Uzbekistan is having a moment. Featured in prestigious lists including the New York Times’ Places to Travel in 2025, and CN Traveller’s Best Places to go in Asia, Metro‘s Alice Murphy was ahead of the curve when she explored the Silk Road country in April 2024.
![[Burnt out, I flew to Uzbekistan and found something I was missing]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/SEI_201231952-da10.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
With growing interest in destinations such as historic Bukhara and otherworldly Khiva, we’ve republished the journey to inspire your bucket list. ————————————————————————————————————————.
![[April 28: Burnt out and anxious, I flew to Uzbekistan and found something I was missing]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/SEI_201353190-23f1-e1714051500160.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
‘Why on earth are you going there?’. This was the question friends asked when I told them I was travelling to Uzbekistan, a former Soviet republic sandwiched between Russia, China, and a host of fellow ‘Stans’. I had many answers, most built on the country’s Silk Road history and the ancient mystique of a place that was Central Asia’s cradle of culture for more than two millennia.
![[April 28: Burnt out and anxious, I flew to Uzbekistan and found something I was missing]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/SEI_201366986-6e23.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
But the simple truth? I was exhausted, burnt out by the London rat race and desperate to reawaken my fascination with the world we live in. And with its spellbinding architecture, turquoise-tiled cities and spiritual sunsets, Uzbekistan did not disappoint.
![[April 28: Burnt out and anxious, I flew to Uzbekistan and found something I was missing]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/SEI_201366831-2461-e1714051910396.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Our seven-day trip starts with a seven-hour flight to Tashkent, a capital city brimming with Brutalist architecture and hangovers of the USSR. Tatiana, the first of four guides on our Silk Road trail, takes us to sights such as Khast Imam Square – which houses what is said to be the world’s oldest Quran – and the bustling Chorsu Bazaar, a great place to watch local bakers make bread in traditional ovens.
![[April 28: Burnt out and anxious, I flew to Uzbekistan and found something I was missing]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/SEI_201353193-8e74.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
