Uzbekistan is one of the best-value destinations in Asia, but the money side of a trip here still confuses first-time visitors: the currency has a lot of zeros, cards work in some places and not others, and prices at the big monuments have been climbing fast. This guide covers everything we get asked about money in Uzbekistan — the som, exchanging cash, ATMs, realistic daily budgets, typical prices, tipping, and the handful of scams worth knowing about — with figures current as of July 2026.
The Uzbek Som: Currency and Cash Basics
Uzbekistan’s currency is the Uzbek som (UZS, sometimes written “soum” or “sum”). As of July 2026, 1 US dollar buys roughly 12,000–12,100 som, and 1 euro around 13,000–14,000 som (last checked: July 2026). The rate moves gradually rather than dramatically, but always confirm the current figure on the Central Bank of Uzbekistan website or a converter like XE.com before you travel.
The practical consequence of that exchange rate is that you will be handling thick stacks of banknotes. The largest note in common circulation is 100,000 som — under $9 — so withdrawing $200 can leave you with a wad of 20 or more bills. A quick mental shortcut helps: knock four zeros off a som price and you have a rough dollar figure (120,000 som ≈ $10).
A few ground rules for cash in Uzbekistan:
- Bring US dollars or euros to exchange. Dollars get the best rates and are accepted at every exchange desk; euros are nearly as good. Bring crisp, undamaged notes — torn or heavily worn bills are sometimes refused.
- Exchange at banks or official exchange offices. Since currency liberalisation, the official rate and the street rate are essentially the same, so there is no reason to use black-market changers. Banks, licensed exchange kiosks, and larger hotels all change money at close to the interbank rate, usually with no commission.
- Airport rates are fine. Unlike many countries, the exchange counters at Tashkent airport offer rates within a fraction of a percent of city banks. Changing $50–100 on arrival for the taxi and first day is sensible.
- Keep small notes. Taxi drivers, bazaar vendors, and small chaikhanas often can’t break a 100,000 note first thing in the morning. Hoard your 10,000 and 20,000 som bills.
ATMs, Cards, and the Cash-vs-Card Reality
Uzbekistan runs on two domestic card networks, Uzcard and Humo, which handle the vast majority of everyday payments for locals. As a visitor you can’t use these, so the question is how well Visa and Mastercard work — and the honest answer is: reasonably well in Tashkent and Samarkand, patchily everywhere else.
ATMs are the most reliable way to get som. Machines accepting Visa and Mastercard are common in Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva — look for those operated by Kapitalbank or the National Bank of Uzbekistan (NBU), which are the most consistent with foreign cards. Many are inside bank branches, hotel lobbies, and shopping centres. Expect a local ATM fee of roughly 1–3% on top of whatever your home bank charges (last checked: July 2026), and note that per-withdrawal limits are often the equivalent of $200–400, so a card with low foreign fees pays for itself here. Visa is noticeably better supported than Mastercard, both at ATMs and payment terminals; if you carry both, treat Mastercard as the backup.
Card payments work at upscale hotels, tourist-oriented restaurants, larger supermarkets, and airline/rail offices in the big cities. Everywhere else — bazaars, taxis paid in person, small guesthouses, teahouses, museum ticket windows in smaller towns — is cash territory. Contactless and Apple/Google Pay acceptance is growing in Tashkent but is not something to rely on.
Our working formula: pay for accommodation and train tickets by card where possible (trains can be booked online at Uzbekistan Railways with a foreign card), then carry enough cash for two or three days of food, taxis, and entrance fees. Never let your cash reserve run to zero outside Tashkent — a dead ATM in Khiva on a Sunday is a genuine possibility. For getting between cities without surprises, see our guide to getting around Uzbekistan.
Daily Budget Tiers: What a Day in Uzbekistan Costs
Uzbekistan remains cheap by international standards, though prices — especially entrance fees and hotels in Samarkand — have risen steadily since tourism took off. These per-person daily figures assume two people sharing rooms (solo travellers should add 20–30% for accommodation) and include lodging, food, local transport, and sightseeing, but not international flights or visas. Speaking of which, most Western passport holders now enter visa-free — details in our Uzbekistan visa guide.
| Budget tier | Per day (USD) | What it looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Backpacker | $30–45 | Hostel dorms or basic guesthouses ($10–18), chaikhana and bazaar meals ($2–5 each), metro and shared taxis, one or two paid sights per day |
| Mid-range | $60–100 | Boutique guesthouses with breakfast ($30–60/room), a mix of local and nicer restaurants, Yandex Go taxis, Afrosiyob trains, all the entrance fees you want |
| Comfort | $120–250+ | Four-star and heritage hotels ($80–180/room), best restaurants in town, private drivers or guides for day trips, business-class train seats |
A comfortable mid-range couple typically spends $130–180 per day combined. For a classic two-week trip covering Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva, budget roughly $500–650 per person as a backpacker, $900–1,400 mid-range, and $1,800+ for comfort travel — figures that line up with our 10-day Uzbekistan itinerary if you trim a few days.
Typical Prices in Uzbekistan (July 2026)
Here is what common tourist expenses actually cost right now. Entrance fees in particular have jumped sharply in the last couple of years — Samarkand’s headline sights raised prices by 30–50% in 2026 alone — so treat these as a ballpark (last checked: July 2026).
| Item | Price in som | Approx. USD |
|---|---|---|
| Plov at a local chaikhana | 25,000–40,000 | $2–3.50 |
| Dinner for two, mid-range restaurant | 250,000–400,000 | $20–35 |
| Tashkent metro ride | ~2,000 | $0.17 |
| Yandex Go taxi across Tashkent | 35,000–55,000 | $3–4.50 |
| Afrosiyob train, Tashkent–Samarkand (economy) | ~294,000 | ~$24 |
| Shared taxi between cities (per seat) | 60,000–150,000 | $5–12 |
| Registan entrance, Samarkand | 100,000 | ~$8 |
| Khiva Itchan Kala combined ticket | 100,000–150,000 | $8–12 |
| Hostel dorm bed | 120,000–180,000 | $10–15 |
| Boutique double room with breakfast | 400,000–750,000 | $33–62 |
| 1.5L bottled water | 3,000–5,000 | $0.25–0.40 |
| SIM/eSIM with generous data | 50,000–100,000 | $4–8 |
Two patterns to note. First, food is astonishingly good value: you can eat memorably for a few dollars if you stick to plov centres, shashlik grills, and bazaar canteens — our Uzbek food guide covers what to order. Second, accommodation is where the tiers really diverge; Samarkand and Bukhara have everything from $12 dorms to $200 heritage courtyard hotels, and picking well matters more than in most countries (see where to stay in Uzbekistan).
Tipping, Haggling, and Scams to Avoid
Tipping is not deeply rooted in Uzbek culture, and nobody will chase you down over it. Many restaurants — especially mid-range and upscale places — add a 10–15% service charge to the bill automatically, and in most cases that money goes to the house rather than your waiter. Check the bill first; if service is included, nothing more is expected, though leaving small notes for genuinely great service is appreciated. Where no charge is added, rounding up or leaving 5–10% in cash is generous. Taxi drivers don’t expect tips (round up to a convenient note if you like), and $5–10 per day is a fair benchmark for private guides and drivers.
Haggling is normal at bazaars for souvenirs, ceramics, textiles, and suzani embroidery — but it is a friendlier, lower-stakes sport than in Morocco or Egypt. Opening prices for tourists typically run 20–50% above what a vendor will accept, not 500%. Counter at around half to two-thirds of the asking price, keep it good-humoured, and settle somewhere in the middle. Food prices at bazaars are generally fixed or near-fixed; weigh-and-pay produce isn’t really negotiable beyond a friendly discount for buying more.
Uzbekistan is a notably safe, low-hassle country, but a few money scams and traps recur:
- Airport and station taxi overcharging. Drivers waiting at Tashkent airport or outside train stations quote 5–10x the fair price. Order a Yandex Go instead, or agree a firm price before getting in — a ride into central Tashkent should cost 40,000–70,000 som, not $25.
- The “no change” routine. A driver or vendor claims they can’t break your 100,000 note, hoping you’ll wave off the difference. Carry small bills and wait patiently — change usually materialises.
- Menu-less pricing. At a few tourist-area restaurants, prices appear only when the bill does. Ask for a menu with prices, or confirm the cost of shashlik (often priced per skewer) before ordering.
- Unofficial “guides” at monuments. Someone attaches themselves to you at the Registan or Itchan Kala, narrates for ten minutes, then demands payment. A polite, firm “no, thank you” at the start solves it.
- Counterfeit or short-count cash from street changers. There’s no rate advantage to street exchange anymore, so simply don’t use it — banks and licensed kiosks are everywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much money do I need for a week in Uzbekistan?
For a week covering Tashkent, Samarkand, and Bukhara, budget roughly $250–320 as a backpacker, $450–700 mid-range, and $900+ for comfort travel, per person excluding flights. Two people sharing rooms travel meaningfully cheaper per head than these solo-leaning figures suggest. Train tickets and entrance fees are the fixed costs; food is so cheap that it barely moves the total.
Should I bring US dollars or euros?
Either works, but US dollars are the most universally accepted and get marginally better treatment at exchange desks. Bring clean, newer-series notes in a mix of denominations. There is no need to bring huge amounts of cash if your cards work abroad — ATMs in the main tourist cities are dependable — but $200–300 as a buffer is wise insurance against card issues.
Can I rely on my Visa or Mastercard in Uzbekistan?
In Tashkent and Samarkand, mostly yes — for hotels, better restaurants, supermarkets, and ATM withdrawals. In Bukhara and Khiva, card acceptance is thinner, and in smaller towns it is close to nonexistent. Visa works more consistently than Mastercard. The sensible setup is one low-fee Visa debit card for ATM withdrawals, a second card as backup, and a standing habit of keeping two or three days of expenses in cash.
Is Uzbekistan cheap compared with its neighbours?
It sits comfortably in the middle of Central Asia. Daily costs are similar to Kyrgyzstan, cheaper than Kazakhstan’s big cities, and far cheaper than any comparable trip in Europe. Where Uzbekistan now costs more than you might expect is monument entrance fees — a sightseeing-heavy day in Samarkand can add $15–25 per person in tickets alone — and boutique hotels in high season (April–May, September–October), when the best places sell out and prices firm up.
Do prices change between high and low season?
Accommodation does: expect the popular guesthouses in Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva to charge 20–40% more in spring and autumn than in the scorching summer or cold winter months, and to require earlier booking. Food, transport, and entrance fees stay flat year-round. If budget matters more than weather, June and late November offer the same sights at the year’s lowest room rates.
Are there money-related entry rules I should know?
Cash amounts over the equivalent of $10,000 must be declared on arrival, and amounts up to what you declared can be taken out again. In practice, few travellers carry anywhere near that. Keep exchange receipts for very large transactions if you expect to re-exchange leftover som before departure; for normal tourist sums, changing your last som back to dollars at the airport is straightforward.
The Bottom Line
Money in Uzbekistan is simpler than its reputation suggests: exchange dollars at any bank, withdraw som from Kapitalbank or NBU ATMs, keep a cash buffer outside the capital, and enjoy some of the best-value food and sights anywhere on the Silk Road. Get the logistics right — trains booked early, small notes in your pocket, Yandex Go installed — and $60–100 a day buys a genuinely comfortable trip through one of the world’s great historic regions.
Featured image: Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Public domain) via Wikimedia Commons.
