Traveling from Tashkent to Khujand

Here’s my experience traveling Tashkent-Khujand-Tashkent in December 2023:

Bus Situation: Buses between the two cities are based in Khujand. If a bus doesn’t leave Khujand the day before, there won’t be one departing from Tashkent either. You can call ahead to check schedules:

• Tashkent bus station: +998 71 207 87 00
• Khujand organizers (Tajik numbers): +992 92 640 1616, +992 92 767 4200, +992 98 540 1616

In Tashkent, buses depart from the station near Olmazor Metro (also known as Almazar or Sabir Rahimov). The station is new and accepts bank cards.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a bus on my travel day, so I had to piece the journey together:

1. Tashkent to the Oybek Border: I went to Kuylyuk Market, where plenty of cars are available. A reasonable price to the border is 50,000 Uzbek sums per person, and the ride takes about 1.5 hours.
2. Currency Exchange: Before the border, I exchanged Uzbek sums for Tajik somoni with a money changer. This was the only exchange option I saw near the border. It’s easier to exchange rubles if you have them.
3. Border Crossing: The border crossing spans about 1 km. There were no significant queues. The Uzbek border guards asked about my registration in Uzbekistan (I had it), where I was heading, and what I was doing in Uzbekistan, but they didn’t give me a hard time. Tajik border guards didn’t ask anything—they just stamped my passport. Make sure to ask for a migration card at the Tajik side of the border! They sometimes “forget” to issue one, which they might use later to request a “fine” when you leave the country. Luckily, I wasn’t asked for one when leaving because I only stayed three days.
4. From Border to Khujand: On the Tajik side, I saw a porter with a motorized cart who can carry your luggage if needed. Taxi drivers were waiting just outside the border, but I didn’t see any money changers there. A fair price to Khujand is 25–30 somoni per person.Try to Befriend a fellow traveler, preferably a Tajik, who can negotiate with the taxi drivers for you. Walk a bit further from the border and flag down taxis that are already partially filled—this can save time compared to waiting for a full car at the border. The drive from the border to Khujand takes 1–1.5 hours. I paid 30 somoni to be dropped off in the city center.

Return Trip: Khujand to Tashkent

I took a bus for the return journey. Here’s what I learned:

• I called one of the Tajik numbers the day before to reserve a seat. The ticket cost 100 somoni, payable in cash.
• The bus departs from the taxi park in Khujand’s 17th Microdistrict: Google Maps link.
  There’s also a stop called "Krug" (also known as "Orom" or "Vodnik"): Google Maps link, where some passengers board.
• Departure Time: The bus was scheduled to leave the taxi park at 11 AM, but we ended up waiting for some latecomers and only left at 12:30 PM.
• Bus Quality: It was a large, comfortable bus, so no complaints there.

The border crossing on the return trip took the same 40 minutes. However, we had to wait an additional hour for Uzbek border guards to inspect the Tajik bus. Passengers waited under a canopy near a café and a mobile phone shop, with taxi drivers milling around nearby.

We arrived in Tashkent by 6 PM. The driver wasn’t familiar with the city, so we took a few wrong turns, causing some delays. The bus continued on to Kazakhstan, so it dropped passengers off along the way in Tashkent. To avoid issues, let the driver know in advance where you want to get off, or use a navigation app to guide them. I managed to get off near Pushkin Metro Station.

Thought I'd share my experience traveling from Tashkent to Khujand and back on September 12, 2023.

Tashkent to Khujand

1. Taxis to the Oybek border can be found at the Kuylyuk Market under the large bridge. Price: 50,000 UZS per seat.
2. After crossing the border, taxis are available to take you to a spot in Khujand called Rohi Abreshim. Price: 50 TJS.

Start time: 11:00 AM
Travel time: 4 hours (30 minutes waiting at Kuylyuk for the taxi to fill up). The border crossing was smooth with minimal queues, taking about 10 minutes.

Khujand to Tashkent

1. From Rohi Abreshim in Khujand, taxis head to the Oybek border. Price: 50 TJS.
2. Post-border, Uzbek taxis haggle fiercely. They refused to go below 50,000 UZS and eventually settled for 70,000 UZS to Kuylyuk Market.

Note: Spent an hour waiting for the taxi to fill up, but in the end, I opted for a solo ride for 150,000 UZS, which dropped me directly at home.

Start time: 10:00 AM
Travel time: 5 hours.
Minimal queues at the border, crossing time was around 10 minutes.

If you're heading from Khujand to Tashkent, here's a pro tip: get to the northern bus station (Abreshim) in Khujand first. Many shared vans operate there.

Shared vans to the Oybek border don’t leave from the station itself but from a small bridge right outside the exit. Fare: 50 TJS, departing once full.

Border crossing:
Queues can be slow, mainly due to disorganized processing and families with kids holding various passports.

On the Uzbek side, there’s a market. No official exchange offices were visible, but informal money changers are abundant.

Post-border tip: Ignore the aggressive taxi drivers quoting 250,000 UZS for a ride. Instead, walk 200–300 meters to the Bekabad-Tashkent highway stop. From there:

• Take a shared van to Buka (waited only 5 minutes; fare: 15,000 UZS).
• In Buka, transfer to a van heading to Kuylyuk Metro Station in Tashkent. Fare: 10,000 UZS.

Hi. Sharing my budget travel experience from Tashkent to Khujand.

Tashkent to Khujand

• From Tashkent’s Food City Market, bus #251 runs to Bekabad (operating 5:55 AM – 6:00 PM, every hour). Fare: 18,000 UZS to the Oybek border.
• To get to Food City, city buses are a convenient option, and Yandex Maps is a lifesaver for planning routes. Fare: 2,000 UZS.

Once at the border, I bypassed the taxi drivers and hitchhiked to Buston for 10 TJS. From Buston, I took a shared van for 13 TJS to Khujand’s Rohi Abreshim station. At Rohi Abreshim, there’s a hostel-like lodging with beds priced at 20–60 TJS. Exchange offices are available at the station, including ruble exchanges.

Khujand to Tashkent

On the return, I took a shared van from Rohi Abreshim to Buston for 13 TJS. In Buston, taxis to Oybek operate from a separate area (locals can guide you). Fare: 10 TJS.

After crossing the border, I avoided taxis again and hitchhiked to Tashkent for 25,000 UZS.

Here’s the latest update from the ground!

This morning, I followed rail1983’s tips:

• Took bus #45 from downtown Tashkent to Food City (stay on the bus until the market parking lot, even though most passengers get off earlier).
• Managed to catch the departing bus #251 to Bekabad. Fare: 18,000 UZS. The entire ride took 1.5 hours.

Border crossing:
Took about 20 minutes, including the walk across no-man’s land.

Post-border experience:
On the Tajik side, there’s a decent currency exchange booth within the checkpoint. Taxis quoted 50–60 TJS to Khujand, but I haggled down to 30 TJS for a ride straight to Panjshanbe, the city center. The taxi filled up quickly, so there wasn’t much waiting around.

In summary, left my hotel at 8:30 AM and was enjoying lunch in Panjshanbe by 1:30 PM.

I read somewhere that when traveling by bus between Tashkent and Khujand, you need to walk about a kilometer between border checkpoints. Is this true?

That’s correct, you’ll need to walk across the border zone

Hello!
Could you please tell me the most optimal way to get from Tashkent to Khujand?
Thank you!

There is a bus from Tashkent to Khujand operated by Asian Express, costing 100 somoni, It's a direct route.

Thank you! And where can I find its schedule? Maybe there’s a website?

In the morning, it leaves Khujand at 08:00 and returns from Tashkent in the evening at 18:00.
Departure is from the bus station located in the 16th microdistrict of Khujand. The final destination will be the Sabir Rahimov bus station in Tashkent. The travel time is approximately 4 to 4.5 hours.