Centre
First-timersGuesthouses and hotels within walking distance of the Savitsky Museum and the main bazaar.
Nukus city guide
Things To Do In Nukus
A remote desert city holding one of the world's great collections of banned Soviet art, and the base for the ship graveyard on the vanished shore of the Aral Sea.
4
Hostels in the city
9.9
Average, from 45 reviews
Tens of thousands
Of works saved
3 h
To Moynaq
3 h
To Khiva
The museum in the desert
Nukus is the capital of Karakalpakstan, an autonomous republic in the far west of Uzbekistan, on the edge of the Kyzylkum desert. On its own it is a quiet, low-rise Soviet city. What brings people here is the Savitsky Museum, where the artist Igor Savitsky gathered tens of thousands of avant-garde works that were banned in Moscow and hid them about as far from the authorities as he could get.
Nukus is also the base for Moynaq, three hours north, where rusting fishing boats lie in the sand on what used to be the shore of the Aral Sea. The sea's collapse is one of the worst environmental disasters of the last century, and seeing it for yourself is sobering.
Give it two days: one for the museum and the necropolis at Mizdakhan, and one for Moynaq. Add a night if you want to reach what's left of the sea itself.
Where to stay
Stay in the centre, near the museum.
Orange labels are neighbourhoods, dots are the 4 top-rated hostels. Map data from OpenStreetMap contributors.
Things to do
Things to do in Nukus
Start at the Savitsky Museum, the reason most people come. Its collection runs to more than 100,000 objects: Russian and Uzbek avant-garde paintings that Soviet censors wanted gone, plus Karakalpak jewellery, carpets, costumes and finds from the ancient desert fortresses. A renovation in 2025 turned the third floor into a new gallery. It is open 9am to 6pm and closed on Mondays. Foreigners pay 100,000 som (about €7), students 80,000. Give it at least half a day.
Take a taxi 20 km west to Mizdakhan, near the town of Khodjeyli. It is a hilltop necropolis that has been used for more than two thousand years, with crumbling mud-brick mausoleums, the restored twelfth-century underground tomb of Mazlum Khan Sulu, and the ruins of the ancient city of Gyaur Kala beside it. Agree a return price, with waiting time, before you set off.
On the road towards Khiva, about 40 km south of Nukus, Chilpik is a ruined Zoroastrian tower of silence on a hill above the Amu Darya river, where the dead were once left for vultures. It is a short climb for a wide view over the desert.
Spend a day in Moynaq for the ship graveyard and the Aral Sea museum (see Day trips), and finish at the central bazaar near the bus station, the busiest place in town.
Free things
Free things to do in Nukus
Nukus doesn't have much that is free, so time your visit if you can. The Savitsky Museum is free on the first Sunday of every month, which saves you 100,000 som.
The central bazaar, by the bus station, is the liveliest place in the city and costs nothing to wander. Look for qurt, the hard balls of dried sour yoghurt, and the stalls of Korean salads, a legacy of the Koreans deported to Central Asia under Stalin.
At Mizdakhan your main cost is the taxi. Once you're there you can walk the whole hill and the ruins of Gyaur Kala at your own pace.
Food and drink
Eating and drinking in Nukus
Karakalpak food sits between Uzbek and Kazakh cooking. Expect plov, lagman noodle soup, samsa pastries baked in a tandoor, and beshbarmak, boiled meat served over flat noodles. Shashlik grills open in the evening.
The bazaar is the best place to eat cheaply and to try qurt, sour dried yoghurt balls, and the Korean-style carrot salad sold all over Central Asia.
Restaurants are few and close early, so eat at your guesthouse if it serves dinner. In Moynaq there is almost nothing, so take food and water with you. A meal in Nukus costs €3 to €6 (about 40,000 to 80,000 som).
Nightlife
Going out in Nukus
Nukus has no nightlife to speak of. Evenings mean a long dinner at your guesthouse or a teahouse, and an early night if you are leaving for Moynaq in the morning.
Beer is sold in some restaurants and shops, at €1.50 to €3. If you want bars, save them for Tashkent.
Getting around
Getting around Nukus
Nukus Airport has flights to Tashkent that take about 1 hour 45 minutes. The overnight train from Tashkent takes about 17 hours. The new high-speed line to Khiva does not reach Nukus.
Khiva is about 200 km south, roughly three hours by shared taxi from the bus station, crossing the river at Urgench.
For Moynaq, a minibus leaves the bus station at 9am (arrive by 8:30, it fills up) for about 20,000 som and comes back at 3pm. A taxi for the day costs around $60 to $70 and lets you stay for sunset. Around town, taxis are cheap and the centre is walkable.
Costs
What Nukus costs
Nukus is cheap. A careful day costs €20 to €30, plus 100,000 som (about €7) for the Savitsky Museum.
The Aral Sea is the big expense. The minibus to Moynaq is about 20,000 som each way, a taxi for the day is around $60 to $70, and a two-day 4x4 tour to the shore with a yurt camp starts at about $440 for one person. Share it with other travellers and the price per head drops a lot.
The currency is the som (UZS): about 13,700 to the euro, paid in thick bundles of notes. Bigger hotels take cards, but bring cash for taxis, the bazaar and Moynaq.
Safety
Staying safe in Nukus
Nukus is safe and people are friendly. Your accommodation registers you with the authorities; keep the registration slips, as they can be checked when you leave the country.
The climate is extreme. Summer days reach the mid-30s°C and the desert road to Moynaq has little shade, so carry water. Winter nights drop well below freezing.
Emergency: 102 police, 103 ambulance, 101 fire.
Day trips from Nukus
Most people come to Nukus for the Aral Sea. You can see Moynaq in a long day; the shore itself needs a night.
Moynaq
Rusting fishing boats on the dry seabed, a memorial above where the shore used to be, and the Aral Sea museum (30,000 som, closed Mondays).
Aral Sea camp
The water is now around 80 km past Moynaq, reachable only by 4x4. Tours stop at the Ustyurt plateau and sleep in a yurt camp by the shore.
What's on
What is on while you are there
The Stihia music festival has been held at the Moynaq ship graveyard.
Some summers
Stihia
Moynaq
Electronic music at the ship graveyard.
21 March
Navruz
Nukus
The spring new year.
Hostels
Where to stay in Nukus
The top-rated places to stay in Nukus right now, live from Hostelworld.
When to go
Go in April and May or September and October. July and August are very hot, and winter is bitterly cold.
Jan
Cold
Feb
Cold
Mar
Navruz
Apr
Spring
May
Excellent
Jun
Hot
Jul
Very hot
Aug
Very hot
Sep
Excellent
Oct
Excellent
Nov
Cool
Dec
Cold
Bar height is temperature. Colour is how busy it gets:
quiet
busy
peak
Average highs.
What your trip will cost
Pick how you travel. Per person per night, in euros.
Prices are in som locally; these are euro equivalents. Excludes the Aral Sea trip.
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- Beds—
- Food and drink—
- Getting around—
- Doing things—
Nukus travel questions
The ones we get asked most.
What is the Savitsky Museum?
One of the world's largest collections of Russian avant-garde art, gathered by Igor Savitsky from artists banned in Moscow, alongside Karakalpak crafts and archaeology. Foreigners pay 100,000 som, and entry is free on the first Sunday of each month.
How do I see the Aral Sea?
Visit Moynaq, three to three and a half hours north, for the ship graveyard and museum. The water itself is around 80 km further, so you need a two-day 4x4 tour with a night in a yurt camp.
Can I do Moynaq without a tour?
Yes. A minibus leaves Nukus bus station at 9am and returns at 3pm, for about 20,000 som. A taxi for the day costs about $60 to $70 and gives you more time.
How do I get to Nukus?
Fly from Tashkent in about 1 hour 45 minutes, or take the overnight train, which takes about 17 hours.
How far is Khiva?
About 200 km, roughly three hours by shared taxi.
Is Nukus worth the detour?
If you care about art or want to see the Aral Sea disaster up close, yes. Otherwise most travellers go straight from Bukhara to Khiva.
How many days do you need?
Two: one for the museum and Mizdakhan, one for Moynaq. Add a night for the sea shore.
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