A visit to Navoi usually combines city and nature. Within the city you can walk around Alisher Navoi Park, the central square with late-Soviet monuments, modern mosques and local museums explaining how the region’s industrial base was built.
The most popular excursions include:
• Sarmishsay Gorge:
about 40–50 km away towards the rocky foothills of the
Kyzylkum desert, famous for thousands of petroglyphs.
• Ancient caravan routes of the Zarafshan valley:
historical routes linking oases towards
Bukhara and, further east,
Samarkand.
• Local religious complexes:
regional mausoleums and shrines linked to Sufi saints,
still visited by pilgrims today.
Many travellers book a car with local driver from Navoi to visit Sarmishsay at an easy pace, take photos of the dark, volcanic landscape and return to the city on the same day. If you’d like an English- or Spanish-speaking guide, contact us via contact.
Unlike age-old cities such as Samarkand or Bukhara, Navoi is a modern creation: it was officially founded in 1958 during the Soviet era, planned as a strategic industrial city in the centre of the country. Its name honours the great poet and statesman Alisher Navoi, a key figure in Chagatai / Turkic-Persian literature.
However, the fact that the city is young does not mean the area is young. The Zarafshan River corridor and the steppes along the edge of the Kyzylkum desert have seen caravans, nomadic herders, Persian armies, Timurid routes and later Russian railway lines. In the surroundings you can still find ruins, rural mausoleums, old dams and traces of earlier settlements.
Today Navoi is a symbol of both the Soviet and post-Soviet phases of Uzbekistan: wide, planned streets, straight avenues, residential block districts and then —after independence— a transition towards modern infrastructure, parks, universities and investment zones.
Less than an hour by road from Navoi lies Sarmishsay (also written Sarmish-Say or Sarmish Gorge), a narrow canyon where dark volcanic rocks are covered with thousands of rock engravings. It is estimated that there are more than 4,000 petroglyphs.
These engravings show hunting scenes, human figures, wild animals, solar symbols, riders and even ritual representations. Some scholars date them back to the Bronze and Iron Ages, making Sarmishsay one of the most important rock-art sites in Central Asia.
Walking through the gorge is impressive: the silence of the semi-desert, the smell of dry herbs, black rock formations and carved drawings telling stories from thousands of years ago. It is open-air archaeology, with no glass cases — carved directly into the stone.
Practical tip: bring water, a cap or scarf and comfortable trekking-type shoes. In summer it gets very hot and there is almost no natural shade. Ask about the best time of day to visit (usually early morning or late afternoon).
Navoi is one of the major economic engines of Uzbekistan. It concentrates strategic industries: mining and metal processing (including gold and uranium in the wider region), heavy chemical industry, construction materials and large power plants.
The city also hosts one of the country’s first Free Economic Zones, designed to attract foreign investment and technology, and an important cargo airport. This makes Navoi a key logistics hub between the historic cities of Bukhara and Samarkand.
Visiting Navoi helps you understand the present and future economy of the region. Here you clearly see the transition from the classic Silk Road to the new international logistics routes: freight trains, warehouses, refineries, thermal power stations and exporting companies.
For travellers interested in industrial tourism, it is fascinating. If you only want blue domes, maybe not so much. But if you want an HONEST view of how Uzbekistan works today, Navoi is pure gold.
With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Navoi combines wide Soviet-era residential districts with new green areas, schools, mosques, monumental statues and modern cafés. It does not have the medieval atmosphere of Bukhara, but it does have a very authentic everyday energy.
The central bazaar is a must: freshly baked tandoor bread, meat-filled samsa, local plov, walnut and honey sweets, spices from the Zarafshan valley and dried fruit from the country’s interior. People shop here for their homes, not for tourists.
In the afternoon, families stroll through the city parks, children ride their bikes, and students sit on low benches with ice-cream or cold tea. It is the modern version of Uzbek hospitality: direct, curious, unfiltered.
If you smile, say “rahmat” (thank you in Uzbek) and show interest in the city, it is quite common for people to ask where you are from.
Navoi is located between Samarkand and Bukhara, right in the central corridor of Uzbekistan. This means it is relatively easy to include it in a classic itinerary around the country.
• By train: Rail lines connect Navoi with
Tashkent,
Samarkand and
Bukhara. It is the most comfortable
and stable option for mid-range distances.
• By road: Private transfers or shared taxis link Navoi
with the main historic cities in just a few hours.
• By air / cargo: Navoi’s airport is mainly a cargo hub,
but depending on the season there may be useful domestic connections
for travellers.
To visit Sarmishsay and other nearby rural areas, the best option is to hire a car with driver. These are semi-desert interior roads: easy, but without tourist-oriented public transport.
Do you want to add Navoi between Samarkand and Bukhara, stop at Sarmishsay for an archaeological detour and then continue west or south towards Karshi? Write to us via contact and we’ll set it up with a Spanish-speaking guide if you wish.
The area around Navoi is very close to the Kyzylkum desert, so get ready for very hot summers and dry air. On excursions such as Sarmishsay always bring water, a cap, sunscreen, closed shoes and, if possible, light long sleeves to protect you from the sun.
In winter it is colder than you might expect, especially at night: bring warm layers if you travel between November and February.
Culturally, Uzbekistan is a very hospitable country and Navoi is no exception. In active religious sites (local mosques, regional mausoleums) respect the dress code: shoulders and knees covered, low voice, and ask before photographing people who are praying.
Would you like an itinerary that combines the classics (Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva) with this more contemporary face of Uzbekistan that Navoi represents, plus real desert landscapes? Get in touch — we’ll build it to fit your plans.
