You'll be sure to spend lots of time shopping in Samarkand. Use our Samarkand Shopping Guide to find the best places to shop and best things to buy on your Samarkand holiday. Whilst the shops in Samarkand are cheap, exciting, and full of colors, smells, sights and sounds, you should plan a break and unwind in one of the exotic Samarkand restaurants. We also have some general information for shopping in Uzbekistan.

Samarkand Shopping Guide

The best place for shopping is without doubt Samarkand's bazaar. You can get almost everything here: fresh fruits, snacks, any delicious sweets and candy (honey, halvan). In the ancient part of the town you can find Siob bozora and Kritiy rinok situated in the centre of the town. If you look for souvenirs, you should visit one of the countless stalls in the madrassas. Almost every shop includes suzanni (embroidery, usually wall-hangings or cushion covers), small pottery or ceramic pieces, silk scarves, knives, rugs, musical instruments, and hats, paintings and ethnic textiles which are the most popular souvenirs of a visit to Central Asia.

Local Handicrafts

Tourists traveling in Central Asia can buy carpets made of wool and silk, silk dresses, articles made of wool, clay and jewellery. It is also possible to buy these items in the local bazaars. One must be prepared for bargain, however, as vendors in Uzbekistan are world renown for their bargaining skills. There are some restrictions and limits to export that can be provided upon your arrival. Small galleries are also very popular among tourists.

You will, however, need to be careful about the authenticity of the goods bought, especially silks. A lot of stalls in the bazaar will stock synthetic material and try to pass it off as silk. Also, the fabrics and textiles on display may not be the only ones available and you will have to ask for more variety to be shown. The silks here are expensive because of the highly sophisticated weaving process. The silks in wonderful Ikat hand weaves are beautiful, too, and the dresses and coats made from it can make a real impact.

The suzani textiles are famous and are a prime shopping attraction. These are large embroidered and appliquéd squares of fabric and are stocked by almost all the shops. A "babaichik" figurine or "tubeteika" traditional Uzbek cap can also be good souvenirs to take back home.

Most shops will have standard items on sale and display, such as silk scarves, knives, pictures, rugs, musical instruments or cheap beads. Those interested can also buy small pottery and ceramic pieces. The suzani of course remains the favourite buy; the various things that can be made from this fabric include embroidered cushion covers and wall hangings.

A mosaic picture depicting an Uzbek scene, pre-restoration pictures of the Tillya Kari Madrassa and thousands of other such items can be found at the various hajiras in the Ulug Bek Madrassa. On its left entrance, one can see young girls at work at the suzani, and it becomes evident that it is superior quality work display as the cushions are covered with beautifully worked silk stitches.

Varying quality commands different prices and it is not unusual to bargain or haggle over prices. Speciality stops include Ulug Bek Madrassa, for tea and stoneware, Gur-i-Amir Madrassa, for tiles, and the little former caravanserai between Ruchebad Mausoleum and Gur-i-Amir.

"Aiesha", the small oriental costume and textile workshop in Samarkand, gives tourists an opportunity to watch all the stages of natural silk production. Here you can see and get original, hand-made creations from legendary Samarkand, natural dyes, antique, hand-made lace trims, hand fashioned finest silks and cottons and painted batik, and exquisitely embroidered jackets.

The paintings of artists in the courtyard of the Bibi Khanum Mosque, arranged around the great marble Quran, detail watercolours of some of the exquisite tile-work on Samarkand's mosques and other monuments. These paintings come at very affordable prices and can serve as a very good memory of a visit to the Bibi Khanum Mosque.

Jewellery is unique and is made in the best of traditions. The jewellers' art, which acquired its ethnographic characteristics by the beginning of the nineteenth century, is seen in the wide variety of shapes, materials, technical methods and types of manufactured articles, and is one of the oldest established arts in Uzbekistan. Copper embossing is regarded as one of the most ancient applied arts in Uzbek culture.

Local dried fruits such as the coragha, prunes, raisins, dried figs, sun-dried melons, peanuts, walnuts, almonds and sesame seeds in sugary syrup make excellent presents. Shilajit is a gift with "magical properties" to take home, as it is known to be most potent rejuvenator and anti-aging substance. It is found predominately in the Himalayan region bordering India, China, Tibet and parts of Central Asia.

Shopping in Khiva

Near the Pakhlavan Gates in the Inner town of Khiva you will find Karavan Saray. It`s a great trade center which was built in 1833 by Alla Kuli Khan. It looks like medressah, but it`s surrounded by covered oriental market (tim) and became just a part of it. At first Karavan Saray existed not only as a market, but like a place where merchants could live, during their stay in Khiva, where they could keep their goods. Now you can buy there everything that will remind you about your amazing travel. Karavan Saray became the vitally important artery of the city, locked by the ring of fortress walls.

Shopping in Bukhara

There are three main covered bazaars in Bukhara which were constructed in Sheybanid times, they were renovated in Soviet period but they are still looks like historical monuments.
Taq-i Zargaron
In 1569-70 the largest of all existing arcades in Bukhara - Taq-i Zargaron, the cupola of jewelers, was built on the site of ancient Chorsu Bukhara, which is a magnificent building in its way. Here you can buy unique and beautiful Bukhara jewelry. Don`t miss the opportunity to make such unforgettable present for you or for your friends.
Taq-I Telpak Furushon
It`s market place with multidomed roof where you will find exclusive head-gear: the gold-embroidered and embroidered by beads skullcaps, fur caps and turbans.
Tak-i Saraffon
Trade dome of “moneychangers”. Under this cupola merchants sat with their handmade safes and small chests. Here you also can find embroidered skullcaps, white turbans, silver dishes, est.