travel.

This year marks Uzbekistan’s 30th anniversary of independence, with a calendar of Covid-friendly celebrations taking place in the capital Tashkent as well as the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva.

Travelling between these cities is now easier than ever thanks to new high-speed rail links that have reduced the journey time from Tashkent to Bukhara to three hours 40 minutes, two to Samarkand and from 19 to eight to Khiva, a distance of nearly 1,000 kilometres.

To entice foreign visitors back during the coronavirus pandemic the Uzbek government is offering anyone who catches COVID-19 while on holiday $3,000 (€2,558) to cover medical bills as long as they are travelling as part of a tour group.

Entry is visa-free for trips under 30 days and you’ll need a negative PCR test taken not more than 72 hours before arrival even if you’ve been fully vaccinated.

Tashkent: The leafy capital with an abundance of culture

Uzbekistan’s leafy capital Tashkent will be making merry throughout September and beyond.

With its tree-lined avenues and wonderfully ornate Metro stations, built by the Soviets in the early 1970s, the city of nearly two and a half million people lies on the north-eastern border with Kazakhstan. It was once a major trading post on the Silk Road, the ancient network of trading routes that linked China with Europe.

This year’s Independence Day celebrations in Mustaqillik Maydoni (Independence Square) on 1 September reflected a new Uzbekistan.

One of the most hotly anticipated events in the capital is the return of the Tashkent International Film Festival from 28 September to 3 October, featuring a programme of international and rare archive films.

At the Centre for Contemporary Arts, an early 20th-century power station imaginatively transformed into an arts hub and opened in 2019, they’re hosting a year of events focusing on art, cinema, music, architecture and performance.

In 2022, art lovers will also be able to revisit the State Museum of Arts. Housing works once belonging to Prince Nikolai Romanov by Russian painters such as Repin, Bryullov and Tropinin, as well as 250 plus paintings by pre-revolutionary artists from Central Asia.

The museum’s 1970s Brutalist buildings have been reimagined by Japanese architect Tadao to include a remarkable new complex that will more than double the size of the museum.