Why Germany Is Falling for Uzbekistan: Inside Europe's Fastest-Growing Silk Road Love Affair

Stand in Berlin's Alexanderplatz on a grey autumn evening and, ten times an hour, the Registan appears — turquoise domes glowing gold against a screen twelve stories up, while beneath it Berliners hurry past in scarves and umbrellas. For a few seconds, Samarkand is closer than the S-Bahn. It is working: in the first quarter of 2026 alone, more than 5,200 German citizens flew to Uzbekistan — nearly 50% more than the same period a year earlier — and by mid-year that number had climbed past 22,000. Germany is no longer a curiosity on Uzbekistan's visitor charts. It is one of its fastest-growing markets, and the Silk Road is returning the affection.

Why German travelers are booking Uzbekistan now

The surge is not an accident of advertising alone, though the advertising has been hard to miss — Uzbekistan's Tourism Committee and its Berlin embassy placed the country's landmarks on nine digital screens across Berlin and ten across Düsseldorf, racking up hundreds of daily views per screen throughout the year. It is backed by substance: Uzbekistan hosted the UN Tourism Ministers' Summit in Berlin in March 2026 alongside ITB Berlin, the world's largest travel trade show, and followed it with a presence at Austria's Ferien-Messe Wien. UN Tourism itself named Uzbekistan among the fastest-growing destinations on earth, with international arrivals up 37% in the first quarter of 2026 — a statistic German and Austrian trade press picked up and ran with. For travelers weighing where the Silk Road's turquoise domes, caravanserai courtyards and centuries-old bazaars are still uncrowded, the answer keeps pointing east.

Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva: the DACH bucket list rewritten

What German-speaking travelers find when they arrive matches what the billboards promised. Samarkand's Registan Square — three madrasahs facing each other across a square built for emperors — remains the single image most associated with the Silk Road anywhere in the world. Bukhara's old town is small enough to walk end to end in an afternoon, dense enough with minarets, domed bazaars and centuries-old trading houses to fill three days. Khiva's Itchan Kala, a walled inner city preserved almost in full, is the closest thing Central Asia has to a living open-air museum. Since May 2026, reaching Khiva has gotten dramatically easier: the new Jaloliddin Manguberdi high-speed train links Tashkent to Khiva directly in around 7.5 hours, cutting a leg that used to require a flight or an overnight drive down to a comfortable half-day by rail — a detail that matters enormously to German travelers, for whom efficient, well-run train travel is practically a national value.

Getting there and getting around has never been simpler

Uzbekistan now allows visa-free entry for citizens of more than 90 countries, and where a visa is still required, the e-visa process at e-visa.gov.uz typically takes about two business days. Domestically, the Afrosiyob high-speed train connects Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara in under two hours per leg, and the Khiva extension means the full classic Silk Road route — Tashkent to Samarkand to Bukhara to Khiva — can now be done comfortably by rail from end to end. For German and Austrian travelers used to well-organized infrastructure, this is one less thing to worry about, and one more reason 2026 is the year to go rather than wait.

Plan it properly, with people who live here

GoUzbekistan is a licensed Uzbek tour operator (Committee for Tourism Development license No. 662280) built by a team that has run ground operations in the country since 2007. We design private and small-group Silk Road itineraries around what German travelers consistently ask for: precise scheduling, comfortable transport between cities, English- and German-speaking guides, and hotels that meet Western standards without losing the character of the old towns. Whether you want a tightly planned week through Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva or a longer route into Tashkent and the Fergana Valley, our team handles logistics end to end so you can focus on being somewhere extraordinary.

Ready to see what's pulling so many German travelers eastward? Create your own custom tour or explore our ready-made Uzbekistan tours to find your route through the Silk Road.

Plan your Uzbekistan trip — in your language

العربية

تشهد أوزبكستان إقبالاً متزايداً من السياح حول العالم، وطريق الحرير التاريخي بمدنه سمرقند وبخارى وخيوة يفتح أبوابه لكل زائر يبحث عن التاريخ والجمال الأصيل. احجز جولتك المخصصة مع GoUzbekistan واكتشف سحر آسيا الوسطى. ابدأ رحلتك الآن

Deutsch

Deutsche Reisende entdecken Usbekistan in Rekordzahlen — und das aus gutem Grund. Eine Seidenstraße-Rundreise durch Samarkand, Buchara und Chiwa verbindet jahrhundertealte Architektur mit bequemer moderner Zugverbindung. Planen Sie jetzt Ihre individuelle Usbekistan Reise. Reise jetzt planen

Español

Uzbekistán se ha convertido en uno de los destinos de más rápido crecimiento del mundo. Un viaje por la Ruta de la Seda te lleva de Samarcanda a Bujará y Jiva, entre mezquitas turquesa y bazares centenarios. Descubre nuestros viajes a Uzbekistán a medida. Explora los tours

Français

L'Ouzbékistan attire chaque année plus de voyageurs en quête d'authenticité. Un voyage sur la Route de la Soie relie Samarcande, Boukhara et Khiva, entre dômes turquoise et places monumentales. Laissez GoUzbekistan organiser votre voyage en Ouzbékistan sur mesure. Créer mon voyage

中文

乌兹别克斯坦正成为全球增长最快的旅游目的地之一。丝绸之路之旅带您走进撒马尔罕、布哈拉与希瓦,探索绿松石穹顶下的古老巴扎与历史广场。立即定制您的乌兹别克斯坦旅游行程。开始定制行程

Русский

Узбекистан переживает настоящий туристический бум — и не зря. Туры в Узбекистан по Шёлковому пути соединяют Самарканд, Бухару и Хиву, а новый скоростной поезд делает маршрут ещё удобнее. Забронируйте индивидуальный тур с GoUzbekistan уже сегодня. Смотреть туры