“Tourism Review News,” a famous British news portal dedicated to tourism issues worldwide, recently published an article highlighting Uzbekistan’s top tourist destinations. The article is titled “Top 7 Little-known Tourist Destinations in Uzbekistan” and is published by Larry Brian, the journalist of the media portal.
The author states that Uzbekistan is only known for 3 major destinations, such as Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva; however, the country has a lot more interesting and fairly unknown tourist spots to offer. The suggested tourist destinations in Uzbekistan are not necessarily historical sights, but they cover unique cultural and natural objects of Uzbekistan that tourists come to discover.
Thus, the publication suggests other 7 tourist destinations in Uzbekistan, which are not on the “well-known” list for travelers visiting Uzbekistan. Larry Brian then describes each destination from his point of view, explaining to the audience why each city and sight in Uzbekistan suggested in the article is worth visiting.
The list covers such regions of Uzbekistan as Karakalpakstan, Zaamin National Natural Park, Shakhrisabz, Sarmishsay, Margilan, Kokand, and Qarshi.
According to the author, Karakaplakstan occupies almost the third of Uzbekistan’s overall territory. The author recommends Karakalpakstan for mainly 2 attractions it has to offer for visitors. The first one is the State Museum of Art, named after I. V. Savitsky in Nukus, where the largest collection of Turkestan and Russian modernism of the first half of the 20th century is presented. And the second one is the Aral Sea, which has almost completely dried up by today. According to the journalist, the Aral Sea has become a symbol of a world-class environmental catastrophe and a tourist attraction due to the same reason. Photographers worldwide visit Karakaplakstan and particularly the dried-up Aral Sea, where the ship cemetery in the former fishing port of Muynak with its apocalyptic landscape is formed. The electronic music festival called “Element” was also listed as another interesting event to make one visit Karakalpakstan.
Zaamin National Natural Park in the Jizzakh region of Uzbekistan is the second on the list suggested by the author. Zaamin National Natural Park is described as “Uzbek Switzerland” for its unique juniper forests and wildlife. The vegetation of the Natural Park consists of 700 species of unique plants, 13 of which are listed in the Red Book. The fauna of the Zaamin State Reserve, created back in 1968 to preserve its unique species, is very diverse, having such animals as bears and even snow leopards.The third recommended destination by the publication among the less known tourist destinations of Uzbekistan is Shahrisabz. Shahrisabz is a district-level city in the Kashkadarya region of Uzbekistan, which goes back to the 3rd century BC. Shahrisabz was the first capital of the Timurid Empire, where the world-known governor and conqueror was born. UNESCO has included the historic center of Shahrisabz into its World Heritage List due to the rich number of historical objects preserved in the city today.
The remaining list of the “Top 7 Little-known Tourist Destinations in Uzbekistan” included Margilan, Kokand, Karshi, and Sarmishsay. The author highly recommends those traveling to Uzbekistan visit these historical and cultural sites as they travel to the country, besides visiting Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva.
