Nur-Sultan (Astana)
A block south of the western part of Nurzhol bulvar stands the beautiful four-minaret Nur Astana mosque, opened in 2005. Its prayer hall (for men only –…
Must-see attractions in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
A day-long trip from Kaskasu village and a 10km to 15km hike or horse ride is a good way to explore the ancient burial mounds and the beautiful Lake…
Kazakhstan
One of the most interesting necropolises in Mangistau, Koshkar Ata is a skyline of miniature domes and towers that resembles some fairy-tale city. Just…
Nur-Sultan (Astana)
Duman is a modern leisure centre most worth visiting for its oceanarium, which has over 3000 creatures from the world’s oceans and a 70m shark tunnel…
Hilvet Semi-Underground Mosque
Turkestan
On a small hill within the Yasaui Mausoleum grounds stands the low-slung 12th- to 15th-century Hilvet semi-underground mosque, with the cell to which…
Kazakhstan
Mt Bolektau is a short, easy ascent that takes around half an hour and still gives you good views of both Lake Burabay and Lake Bolshoe Chebachie to its…
Kazakhstan
This heroic-looking statue of Yury Gagarin, first man in space, was erected in 2014 on what would have been Gagarin's 80th birthday to commemorate his…
Shymkent
Of several new markets around the city fringes, Bazar Samal, next to Samal bus station, is the biggest and most interesting, with a particularly colourful…
Almaty
This smooth, gleaming cable car runs from beside the Palace of the Republic up to Kök-Töbe hill on the southeast edge of Almaty, taking six minutes to…
Kazakhstan
This high-mountain lake empties at the end of June when the ice blocking its outlet melts, and does not fill again until the winter freeze; horse trips…
Turkestan
This 19th-century mosque displays a wooden minbar and some religious items dating back to the time of its construction. The wall outside the mosque and…
Kazakhstan
The occupant of the three-domed Abdul-Aziz Baba Mausoleum is believed to have been a leader of the Arabic forces that brought Islam to the Sayram area in…
Kazakhstan
The reconstructed Dauitbek Mausoleum, built for a 13th-century Mongol viceroy, is said to have been built lopsided in revenge for the man’s infamous…
Kazakhstan
In the western part of Altyn-Emel National Park, these clusters of petroglyphs depict ibex, Siberian deer (now extinct in these parts), curly-horned…
Almaty
The pedestrianised stretch of this street in the lower, northern, part of the centre is Almaty’s (sort of) version of Moscow’s Arbat. It's dotted with…
Kazakhstan
This striking war memorial consists of an eternal flame, surrounded by five enormous white panels that make an enormous open yurt, with each panel…
Kazakhstan
A pedestrian/cyclist promenade runs to the Strelka (Arrow), the point of land where the Irtysh and Ulba meet, marked by a large Heroes of the Soviet Union…
Kazakhstan
An appealing, forest-fringed bay 4km south of the town. Rowing boats are available for rent so that you can get yourself out to the rock formations in the…
Nur-Sultan (Astana)
This huge mosque, opened in 2012, boasts Kazakhstan's largest dome, as well as beautifully marbled interiors. Look out for a splendid old copy of the…
Ethnography Museum Korpus No 2
Kazakhstan
This branch of the ethnography museum is devoted to the many different ethnic groups in the region, with traditional embroidery, birch-bark craft and more.
Kazakhstan
This Socialist Realist statue of two proud coal miners raising a huge block of coal over their heads is the symbol of Karaganda, the town that coal built.
Nur-Sultan (Astana)
Grandiose building that houses the offices of the president of Kazakhstan. You can only admire it from the outside.
Nur-Sultan (Astana)
These three undulating, light-green apartment towers are a prominent feature of the western part of the boulevard.
Kazakhstan
The 13th-century Karashash-Ana Mausoleum is where Akhmed Yasaui’s mother lies beneath the central tombstone.
Nur-Sultan (Astana)
Striking office blocks whose tops splay outward like the pages of opening books.
Almaty
Candy-coloured Zenkov Cathedral is Kazakhstan's nearest (albeit distant) relative to St Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow and one of Almaty’s few surviving…
Kazakhstan
Dedicated to Aktobe's most famous daughter, this museum pays tribute to Hero of the Soviet Union Aliya Moldagulova, a sniper who died in battle in 1943,…
Kazakhstan
This museum is dedicated to the 19th-century humanist poet Abay Kunanbaev, whose forward-looking vision of Kazakhstan is not necessarily shared by his…
Kazakhstan
Housed inside a Tsarist-era building, this regional museum focuses on natural history, including the meteorite craters in the region, and the locally…
House-Museum of Manshuk Mametova
Kazakhstan
This museum chronicles the life of Hero of the Soviet Union Manshuk Mametova, who lived here with her adoptive parents between 1932 and 1934. Her father,…
Kazakhstan
Displays at this regional museum run the gamut from stuffed local wildlife and a model of an Iron Age kurgan (burial mound) to letters from Middle Horde…
Kazakhstan
This stately 1829 building stands on the site of the original wooden one where the revered Kazakh leader Ablai Khan lived in the 18th century under a…
Kazakhstan
Roughly halfway along the R-174 from Semey to Kurchatov, a turnoff leads towards a former closed town, populated by military personnel until the collapse…
Kazakhstan
Displays trace the history of the region, from archaeological finds from the nearby Silk Road settlement of Syganak and the ecological devastation wreaked…
Almaty
This striking monument honours those killed and injured on Respublika alany on 17 December 1986 during the Zheltoksan (December) protests, the first…
Burabay National Nature Park Visitor Centre & Nature Museum
Kazakhstan
This museum contains a diverse display of taxidermied wildlife from Kazakhstan’s national parks (including a demented-looking fox), two ATMs, and a…
Kazakhstan
This particularly striking WWII memorial comprises a wall, with the faces of various Heroes of the Soviet Union, including Uralsk's most famous daughter,…
Kazakhstan
Though there's no English labelling, this museum has moderately interesting exhibits focusing on regional history and ecology. These range from pickled…
Kazakhstan
From the MiG fighter plane memorial you can descend steps to the breezy seafront, a mixture of low cliffs, rocks and thin sandy strips, with assorted…
Kazakhstan
Aral's small history museum has a few desiccation photos, some imaginative oil paintings and around 15 jars preserving different Aral Sea fish species –…
