Ahead of our visit, I had absolutely no idea what to wear in Uzbekistan as a female traveller.
I hadn’t met anyone else who had been to the country, nor did I know much about the weather or cultural rules when it came to dressing appropriately.
My confusion only increased when I checked the weather for our week-long visit in October. With temperatures ranging from 6 degrees at night to 23 degrees in the day, I began panic packing my entire wardrobe; throwing in fleeces and summer dresses, a rain jacket alongside a summer hat.
My suitcase was bursting.
Pin for later – Female Packing List for Uzbekistan
As it turns out, what to wear in Uzbekistan as a female traveller is actually pretty straightforward. Although Uzbekistan is a Muslim country, they are much more relaxed than other practicing countries – particularly in the capital Tashkent.
In fact, the hardest thing about what to wear in Uzbekistan is actually down to the country’s unpredictable weather – and its huge variations in temperatures.
Below, is a guide to what to wear in Uzbekistan if you’re a female traveller. Please note that this guide is designed for those visiting Uzbekistan in spring or autumn, when the weather is mild.
If you’re visiting in summer or winter, expect a very different packing list – with soaring or plummeting temperatures, dependent on the season.
Do you have to dress conservatively as a female tourist in Uzbekistan?
As a Muslim country, female tourists should dress modestly in Uzbekistan.
Having said this, however Uzbekistan is far more relaxed in terms of dress compared to other Muslim countries that we’ve visited such as Jordan and Morocco. Indeed, during our travels in the country, our guide told us that Uzbekistan chose to put its society before religion, meaning people are valued before beliefs.
Walk the streets of Tashkent, and you’ll be met with a metropolitan city brimming with different nationalities and cultures. A true melting pot, you’ll see every outfit under the sun as you explore the city.
Having said this, dressing modestly is still important as a tourist and you should endeavour to cover your knees and shoulders where possible.
What to Wear in Uzbekistan: Complete Packing List for a Female Tourist
1. Long Skirts or Dresses
As Uzbekistan is a Muslim country, covering your knees as a female traveller is important. I therefore packed plenty of long skirts and dresses, similar to those I have taken to Morocco and Jordan. During the day, these turned out to be perfect (paired with a denim jacket) and allowed me to keep cool while also being respectfully dressed when visiting places of worship.
The majority of public toilets in Uzbekistan are drop toilets, so I recommend avoiding jumpsuits or anything that is tricky to navigate. For this reason, long skirts and dresses were ideal for quickly hoisting up and avoiding any wet, questionable toilet floors.
2. Pack Plenty of Layers
As mentioned, the mornings and evenings in Uzbekistan can be distinctly chilly, whereas daytime temperatures can easily build to mid-twenties. Packing plenty of layers is a must and we suggest you plan your outfits in terms of being able to shed layers as the day goes on.
At the beginning of the day I would wear:
- T-shirt
- Jumper
- Denim Jacket
- Jeans/midi-skirt
- Pashmina (to keep me warm during the early mornings and to cover my head when visiting mosques).
By lunchtime, I was usually down to just a t-shirt and skirt but I would then need to start layering up again by 4pm. The evenings are much colder in Uzbekistan, so I would then swap a skirt for a pair of jeans or jumpsuit if we were going out for dinner.
3. Headscarf or Head Covering
Although you won’t be expected to cover your head generally in Uzbekistan as a woman, you will need to if you’re visiting a mosque or religious site. We did find that most places offered a headscarf if you’d forgotten to pack one but in most places you did have to pay for these. For the sake of popping a pashmina around your neck before leaving the hotel for the day, we recommend you bring your own, (it also feels a lot more hygienic).
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Aside from covering my head, I found a pashmina very handy as an extra layer in the mornings or evenings, when things got colder.
4. Warm Jumpers
For a week in Uzbekistan, we recommend packing 2 warm jumpers that you can easily squish into your bag as the day gets warmer. I actually used my jumpers much more than I thought I would in Uzbekistan and I was very grateful for them during our 4 or 5am get-ups to catch the train.
5. Raincoat
If you’re visiting Uzbekistan in spring or autumn, we recommend packing a light raincoat (that can also fit a warm jumper underneath it). During our visit, we were lucky enough to have blue skies most days but there was one afternoon where we experienced heavy rain, which also made it feel much colder.
To avoid lugging around a big coat in your luggage, we suggest investing in a small, roll-up rain jacket that can easily fit in your day bag.
6. Comfortable Shoes (and ones to keep you warm at night)
Expect to be getting your steps in during a visit to Uzbekistan. During our week in the country, we averaged around 20,000 steps a day, so comfortable shoes are a must when planning what to wear in Uzbekistan.
I packed two pairs of trainers, sandals and a pair of “smart” boots for the opera in Tashkent. In retrospect, there wasn’t really any need to pack the sandals and I actually only wore them once in the end. It was actually far too cold to wear the sandals in the morning or at night, and so I recommend sticking to shoes that cover your toes and will keep you warm at night.
Added to this, with most of the public toilets being squat toilets, having shoes that protect your feet against questionable splashes is also advised.
Looking for walking/hiking boots? Read our guide to the best colourful walking boots for 2025.
The comfiest travel sandals for Uzbekistan
I recently invested in a pair of Air & Grace, Gala: Black Two Bar Back Strap Sandals and can honestly say they are the comfiest travel sandals I have ever come across. They are made from incredibly soft leather and can guarantee your feet remain blister free as you explore Uzbekistan.
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7. Jeans & Comfy Trousers
I was a little worried that I wouldn’t wear the jeans I’d packed for Uzbekistan but they actually came in handy in the evenings and on rainier days. In fact, with temperatures only reaching 25 degrees (at most) during the day, I could have happily worn jeans and a t-shirt throughout the entire trip.
Obviously, with plenty of train travel in Uzbekistan, some comfier trousers with an elasticated waistband are probably more comfortable than jeans on travel days.
8. Sun Cream, Sun Hat and Sunglasses
During the peak of the day in October in Uzbekistan, we needed to apply sun cream and wear a sunhat. This was particularly so when touring the many monuments of the Old Silk route, which don’t offer much in the terms of shade. In fact, most of the key sites in the cities are vast, gleaming squares that also seemed to double-us as as sun traps for the unsuspecting tourists.
A pair of sunglasses is also an essential packing list item for Uzbekistan, with the country offering bright sunshine, glittering mosques and deep blue skies in both spring and autumn.
Luggage That’s Easy to Transport
If you’re planning on moving around Uzbekistan by train (we highly recommend doing this), make sure you bring luggage with you that is easy to transport on and off the busy trains.
We learnt the hard way that trying to drag an extremely heavy suitcase up small steps on a train is very stressful, especially when we had to lift them to the storage lockers above our heads. In retrospect, we could have packed a lot lighter and gotten away with more train-travel friendly luggage.
- A fashionable and space-saving womens Travel Backpack cabin size which fits under the seat. It can hold laptops up to 13", serving as a convenient option for weekend trips too.
- Features an easy access top pocket for purses, sun glasses, phones and travel documents.
- Fits the Ryanair 40x20x25cm' free' underseat hand luggage rules. Flies for free on all other known airlines. Lightweight design weighs just 0.6kg.
- 20L internal capacity. Comfortable padded airmesh back panel and straps. Showerproof external shell with metallic detailing and eco-leather ID holder
- 3D packing pockets, water bottle holder and strap on the rear panel to combine effortlessly with rolling luggage.
We have been singing the praises of the Travel Hack range by Cabin Max Store for years, and would highly recommend the backpack for everyday hand luggage (you can fit so much in it) and the cabin case or hybrid case.
Read our review of The Travel Hack backpack
Toiletries
In terms of what toiletries to pack in Uzbekistan, there isn’t anything other than the usual you may wish to consider. We found that all of our hotels offered shower gels and soap but the quality was vastly different, and so I recommend bringing your own shampoo and face wash.
During our time in the city, as group of 16 women, around 5 of us suffered from an upset stomach. Rather than down to food poisoning, this was likely the result of the incredibly rich food. For this reason, we suggest packing your usual tummy settlers and Imodium to protect you from any dodgy bathroom visits on a long train journey.
Electronic Packing List for Uzbekistan
1. What Adaptor Do You Need for Uzbekistan?
If you’re visiting Uzbekistan, you will need to pack a European adaptor. We had no issues using our universal adaptors out there, and would recommend investing in one of these rather than individual adaptors for various countries.
The outlets in Uzbekistan are types C and F. The standard voltage is 220 V and the standard frequency is 50 Hz – this seemed to work fine with our hair straighteners (always an important point to note!)
2. Phone Powerbank
It goes without saying that a powerbank should be the key staple to any packing list. During our whistle stop tour of Uzbekistan, we were constantly on the go, either on a train or in a different hotel room, and I probably used my power bank more than usual on a trip. Although the train’s were brilliant and had plugs available in all classes of carriage, I found it easier to charge using my power bank, leaving my phone in my bag as I snoozed on the train.
3. Wide Angle Lens
If you’re into your phone photography, make sure you buy a wide angle lens for your phone before heading to Uzbekistan. With many of the iconic squares surrounded by breath-taking, vast buildings, a wide-angle lens is useful in helping capture the full atmosphere of the sites.
4. Phone Lanyard Neck Strap
I add the humble phone lanyard to any country’s packing list now, purely as it has been such a game changer for me when it comes to capturing content on my travels. When visiting a country with dazzling mosques and buildings around every turn, the last thing you want to be doing is having to grab your phone from your bag every minute.
A phone lanyard keeps your hands-free, yet lets your phone be within easy reach when you stumble across another beautiful spot to photograph.