AttractionsUzbekistan builds tourism infrastructure on the Silk Road.

Splish, splash, Samarkand has a great new attraction

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Waterland is a family-friendly aqua park at Silk Road Samarkand.
Waterland is a family-friendly aqua park at Silk Road Samarkand.

Silk Road Samarkand in Uzbekistan, Central Asia’s largest tourist complex, has opened Waterland, a family-friendly aqua park.

Admission is free to anyone staying in the eight hotels currently at Silk Road Samarkand.

Silk Road Samarkand is situated on 260 hectares and opened two years ago. It sits in the outskirts of UNESCO World Heritage-listed Samarkand, a city known for its outstanding architecture, historic areas and landscapes.

Silk Road Samarkand includes 5-star and 4-star hotels with almost 1,200 rooms. There is also an international congress centre, an expo centre, parks, sports arenas, 30 restaurants, bars, cafes and nightclubs.

During its second year of opening, significant developments at Silk Road Samarkand include:

  • Hilton Hotels & Resorts rebranding three hotels as Hilton Samarkand Regency, Hilton Garden Inn Samarkand Afrosiyob and the Hilton Garden Inn Samarkand Sogd.
  • New bars, cafes and restaurants offering a range of dining options, plus new banqueting space for up to 500 guests;
  • Shops offering traditional oriental sweets made by a fourth-generation family, alongside craft workshops for handmade ceramics, jewellery and accessories;
  • The Koran Museum, a small facility built in traditional Islamic style to house manuscript editions of the Koran that have been collected from all over the Islamic world, together with other scientific and Islamic literature of cultural significance;
  • A 300-metre-long karting track for karting enthusiasts.

New infrastructure and facilities in the city include Samarkand International Airport, which is connected with international flights across central and south-east Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

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