In the end, it turned out to be a great trip, pleasant driver, he took us everywhere, stopped whenever needed, even suggested some additional museums and the market.
Apparently that’s the standard package everyone offers there.

Total cost: $100 for the Lakes + Yandex taxi to Samarkand 140,000 soum + taxi back to Samarkand 150,000 soum.

There are plenty of cars standing there for the return trip to Samarkand.

So the total came to less than $125.

I recommend the independent option to everyone, and there’s no need to book anything in advance or pay deposits.

By 12:30 we were at the first lake. The whole road, of course, is dust and endless dust, even though we kept the windows closed most of the time and drove with the AC on. It felt like a layer of plaster was now on me and inside me. At 18:15 we were already back and sitting, waiting at customs for the car, with a queue of trucks heading toward Uzbekistan.

All in all, if I had read this kind of timing in advance, I probably wouldn’t have gone anywhere. Or you need to find a car directly in Tajikistan, but one that will 100% go all the way to the 7th lake. Because many are only taken to the 6th, and then the car can’t go further and people walk on foot — we saw some of them today.

So that’s the kind of review it turned out to be )))) it’s beautiful there, no arguing with that, but there’s a lot of time wasted along the route, and a lot of roadside dust swallowed. I wouldn’t recommend my acquaintances and friends to go to the Seven Lakes by car from Uzbekistan even once.

At 19:00 we crossed the border, the driver gave 20,000 on that side and they let him go ahead of the trucks in the oncoming lane. Still, we waited exactly an hour anyway, luckily there’s a café on the Uzbekistan side, we had some coffee).

And if you go on your own, after crossing the border in Tajikistan drivers offer 100$ per car. You can confidently bargain it down to 80$.
Usually they take you up to the 6th lake. To the 7th lake they go by SUVs or you have to walk. Take the weather into account — in wet conditions you shouldn’t go, you won’t make it. Right now the last lake is frozen, and it’s a 500 m walk to it, there are streams on the trail, so don’t wear fabric shoes.

To give you a clearer picture of my journey: I went to what’s known as the Kaftarxona “bus station” in Samarkand, which is more of a busy road with various buses and taxis. I took a marshrutka to the border for 20,000 som ($1.75). From the border to Panjakent, I would have paid the usual fare of 20 somoni ($1.85) for a shared taxi, but since I didn’t have any somoni yet, the taxi driver accepted 25,000 som ($2) instead.

Now, while the title of this thread is about a day trip to the Seven Lakes, I’d recommend considering an overnight stay in Panjakent. It only takes a couple of hours to get there from Samarkand, and staying overnight would allow you to have a more relaxed experience. Plus, you’d keep a good rapport with the hotel owner.

I booked my stay at the Umariyon hotel for June, but I made the reservation back in March and mentioned my interest in visiting the Seven Lakes. When I arrived, the owner recognized me and offered to arrange a local taxi driver to pick me up at 9 AM the next day. This way, I had ample time for photos and hiking from Lake 6 to Lake 7, which was fantastic! We returned to Panjakent by 4 PM, just as planned. The total cost for the taxi was 870 somoni (around $80).

The driver was great, even though he didn’t speak any English. We communicated through gestures and laughter, and he even showed me pictures of himself swimming in Lake 6 with other tourists. The hotel experience was excellent as well; the owner was incredibly accommodating.

So, to sum it up, my total expenses came to $80 for the taxi, about $7.35 for transport at the border, and $22.50 per night for the hotel, which totals around $109.85. You could argue that the hotel cost doesn’t really count since you need a place to stay before the trip anyway.