Cooking Class with Local Family

Join a Samarkand cooking class, connect with locals, and explore hidden gems. Experience authentic culture and create lasting memories.

Duration: 5 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • H3CF+29X - Ready to dive into the rich culture of Samarkand? As you enter this historic Silk Road city, get set for an extraordinary journey beyond the usual tourist attractions. Here’s your opportunity to experience life like a local:
  1. Siyob Bazaar: (Closed on Monday). Start your day at Siyob Bazaar, the vibrant core of Samarkand. Wander…
What's Included
  • Bottled water
  • In-vehicle air conditioning
  • Lunch
  • Dinner
Meal Options
  • Soup or Plov or Dumplings - foods with ingredients including vegetables and meat/ no meat.

  • Jam or Juice - we can provide jam or juice made of fruits and completely natural.

  • Samsa - dough with meator pumpkin or potato inside

Additional Information

Spending a day with a local family during your visit to Samarkand offers a truly unique and enriching experience:

  1. Authentic Insights: You’ll gain authentic insights into the local culture, traditions, and daily life. It’s like peeking behind the scenes and discovering what makes a place tick.
  2. Personal Connections: Interacting with locals…
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.9
(15 Ratings)
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1 star
Carolorange
Nov 5, 2025
Recommend the experience - Ive been loving uzbek cuisine during my travel and wanted to learn how to create those dishes back home. I wasnt sure which experience to pick in Samarkand and very glad i chose this one. I booked a little last minute but Akkran was still able to accommodate a lunch class and was flexible with market tour logistics. He gave me a lot of dish options to choose from for learning. The cooking instruction was driven by his wife and was as hands on as I wanted it to be and the food turned out great. I feel like i really learned authentic Uzbek home cooking! It was also interesting to visit his house in the outskirts of Samarkand where the cooking instructions are held and meet some of his lovely family members. Overall im happy with the experience and i could tell that he cares about creating a great experience for the customers
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Abdurpatel
Nov 1, 2025
Authentic Uzbek cooking experience - Akram and his family are lovely hosts. Had a great experience with some lovely food prepared and ate. Communications with Akram was efficient.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Giulia_b
Sep 22, 2025
It was a very great... - It was a very great experience, we cooked tipical dishes with both vegan and with meat options. Our host was great!
Review provided by Viator
Marco
Aug 7, 2025
Cooking and dining culture experience with Akram and his warm young family - Akram picked us up at the hotel by car; he drove us around town to the Bazaar and also to a very important local carpet factory without ever forcing it, but always asking if we would like to visit one thing over another. After a short trip we arrived at his house in the outskirts of Samarkand (a tour that alone is already worth the experience to see the reality of the city and not only the center) where we were warmly welcomed by his wife and one of his small children (who kept us company all day, but without ever disturbing). We got to cook delicious local food as agreed in advance and besides having fun we learned something about the local cuisine, but also about the Uzbek culture and people. The warmth, smile and helpfulness of Akram and his family is the number one experience we bring home from this unforgettable trip. All this was simple from the beginning thanks to Akram’s familiarity with English who like many locals also speaks Russian. P.S. Akram in addition to cooking knows very well the city and the history of the country and facilities and is available to accompany you where you want. Really GOOD 👌🏼
Review provided by Tripadvisor
P3229ekdavide
Aug 6, 2025
An authentic experience and a delicious meal - I had a wonderful experience with Akram at his home. He and his wife coached me through the steps of making samsa and manti and we followed it up with a delicious lunch that I'd had a hand in making! They were warm and generous and it was very nice to get a small taste of village life in the area around Samarkand. Samarkand is exceptionally beautiful but it can also feel like you're very much in a tourist bubble. Akram took me out of that bubble and provided a memorable and authentic experience. He was also very good at tailoring the experience to suit my schedule and needs.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Raysont2025
May 29, 2025
Very hospitable host with authentic experience - Thank you Navruz for spending the whole day with us. You are a very hospitable person and our experience in Samarkand was truly authentic with your accompaniment. Highly recommended!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sohael
Apr 11, 2025
Wonderful experience - Akram was a wonderful host and we had so much fun on this cooking class! He and his wife welcomed us into their home, we were greeted with a huge table of food, tea and sweets, then they showed us how to make two Uzbek dishes (vegetarian for us). They were delicious! We got to know more about Uzbek culture and met some of his friends and family too, who were all super welcoming and friendly. He even gave us a gift at the end. Thank you Akram!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mark_a
Mar 21, 2025
A real Uzbek experience - This was a great way to see how people outside the obvious tourist destinations in Uzbekistan really love. Plus we got to make some traditional food and it was delicious! Akram, our guide, was fantastic - interesting and interested. Highly recommended!
Review provided by Viator
Famigliaallen
Mar 8, 2025
A great introduction to Uzbek family life and food. - This is a great way to get a feeling for family life and food in Uzbekistan. Akram and his family made us feel so welcome and showed us how to prepare plov and manti and the result was more delicious than the restaurant versions we had while in Samarkand. Akram is very knowledgeable and his English is excellent, and although his wife Roxshana is just beginning to learn English she made us feel so welcome, even when we were failing miserably to follow her simple manti-making directions. A really interesting day with great food and one which will stick in our memories much more than any restaurant meal ever will.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sucoa
Mar 2, 2025
100% Recommended - Akram and his family were extremely kind!!! It was a very nice experience not only regarding cooking uzbek food but also to share the uzbek culture!! 100% recommended.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $63
up to 15 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).