Samarkand with Kids: Silk Road Magic & Family Adventures in Uzbekistan

Beautiful Samarkand…

Compared to the other Silk Road cities we'd visited already, Samarkand was bigger, bolder and almost impossible to imagine until you see it for yourself.

For many travellers visiting Uzbekistan, Samarkand is often their one and only stop outside of Tashkent — and because of that, it definitely feels busier than Khiva or Bukhara.

But despite its popularity, Samarkand never felt overcrowded.

The city is so vast and open that there’s still plenty of space to wander, explore, and soak in the beauty without feeling cramped by tourists.

From Bukhara to Samarkand

We decided to take a taxi for this leg of the journey — it felt like the easiest and most convenient option with kids at the time.

If you do choose to take a taxi, make sure you agree on a price beforehand, and I’d highly recommend booking through the Yandex app to avoid any confusion.

Trains also run regularly between Samarkand, Bukhara, and Tashkent, and there is an international airport in Samarkand as well.

First Impressions of Samarkand

Samarkand doesn’t whisper — it wows.

After the intimacy of Khiva and the quiet charm of Bukhara, Samarkand felt dazzling in every sense — its grand mosaics, ornate facades, and towering madrasas shaped by centuries as a powerful Silk Road capital and major crossroads for trade and culture.

And then we saw Registan Square.

As soon as we spotted it, we actually asked our taxi driver to pull over and drop us off right there, bags and all.

It’s hard to understand how Registan isn’t more widely known — the scale alone is incredible. Three towering madrasas, covered in intricate mosaics, rise up around you in perfect symmetry. Every surface is filled with detail, it truly is incredible!

Even after everything we’d seen in Khiva and Bukhara, Registan still managed to completely blow us away.

Registan, Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Where We Stayed

After hopping out of the cab and taking in the magnificent views of Registan, it was time to find for a room. We wandered down a nearby side street, peeking into a few places, until we found a hotel we loved at a great price.

One of the things we loved most about travelling through the Stans was this kind of freedom — arriving without rigid plans, going with the flow and booking places as we went. It made the whole journey feel wonderfully spontaneous.

Beautiful, quiet moments in Registan, Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Exploring Samarkand with Kids

For me, I could have spent hours at every one of these places — especially in Samarkand, where the scale and detail of the architecture is just incredible.

But by this point in our journey, the kids were starting to feel a little "bored of tiles".

After Khiva and Bukhara, there had already been a lot of tiles, a lot of history, and a lot of old buildings — and while we were still completely in awe, they were beginning to lose interest.

I tried to convince them with “just one more incredible madrasa”… but it didn’t quite have the same effect.

That said, Samarkand is still very doable with kids — it just helps to pace things a little more, mix in breaks, and not try to see everything all at once.

Wandering Shah-i-Zinda

Shah-i-Zinda: Worth Finding Early

Shah-i-Zinda was the place I had been most looking forward to — and somehow, we didn’t find it until our last day.

If I could do one thing differently, it would be to come here first.

It’s incredibly beautiful. A long avenue of mausoleums, each covered in intricate blue tiles — some bold and vibrant, others soft and weathered with time. There’s a quiet, almost sacred feeling here that makes you slow down without even realising it.

If you’re visiting, I’d highly recommend going early in the morning, before the crowds arrive. Take your time, wander slowly, and really take it all in.

Like many sites in Uzbekistan, it’s important to dress conservatively.

It’s easy to reach by taxi, and absolutely worth the extra effort — just don’t leave it until your last day like we did.

Gur-e-Amir: The Tomb of Tamerlane

Another highlight was Gur-e-Amir, the final resting place of Tamerlane.

The intricate detail of both the exterior and interior was completely mesmerising — elaborate mosaics, patterns, and incredible craftsmanship. Despite its immense scale and grandeur, there was still a strange sense of calm within the space.

Even the kids could feel that this was a place of importance, and there was tiny little markets hidden inside that kept them happy and entertained.

Is Samarkand Good for Kids?

Absolutely!

While it’s bigger and busier than Khiva or Bukhara, it’s still safe, welcoming, and surprisingly easy to explore as a family.

The wide open spaces around the major sights gave the girls room to move around freely, and the sheer scale of the architecture kept all of us in constant awe.

That said, if you’re travelling through multiple Silk Road cities like we did, it’s worth slowing the pace a little by the time you reach Samarkand. Museum and mosque fatigue is real — especially for kids.

Final Thoughts: Travelling the Silk Road with Kids

If Khiva feels like stepping into a storybook, and Bukhara feels like drifting through history… Samarkand feels like standing at the very heart of it all.

For us, it was the perfect way to end our journey through Uzbekistan.

If you’d like to follow our Silk Road journey from the beginning, start with our adventures through Khiva and Bukhara — both completely different from Samarkand, yet equally unforgettable.

One thing we hadn’t realised while planning our trip was just how close Tajikistan is to Samarkand. From here, you can take both one and two-day tours to the breathtaking Seven Lakes — something we hadn’t even considered before arriving.

As we already had our onward flights booked from Samarkand, time was limited, but the chance to cross into another country and experience an entirely different landscape was too tempting to pass up. So, with very little planning, we decided to join a one-day Seven Lakes tour departing the very next morning.

If we were to do it again, we’d definitely recommend booking in advance — especially if having an English-speaking guide is important to you, as our guide spoke no English. Booking ahead through companies like GetYourGuide also gives you more flexibility with tour options, guides, and departure availability, and we found prices online were surprisingly affordable.

To read about our unforgettable Seven Lakes tour through Tajikistan, click here.