6 reasons to visit Khiva, Uzbekistan

This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).

The Silk Road city of Khiva in Uzbekistan is often described as a living museum. Well-preserved cobbled streets, clay mosques and majestic fortress walls evoke the spirit of the Silk Road and its caravans, which once passed through in great numbers. This year, Khiva fought off competition from the likes of Abu Dhabi, Lagos in Nigeria and Urfa in Turkey to be named 2024 Tourism Capital of the Islamic World. The decision was made by the 57 countries that belong to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), an intergovernmental organisation that’s striven to be the collective voice of the Muslim world since the 1960s. The OIC has a history of choosing lesser-visited destinations such as Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, and Gabala, in Azerbaijan, for this annual award, helping to boost their tourism development and visibility significantly. Here’s why 2024 is the time to visit Khiva. 

1. UNESCO-listed architecture

Khiva’s Itchan Kala, the walled city, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the best preserved and most impressive destinations on the Silk Road. Founded some 2,500 years ago, this open-air museum is a labyrinth of streets lined with dozens of intricately decorated monuments, most of which date from the 14th to the 19th centuries. Khiva’s architectural highlights include the 185ft-high Islam Khoja Minaret, with its alternating rings of glazed blue tiles and sand-coloured bricks; the 160-room Tash Khauli Palace, built for 18th-century ruler Allah Kuli Khan; and the simple yet exquisite Juma Mosque, the roof of which is supported by 213 elm columns, each carved by a different craftsman.

2. Links with historical figures

Legend has it that Khiva was founded by Shem, one of the sons of Noah, the Old Testament prophet best known for his ark. What’s more easily verifiable by historians, however, is the city’s connection to important characters from the medieval world. The ninth-century polymath Al-Khwarizmi, who’s often described as the father of algebra and gives his name to the scientific term ‘algorithm’, was born here, as was Pahlavon Mahmud, a poet and wrestler whose superhuman strength is still famous from Turkey to India, even 800 years after his death. Inevitably, there are villains in the city’s long history, too: Khiva was conquered by both Genghis Khan and Nadir Shah, a powerful but brutal ruler of Iran.

Itchan Kala was founded over 2,500 years ago and is one of the best preserved sites along the Silk Road.

Photograph by Tuul & Bruno Morandi, Getty Images

3. Diverse cultural programmes

With a backdrop as dramatic and historic as the Itchan Kala, it’s no surprise Khiva hosts festivals and other cultural events throughout the year. Highlights of the annual programme include Navruz (or Nowruz), the traditional Persian-Turkic New Year, which is observed on 21 March, the spring equinox; the International Lazgi Dance Festival, a celebration of an elegant traditional dance form inscribed by UNESCO on its Intangible Cultural Heritage list; and the appropriately named Pahlavon Mahmud Strongmen Games, where athletes from around the world compete in extreme strength challenges such as lifting atlas stones and dragging huge anchors.

4. Preservation of cultural heritage

Khiva was the first UNESCO World Heritage Site in Central Asia, and great efforts have been made to preserve the city’s historic centre. It’s no mean feat to balance residents’ demands for modern conveniences with UNESCO’s conservation requirements. The whole of the Itchan Kala is now car-free and, during the pandemic, local authorities took advantage of the lull in tourism to bury all electricity cables and water and gas pipes underground, and to repave the previously uneven streets with attractive flagstones. Many of the smaller monuments have been sensitively converted into handicrafts workshops and bazaars, as well as cafes, restaurants and hotels, with the rental income from these businesses paying for the upkeep of this precious historical area.

Every year Khiva hosts and celebrates Navruz on the historic site of Itchan Kala with dancing, singing and theatrical performances.

Photograph by Roberto Gabriele, Alamy Photo

5. Unique places to stay

Visitors to Khiva are spoilt for choice when it comes to accommodation options, which vary from family-run guesthouses to the four-star Farovon Khiva Hotel. But if you’re looking for cultural authenticity and charm, the best places to stay are boutique properties in and around the Itchan Kala. Orient Star Khiva Hotel set a trend for the conversion of madrassas (Islamic universities) into simple heritage hotels, and the still faintly monastic ambience of hotels such as Muso To’ra and Feruzkhan is quite something to experience. If you prefer a little more luxury, however, Singaporean media personality Timothy W Go opened his first hotel, Hotel Bankir Khiva, here in 2023. Timothy has a flair for interior design, and the roof terrace has panoramic views of the Itchan Kala.

6. Ease of visiting

Uzbekistan has stripped back its bureaucracy in recent years and more than 90 nationalities — including all UK and EU passport holders — can now enter the country visa-free for up to 30 days. You can fly direct from London to Tashkent, Uzbekistan’s capital, three times a week with national carrier Uzbekistan Airways; or you can route via Istanbul and land at Urgench in western Uzbekistan, in which case the airport is just a 25-minute drive away from Khiva. British tour operators such as Wild Frontiers and Trotting Soles offer small group and tailor-made tours, and as English is increasingly widely spoken, particularly among Uzbekistan’s youth and those working in the tourism sector, communicating with locals in Khiva is easy, too.

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