Things to do in Almaty
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Biskvit
Another great coffee house, marginally smarter than Coffeedelia, with arguably the best coffee in town. Good for breakfast too.
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Namaste
This small, tranquil restaurant does excellent Indian, Thai and Chinese food - great for vegetarians.
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Panfilov Park
Located between Gogol and Qazybek Bi, this large and popular rectangle of greenery, first laid out in the 1870s, is focused on the candy-coloured Zenkov Cathedral, Almaty's nearest (albeit distant) rival to St Basil's Cathedral. Designed by AP Zenkov in 1904, the cathedral is one of Almaty's few surviving tsarist-era buildings (most of the others were destroyed in the 1911 earthquake). Although at first glance it doesn't look like it, the cathedral is built entirely of wood (including the nails).
Used as a museum and concert hall in the Soviet era, then boarded up, it was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1995 and has been restored as a functioning place of…
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St Nicholas Cathedral
The pale turquoise Nikolsky Sobor, with its gold onion domes, stands out west of the centre near the corner of Qabanbay Batyr and Baytursynuly. The cathedral was built in 1909 and later used as a stable for Bolshevik cavalry, before reopening about 1980. It's a terrifically atmospheric place, like a corner of old Russia, with icons, candles and restored frescoes inside and black-clad old supplicants outside.
For the best impression visit at festival times such as Orthodox Christmas Day (7 January) or Easter for the midnight services.
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Yubileyny
Hats off to the bloke who introduced tortilla-wrapped doner kebabs to Almaty. Long lines form all day for these tasty creations, stuffed with meat, sour cream, sliced carrot and French fries, served out front of the large supermarket here. There's plov too, to take away or eat in the cafeteria areas either side, which also do good coffee, great doughnuts and self-serve meals. The perfect zone for easy food on the go.
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Zelyony Bazar
Stalls at this large central market are piled with nuts, fresh and dried fruit, smoked fish, vegetables and enormous hunks of fresh meat. You can get kumys (fermented mare's milk) and shubat (fermented camel's milk) here too. Cafés overlooking the action will serve you a bowl of laghman, tea and bread for less than around T300.
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Soho
Expats and local friends and colleagues pack Soho every night for tankards of beer, international food and crowded dancing to the excellent resident rock/blues band. It's got a sort of urban/global theme, with lots of pictures of New York mixed in with flags for every nationality - one place that never lacks atmosphere.
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Kishlak
This atmospheric Uzbek restaurant near Respublika alanghy is decked with vines and bamboo and offers some low chaikhana-type tables with cushions and optional hookahs. The salads, shashlyk and fish dishes are all great. There's a dance show on Friday and Saturday nights.
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Printsessa Turandot
A reasonably priced Chinese restaurant at the side of the Auezov Theatre, popular with locals and a few foreigners. Vegetarians will like the clay-pot-baked tofu and eggplant dishes. If it's too cold on the large terrace, the red and gold wallpaper inside will help warm you up.
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Coffeedelia
Almaty's best and trendiest coffee house, with a relaxed atmosphere, fabulous cakes and pastries, a range of good coffees, teas and juices, and free wi-fi internet. On weekend evenings it morphs into a pre-party gathering spot, with DJs providing the sound on Fridays.
reviewed
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Cuba
This Mexican/Russian restaurant is Almaty's Latin music hotspot with live bands whipping up a great atmosphere from 22:00 to 01:00 Thursday and midnight to 03:00 Friday and Saturday. For Friday and Saturday you need to book a table by about 18:00.
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American Bar & Grill
The burgers (around T790) are the best in Almaty and there's a big American, Tex-Mex and Italian choice, in a ranch-style interior with good rock/jazz/swing music. The wooden outdoor annex is packed in summer.
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Central State Museum
The city's best museum stands 300m up Furmanov from Respublika alanghy. The Central State Museum takes you through Kazakhstan's history from bronze-age burial mounds to telecommunications and the transfer of the capital to Astana, with many beautiful artefacts. A large replica of the Golden Man stands in the entrance hall.
The downstairs rooms cover archaeological finds and early history up to Jenghiz Khan (with models of some of Kazakhstan's major monuments); the ethnographic display upstairs features a finely kitted-out yurt and some beautifully worked weaponry and horse and camel gear, plus musical instruments and exotic costumes going back to the 18th century. The…
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Arasan Baths
At the Arasan Baths you can choose from Russian (Russkaya), Finnish (Finskaya) and Turkish (Vostochnaya) baths, the latter with three different temperatures of heated stone platforms plus a plunge pool. Each part has men's and women's sections. Take along soap, a towel and some thongs (flip-flops) for walking around in. Go with a friend or two and you'll find it's an enjoyable and truly relaxing experience. If you don't have any bathing gear handy, there's a shop in the lobby.
Sellers with veniki (bunches of oak and birch leaves) wait outside, if you fancy stimulating your circulation with a good thrashing. Built in the early 1980s in a modernistic Soviet style, this is…
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Respublika Alanghy
This broad ceremonial square at the high southern end of Almaty, created in Soviet times, is a block uphill from Abay. The focal point is the attractive Monument to Independence. The stone column is surmounted with a replica of the Golden Man standing on a winged snow leopard, and is flanked at its base by fountains and two bas-relief walls depicting scenes from Kazakhstan's history.
Overlooking the square from the south is the neoclassical-style city government building and, at the southeast corner opposite the Central State Museum, a large official Presidential Residence (Furmanov 205). You can reach the square on bus No 2 or 63 or marshrutka Nos 526, 528 or 537 going…
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Zheti Qazyna
This Uzbek-themed restaurant is the place for Central Asian cooking at its finest. Old favourites like manty, laghman and samsas (samosas) are styled for the Western palate, and there are Kazakh specialties including beshbarmak too. It's at least worth patronising for the colourful ambience and welcoming staff. On the same premises are Caramel, an equally popular European restaurant, and the Japanese/Chinese Tsi, and you can order from all three menus in any part.
Two courses will cost a minimum of around T1400, and you can easily spend a whole lot more. The entrance is actually on Maqataev.
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Kazakhstan Museum of Arts
The Kazakhstan Museum of Arts has the best art collection in the country, including works of artists banned during the Soviet period. There are also collections of Russian and Western European art. Particularly interesting are the room of modern Kazakh handicrafts and the large collection of paintings by Abylkhan Kasteev (1904-73), to whom the museum is dedicated.
Kasteev's clear portraits, landscapes and scenes of Soviet progress (railways, hydroelectricity, collective farming) obviously toed the party line but his technique is fabulous. Marshrutkas heading west on Satpaev, including No 520, will stop here.
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Kan Tengri
Kazakhstan's top adventure travel company, highly experienced and respected in mountain tourism. Kan Tengri focuses on climbs, trekking and heli-skiing in the central Tian Shan (including Mt Khan Tengri) and the ranges between Almaty and Lake Issyk-Köl. Also offers horse treks, mountain biking, sport fishing, bird-watching and botanical tours. Most trips last between one and three weeks. A two-week trekking tour typically costs around €1000 per person from Almaty.
Small groups, including solo travellers, can be catered for. The company's director is Kazbek Valiev, the first Kazakh to scale Mt Everest.
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TsUM
Visit this large central department store, composed of dozens of small shops, for the experience as well as to buy. It deals mainly in electronic goods, clothes, cosmetics, glass, china and gifts, and prices are reasonable.
On the ground floor you'll find a bigger variety of mobile phones than you've ever seen in one place, and the top floor has the best range of kitsch souvenirs and gifts in the country - ornamental swords and horse whips, fur and felt hats, traditional jewellery and miniature yurts, camels and Golden Men.
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Museum of Kazakh Musical Instruments
In a striking 1908 wooden building (also the work of cathedral architect Zenkov) at the east end of Panfilov Park is the Museum of Kazakh Musical Instruments, the city's most original museum. It has a fine collection of traditional Kazakh instruments - wooden harps and horns, bagpipes, the lutelike two-stringed dombra and the violalike qobyz. If you're there at the same time as a tour group you'll hear tapes of the instruments and see the attendant strum the dombra.
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Kök-Töbe Cable Car
The smooth, gleaming and recently renovated Kök-Töbe Cable Car runs from beside the Palace of the Republic on Dostyq up to Kök-Töbe (Green Hill) on the city's southeast edge. The hill is crowned by a 372m-high telecommunications tower. Near the top station are a viewing platform, crafts stalls and a cafeteria doing good shashlyk. If you go during the day, the walk back down to Dostyq is a pleasant one.
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Karlygash (Karla) Makatova
Independent one-woman operator who has long organised trips for the expat community and offers day hikes, treks and climbs from one day up, drives, kayaking, helicopter flights, night-time tours of Almaty's fountains and more. Her trips are spirited, not too expensive, and a good way to meet locals and expats. Karlygash has no office: contact her by email or phone.
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Barakholka
This huge, crowded flea market is on the ring road in the northwestern outskirts. Uzbeks, Chinese, Uyghurs and others converge here to sell everything from animals, fridges and cars to fur hats, jeans and shoes, at very good prices. Weekends, especially early Sunday morning, are the busiest times. Take any 'Barakholka' bus westbound on Rayymbek.
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Ramstor
Almaty's burgeoning middle class shops at supermarkets and glitzy malls stocked with expensive, often imported, goods and at international stores like Zara, Yves Rocher and Benetton, which you'll find dotted all around the city centre. The main malls include Silk Way City, Ramstor and the biggest and newest, Mega Center Alma-Ata.
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Silk Way City
Almaty's burgeoning middle class shops at supermarkets and glitzy malls stocked with expensive, often imported, goods and at international stores like Zara, Yves Rocher and Benetton, which you'll find dotted all around the city centre. The main malls include Silk Way City, Ramstor and the biggest and newest, Mega Center Alma-Ata.
reviewed