Things to do in Almaty
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Almaty
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Spring awakening. Nauryz in late March, April mud and unstable mountain weather, and May among the best months.
Hot in the city and perfect in the mountains. Lakes and hiking at their best, with afternoon ridge thunderstorms.
The connoisseur window. Stable clear weather, harvest markets and apple festivals, and Charyn becomes a pleasure.
Ski season runs roughly December to March, but December to February inversions can trap severe smog over the city. November is the shoulder to avoid.
What's on
- Nauryz 21-22 March
The spring new year festival: yurt villages, national games, concerts, baursak and nauryz kozhe, with closures and crowds.
- Spirit of Tengri early summer, dates move
Ethno world open air festival anchoring the early summer music season. Verify the current year before timing a trip to it.
- Alma Qala apple festival autumn
Apple fairs celebrating the Aport and the region's wild apple heritage, with 200 plus tons of fruit at recent editions.
- Almaty Marathon late September
The marathon usually closes central streets for a morning. Run it or route around it.
Best things to do in Almaty
Panfilov Park
Shaded park holding the wooden Ascension Cathedral, the Memorial of Glory and the folk instruments museum.
Green Bazaar
The central market for horse sausage, kurt, honey and produce, with cheap mezzanine canteens upstairs.
Kok Tobe
Ride the gondola up for sunset over the whole tilted city, the TV tower and the Alatau wall behind it.
Panfilov Promenade
The pedestrian spine from the opera house to the Arbat, built for an evening stroll with coffee in hand.
Arasan Wellness & Spa
Soviet era bath complex with Russian, Finnish and hammam steam rooms, cold plunges and venik treatments.
Central State Museum of Kazakhstan
The one museum for a short trip, with Scythian gold and a replica of the Golden Man from the Issyk mound.
Abay Kazakh State Opera and Ballet Theatre
Full opera and ballet with a proper orchestra at prices far below a comparable night in Western Europe.
First President Park
Formal southern park whose main axis frames fountains and flowerbeds straight at the snow wall.
Where to stay in Almaty
The Golden Square (Zolotoy Kvadrat)
first trip, all-round base
Panfilov Promenade, the Arbat, the opera, the park and the bazaar are inside it, so taxis cost almost nothing.
Dostyk / Samal and the upper south-east
views, luxury and mountain access
Quieter, greener and cleaner aired, with Kok Tobe and the Medeu road at hand and the centre a short hop down.
Bostandyk / Al-Farabi corridor
luxury hotels, business and longer stays
Polished and calm around Esentai and First President Park, but a drive to dinner district for old city evenings.
Medeu / Shymbulak
ski or mountain weekend add-on
Sleep by the lifts for one or two nights, in exchange for 25 to 40 minutes to any city dinner.
The old centre north of the Square, toward Almaty-2 station
budget base, experienced travellers
Hostels and cheap apartments walkable to the sights, with scruffier late streets and worse winter air.
Think twice about
- North of Raiymbek Avenue toward Almaty-1 station, Sayakhat bus station and the industrial north
Low industrial side with rail yards, wholesale markets, heavy traffic, the worst winter smog and few restaurants.
- Airport / Turksib district and far western microdistricts such as Aksai and Zhuldyz
Not unsafe, just marooned: 45 to 60 plus minutes in traffic from the centre, with savings eaten by taxi fares.
- Unmarked upper-gorge and foothill addresses sold as mountain-view Almaty
Steep and icy in winter, sometimes beyond reliable late night taxi coverage or inside water protection rules.
Best restaurants in Almaty
AUYL
Ruslan Zakirov's neo-nomad kitchen cooking over open fire in a reimagined yurt complex in the Medeu gorge.
Yurta
Refined Kazakh cooking including smoked horse specialities, in a yurt referencing dining room in the city.
Tör
Intimate chef driven neo-nomad room working the flour, water and meat inheritance with tasting menu discipline.
Rifugio del Monte
Italian leaning luxury splurge and one of Almaty's best tables right now.
Akami
Japanese luxury splurge whose truffle shrimp appetisers were served at a society awards buffet.
Chaykhana Navat
Big good humoured chaikhana for plov, lagman, manti, shashlik and the horse beshbarmak reviewers praise.
Darejani
Almaty's favourite Georgian break, with khachapuri, khinkali, satsivi, Georgian wines and vegetarian rescues.
Tyubeteika
Ornate Uzbek restaurant built around plov, tandoor samsa, lagman and large sharing portions for groups.
Best coffee in Almaty
Sensilyo
Tiny own roast coffee shop known for the Raf and the cheese coffee reviewers evangelise.
JumpinGoat
Laptop friendly breakfast cafe of syrniki pancakes and oat cappuccinos, a top name in the review aggregates.
Outdoor things to do in Almaty
Charyn Canyon
A walkable red sandstone gorge with sculpted towers, best done on foot down to the Charyn River.
Kolsai Lakes
Emerald alpine lakes plus Kaindy, where a drowned spruce forest stands in turquoise water. Allow two days.
Big Almaty Lake
A turquoise reservoir at 2,511m in a bowl of peaks, paired with hot springs and gorge trails at Alma-Arasan.
Shymbulak Ski Resort
The flagship ski area, with pistes from 2,260m to the Talgar Pass and night skiing on selected evenings.
Medeu Skating Rink
Public skating at the famous 1,691m high mountain rink, plus the free 842 step climb up the dam beside it.
Ile-Alatau National Park
Bus access hiking to Butakovka waterfall, Gorelnik hot spring, Kok-Zhailau plateau and the Terrenkur path.
Zhailjau Golf Resort
Arnold Palmer designed 18 hole championship course in the foothills, a former Kazakhstan Open venue.
Nurtau Golf Club
Kazakhstan's first course, now 18 holes of parkland golf and the better value round of the two Almaty courses.
Best hotels in Almaty
The Ritz-Carlton, Almaty
The flagship hotel, on the upper floors of Esentai Tower with the Alatau filling the windows.
Swissôtel Wellness Resort Alatau
Resort style wellness estate in the foothills with serious spa and pools, and cleaner air than downtown.
Rixos Almaty
Grand hotel workhorse on the west of the Square, with 236 rooms and a 2,200 square metre spa.
InterContinental Almaty
Palace garden hotel with extensive grounds and the mountains as its garden wall.
Qazaq Auyl
Cottages a walk from the Medeu gondola, with lavish room delivered breakfasts and AUYL restaurant next door.
Hotel Kazakhstan
The 1977 crown topped icon itself, where mountain view upper floors give the best mid range panorama in the city.
Dostyk Hotel
Small, classic and quietly luxurious at mid range prices, within walking distance of almost everything.
Novotel Almaty City Center
Reliable international mid range rooms in the centre, a common base for tour pickups.
Is Almaty expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | KZT 20,000 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | KZT 50,000 a person |
| Splurge | KZT 110,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Arasan Wellness & Spa: a few days ahead
- Abay Kazakh State Opera and Ballet Theatre: a few days ahead
- Charyn Canyon: a few days ahead
- Kolsai Lakes: weeks ahead
- Big Almaty Lake: a few days ahead
- Shymbulak Ski Resort: a few days ahead
- Zhailjau Golf Resort: a few days ahead
- Issyk Lake: a few days ahead
- AUYL, Yurta and Tor weekend tables need days to a week.
- Kolsai and Kaindy two day tours and Charyn private cars sell out in May to June and September to October.
- Shymbulak ski weekends and New Year need margin for lifts, rentals, lessons and gorge road time.
- Abay Opera premiere and weekend nights, Arasan weekend rooms, and Zhailjau weekend tee times all need booking.
- Many nationalities get visa free short stays. Verify your passport terms and carry ID for Big Almaty Lake.
Is Almaty safe?
- The centre is walked late by everyone and violent crime against visitors is rare. Scams outrank crime as a risk.
- Watch traffic, winter ice, mountain weather and altitude. Talgar Pass is 3,200m, so take the top stage slowly.
- In December to February, check the AQI like weather, sleep uphill and use mountain days to rise above the smog.
- Give herds' guard dogs a wide berth, and flag allergies or alcohol before a bowl of kumis circulates.
- Dress modestly at churches and mosques, with a headscarf for women at the cathedral. Emergencies: 102 police, 103 ambulance, 112 general.
Almaty travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Airport taxi touts quote KZT 8,000 to 18,000 against KZT 2,500 to 4,500 by Yandex Go. Walk past and use the app.
- The one day Kolsai, Kaindy and Charyn mega tour runs about 17 hours with minutes at each lake.
- Kok Tobe hilltop food and souvenir pricing. Enjoy the view and eat in the Golden Square.
- Any driver promising Big Almaty Lake shore access, swimming or no checkpoint entry is selling what rules forbid.
- Green Bazaar pickpockets and short change at peak crush. Zip your bag and agree dried fruit prices per weight first.
- Shymbulak on a whiteout or inversion day is a gondola to a cloud. Check the resort live cameras before leaving.
- Esentai luxury pricing is real luxury pricing. Do not calibrate the cost of the whole city by it.
- The Central State Museum shows a Golden Man replica. The original is held in Astana.
Getting around Almaty: public transport and more
- Uphill means south toward the mountains. Higher is cleaner aired, pricier and better viewed.
- The one line metro threads the centre with grand Soviet stations. Walk the last stretch.
- Use Yandex Go for everything else, with inDrive as backup. Fares are upfront and cheap across the centre.
- Download 2GIS before you come. It is the map, bus and business listing app Almaty runs on.
- Buses are cheap with an Onay card from kiosks. Cash fares cost more and slow everyone down.
- Do not rent a car for the city. For the mountains, book a car with driver or a tour instead.
Who Almaty suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Almaty your trip
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