With kids · Samarkand · Uzbekistan
Samarkand with kids
Family-tested sights, a calm base and the practical details that make travelling with children easier.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: Petar Milošević, CC BY-SA 4.0
.jpg){kind=link}
Quick answer
Samarkand works for families who pace the day around the heat: monuments in the morning, a long lunch and rest, then evenings on Tashkent Street or at the lit Registan. Children usually enjoy the bazaar tastings, the water-wheel paper mill at Konigil and the space of the Eternal City. Top picks: Siab Bazaar, Konigil silk paper workshop and Eternal City at Silk Road Samarkand. Families usually base themselves in Silk Road Samarkand.
Key facts
- Family picks
- 5
- Best area for families
- Silk Road Samarkand
- Rainy-day options
- 0
- Busiest months
- September–October
Best things to do with kids
Market · Siab Bazaar and Bibi-Khanym
1.Siab Bazaar
The city's main bazaar sits beside Bibi-Khanym and is where locals buy Samarkand bread, dried apricots, raisins, almonds, spices, halva and crystallised sugar (navat). Stallholders hand out tastes freely, and the bread section, with loaves stacked in prams and on tables, is the most photographed corner.
Go in the morning for the freshest bread and the liveliest trade; bargain politely for dried fruit and nuts.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Free
- Food
- Shopping
- Free
- Photo spot
- Kids
Experience · Konigil
2.Konigil silk paper workshop
In Konigil village about 10 km east of the centre, a craft workshop has revived Samarkand's medieval paper-making from mulberry bark, using a mill wheel turned by a stream. You can watch the bark being boiled, pounded and pressed into sheets, then browse paper, notebooks and dolls in a shaded garden by the water.
Combine it with the Silk Road Samarkand complex nearby; the workshop is easiest to reach by taxi.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Kids
- Off the beaten path
- Outdoors
- Shopping
Experience · Silk Road Samarkand
3.Eternal City at Silk Road Samarkand
Inside the Silk Road Samarkand complex, the Eternal City is a recreated walled old town with craft workshops, small museums, tea houses and costumed performances in the evenings. It is a modern reconstruction rather than a historic site, but it is popular with Uzbek families and gives children space to wander.
Visit around sunset and combine it with a stroll along the complex's canal-side promenade.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Kids
- After dark
- Shopping
Landmark · Registan and Old Town
4.Registan
Samarkand's old public square is framed by three madrasas: Ulugh Beg's (1417–1420), the Sher-Dor (1619–1636) with its mosaics of tigers chasing deer beneath sun faces, and the Tilya-Kori (1646–1660), whose mosque interior is covered in gilding. Former student cells around the courtyards now hold craft and souvenir shops.
Visit twice: inside the madrasas in the morning, then come back after dark to see the facades lit from the viewing platform for free.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Iconic
- Architecture
- History
- After dark
- Photo spot
Historic site · Chupan-Ata hill
5.Ulugh Beg Observatory
Timur's grandson Ulugh Beg built an observatory here in the 1420s, and his astronomers compiled a star catalogue of more than a thousand stars. It was destroyed after his death in 1449; in 1908 the archaeologist Vasily Vyatkin uncovered the curved underground trench of the giant meridian instrument. A small museum explains the work.
It is about 4 km north-east of the Registan; pair it with the Afrasiyab Museum and the Tomb of Daniel on the same taxi loop.
- Time needed
- 45 minutes
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Kids
- Off the beaten path
Where families should stay
$$$ · Best for families, luxury and quiet stays
Silk Road Samarkand
Opened in 2022, the Silk Road Samarkand complex on the city's eastern outskirts groups large international and Uzbek-brand hotels with pools, a congress centre, landscaped canal-side promenades and the Eternal City, a recreated old-town quarter with craft workshops. It suits families and travellers who want resort facilities, but the historic monuments are a taxi ride away.
- Good
- Pools and modern resort facilities; Close to the Konigil paper mill; Calm, landscaped grounds
- Watch out
- Taxi needed for the old town; Feels separate from everyday Samarkand
- Nearby
- Eternal City, Konigil paper mill
Family travel tips
- Avoid midday sightseeing from June to August; shade is limited at the monuments.
- Shah-i-Zinda has many steps and uneven paving, so a baby carrier beats a stroller.
- Uzbek families travel with children everywhere, and restaurants are welcoming to young diners.
- Plain plov, bread, shashlik and fresh fruit suit most children's tastes.
- Carry water and sun hats; kiosks with cold drinks are common near the main sights.
When to go with children
The best months overall are April–May and September–October. September–October are the busiest, so book the big sights early. Weather by month.
Questions travellers ask
+Is Samarkand good for kids?
Samarkand works for families who pace the day around the heat: monuments in the morning, a long lunch and rest, then evenings on Tashkent Street or at the lit Registan. Children usually enjoy the bazaar tastings, the water-wheel paper mill at Konigil and the space of the Eternal City.
+What can kids do in Samarkand?
Siab Bazaar, Konigil silk paper workshop, Eternal City at Silk Road Samarkand, Registan and Ulugh Beg Observatory.
+Where should families stay in Samarkand?
Silk Road Samarkand: Resort hotels, a rowing canal and the Eternal City complex on the eastern edge.