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Almaty

Apple-Tree Avenues Under the Snowy Tien Shan

Plan this trip
3 daysIdeal stay₹3,780From / night₹1,680Food / day₹740Entry

Kazakhstan's largest city and where the flights from India land: Air Astana flies here non-stop from Delhi and Mumbai, about 3.5 to 4.5 hours. Leafy Soviet-era avenues run uphill to the Trans-Ili Alatau, whose snow peaks stand over the city. Panfilov Park with the wooden Ascension Cathedral, the Green Bazaar, the Central State Museum and the Kok-Tobe cable car fill a day; Medeu, Shymbulak and Big Almaty Lake are half an hour into the mountains, and Charyn, the Kolsai lakes and Altyn-Emel are long day trips or overnight tours. The city has several Indian restaurants, and Yandex Go taxis are cheap.

Highlights

  • Panfilov Park and the wooden Ascension Cathedral
  • Green Bazaar: dried fruit, kurt and horse-meat stalls
  • Kok-Tobe cable car at sunset
  • Central State Museum
  • Arbat street and the cafés of Abay Avenue
  • Medeu and Shymbulak half an hour away
  • Day trip to the Tamgaly petroglyphs

Things to do

  • Panfilov Park, Ascension Cathedral and the Green BazaarMorning · 3h
  • Kok-Tobe cable car and the city viewEvening · 2h
  • Central State MuseumAfternoon · 2h
  • Arbat and First President's ParkAfternoon · 2h
  • Kazakh dinner: beshbarmak, baursak and kumys to tryEvening · 2h
  • Day trip to the Tamgaly petroglyphsMorning · 7h
  • Almaty Central MosqueMorning · 1h
  • Museum of Kazakh Folk Musical Instruments in Panfilov ParkAfternoon · 1h
  • Main Botanical Garden of AlmatyMorning · 2h
  • Arasan baths: Russian, Finnish and Turkish steam roomsAfternoon · 2h

Tours & tickets

Tours & tickets in Almatyvia GetYourGuideTours & tickets in Almatyvia Klook

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When to go

Best time: April – June, September – October

Heads up

Winter Smog in Almaty

On still winter days smog from coal heating settles in Almaty's valley and the mountains disappear. Head up to Medeu and Shymbulak, above it, on the clear days, and check the air quality if you have asthma.

Heads up

Nauryz Holidays (21-23 March)

Nauryz, the spring new year, brings yurt villages, concerts and feasts to every city on 21-23 March. Offices and some museums close, and trains, flights and hotels fill with Kazakhs travelling home: book ahead.

  • Nauryz (Spring New Year) — Kazakhstan's biggest holiday, at the spring equinox: 21-23 March are public holidays. Yurt villages go up in the squares, families cook nauryz kozhe (a seven-ingredient soup), and there are concerts, horse games and fairs; Turkistan and Shymkent celebrate hardest. Offices and some museums close, and trains and flights home are full.
  • Kurban Ait (Eid al-Adha) — The feast of sacrifice, a public holiday on its first day; it moves about 11 days earlier each year (mid-May in 2027). Mosques and the Yasawi mausoleum in Turkistan are crowded with families; some shops and offices close.
  • Republic Day — Kazakhstan's national day on 25 October, a public holiday since 2022: flags, concerts and fireworks in Astana and Almaty. Government offices and some museums close.
  • Independence Day — Independence Day on 16 December, a public holiday, with concerts and events in Almaty and Astana. Almaty also remembers the December 1986 protests on Republic Square.