Uzbekistan's southernmost city sits right on the Afghan border, where the Amu Darya marks the line between the two countries. Termez is one of the hottest cities in Central Asia — summer temperatures routinely hit 45–50°C — and one of the least visited by travellers, which is genuinely a shame.
The area has been continuously settled since the Bactrian period in the first century BC. Buddhist monasteries and cave complexes, a sprawling ruined city at Old Termez, and the Sultan Saodat Mausoleum Complex all testify to the layered civilisations that have passed through. This was a crossroads on the ancient Silk Road, and you can feel that history in the landscape. The Termez Archaeological Museum, Central Asia's first purpose-built archaeological museum, brings together the finest objects recovered from all these sites.
More recently, Termez served as the main Soviet staging post during the occupation of Afghanistan — the Friendship Bridge over the Amu Darya was one of the last crossings Soviet troops used when they withdrew in 1989. The city still has a frontier feel, part Uzbek, part military, with a slow pace that is very different from Samarkand or Tashkent. The highway between Russia and Afghanistan runs straight through.
Getting here requires some effort — either a domestic flight from Tashkent or a long train ride — and you will need to show your passport more often than elsewhere in Uzbekistan. But for travellers interested in antiquity and the old Soviet south, Termez rewards the detour.