Nukus has an international airport (IATA: NCU) with regular flights to Tashkent, the main hub for international connections. Uzbekistan Airways operates the main services; the flight from Tashkent takes about two hours. There are also occasional flights to Moscow. The airport is about 10 kilometres from the city centre and taxis are the standard way to get there.
By train, the Tashkent to Nukus route takes around 20 hours and runs across the Kyzylkum desert. The overnight train is the standard traveller's choice: reasonable comfort, dramatic landscape, and you arrive in Nukus early morning having saved a night's accommodation. Booking in advance through Uzbek railway booking services is recommended in summer.
Shared taxis also operate between Urgench — the nearest large city, about 100 kilometres away and better connected — and Nukus, taking around two hours. Urgench has its own airport with flights from Tashkent.