Popular ways to get to the second city of Tajikistan from its capital.
Shared taxi
The most common and affordable way to travel between these cities is by shared taxi. Local Tajik drivers gather passengers at the “Chobor” Passenger Terminal. Taxis to Panjakent also depart from this terminal. You can reach it by taking bus #3 or #3A from Rudaki Avenue.
In the morning, just head to the terminal, and the drivers will find you. 😊
How it works:
Drivers (often competing with one another) call out “Khujand” and invite you to put your luggage in their car. Once you’ve done this, you’re informally “claimed” by that driver, and others won’t approach you anymore. Then, you wait for the car to fill up with passengers.
Depending on the vehicle, they’ll collect either 4 passengers (for a 5-seater car) or 6 passengers (for a 7-seater). Once the car is full, the journey begins. The trip usually takes just over 5 hours, but the waiting time for other passengers is usually the longest. On one occasion, a driver took almost 2 hours to gather 4 passengers. It all depends on the flow of people.
Negotiate the price! Drivers typically start at 200–250 somoni, but a good price is 120–150 somoni. This depends on your bargaining skills.
Choose your driver carefully. Avoid those who seem like reckless speeders. The road is challenging—307 km of serpentine curves with no guardrails. A single meter of error can be life-threatening.
The driver will usually take you to the main bus station in Khujand. However, they might drop you off closer to the city center if it aligns with their route.
Plane
There are direct flights with a flight time of 45 minutes, but they do not operate daily.
When flying, you’ll land in Chkalovsk, not Khujand itself. From there, you’ll need additional transport to reach the city. A taxi will cost around 40-50 somoni, while a minibus (marshrutka) is much cheaper.
Train
This is a rather lengthy and inconvenient option, taking almost a full day. Tickets cannot be purchased online. I don’t know anyone who has used this method of travel, and to be honest, there are doubts whether it’s even feasible.
Bus
According to the Instagram account of Asian Express, buses on the Dushanbe-Khujand route are currently not operating
Have a wonderful trip! Information on how to return from Khujand to Dushanbe can be found here.
