Things to do in Kazakhstan
-
A
Biskvit
Another great coffee house, marginally smarter than Coffeedelia, with arguably the best coffee in town. Good for breakfast too.
reviewed
-
B
Namaste
This small, tranquil restaurant does excellent Indian, Thai and Chinese food - great for vegetarians.
reviewed
-
C
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 worsh…
reviewed
-
D
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.
reviewed
-
E
Atyrau History Museum
The modernised Atyrau History Museum has some interesting displays including a replica of the local ‘Golden Man' – a 2nd-century-BC Sarmatian chief with gold-plated tunic, found in 1999 – and a room on recently excavated Saraychik, an old trading centre 55km north of Atyrau, where several khans of the Golden Horde were buried.
reviewed
-
F
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.
reviewed
-
G
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.
reviewed
-
H
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
-
I
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.
reviewed
-
Central Silk Road
30 days (ex Ashgabat)
by Intrepid
Visit the wilds of Chong Kemin National Park, Kick back on the inland beaches of Issyk-kul Lake , Be amazed by the ferocity of Darvaza Gas Crater, Walk the live…Not LP reviewed
from USD$2,700 Advertisement
-
J
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.
reviewed
-
K
Samovar
Cheerful Russian restaurant/café where helpful, red-silk-shirted waiters serve a good range of fare from breakfasts, bliny (pancakes) and soups to lunch and dinner mains.
reviewed
-
L
Khan Shatyr
Along the main showpiece axis of the new capital, 2km-long bulvar Nurzhol, the most daring of all Astana's architectural fantasies, the Khan Shatyr, is going up behind KazMunayGaz. The nearest thing to a real Xanadu-style 'pleasure dome' that humanity has ever created, the Khan Shatyr will be an enormous, transparent, leaning, tentlike structure, 150m high, made of a special heat-absorbing material that will produce summer temperatures inside even when it's minus 30° outside.
Due to open in 2008, this is to be a mini-city with squares, streets, beaches, canals, shopping mall, gardens, cinemas, restaurants, pavement cafés, swimming and wave pools, beach volleyball, a conc…
reviewed
-
M
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 upp…
reviewed
-
Köl-Say Lakes
These three pretty green lakes lie amid the steep forested foothills of the Küngey Alatau. The lakes are strung along the Köl-Say river at an altitude of around 2000m (6560ft). The camping and trout fishing are great. June and August are the best months to visit, but keep a close eye on the weather.
Travellers can arrange helicopter excursions to the lakes from Almaty or reach them overland from Saty; the lower lake is accessible by vehicle but you're better off hiring horses in Saty. It's possible to trek from the pastures of the middle lake over the 3200m (10500ft) Sary-Bulak pass to the Kyrgyzstan village of Balbay on the shore of Lake Issyk-Kul but you will need to …
reviewed
-
N
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 t…
reviewed
-
O
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 u…
reviewed
-
P
Dostoevsky Museum
The well laid-out Dostoevsky Museum is on a leafy street a block east of Abay ploshchad, built beside the wooden house where the exiled writer lived from 1857 to 1859 with his wife and baby. The museum displays Dostoevsky's life and works, covering his childhood in Moscow, residence in St Petersburg, five years in jail at Omsk, five years of enforced military service at Semey, and his creative life from 1860 to 1881. The rooms where he lived have been maintained in the style of his day, and the vast amount of images of Dostoevsky alone makes it worth a visit, even if you can't understand the mainly Russian text. Tours, in Russian or Kazakh, cost 150T.
reviewed
-
Q
Bayterek monument
Many of the imposing and fanciful buildings along bulvar Nurzhol are still works in progress. But a line of central gardens and plazas leads inexorably to the 97m Bayterek monument, a white latticed tower crowned by a large golden orb. The Bayterek embodies a Kazakh legend in which the mythical bird Samruk lays a golden egg containing the secrets of human desires and happiness in a tall poplar tree, beyond human reach.
A lift glides visitors up to the inside of the golden egg, where you can ponder the symbolism, enjoy expansive views and place your hand in a print of President Nazarbaev's palm looking eastward to the giant new presidential palace.
reviewed
-
R
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.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
S
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.
reviewed
-
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.
reviewed
-
T
President's Culture Centre
The gleaming, blue-domed President's Culture Centre houses the high-quality main museum. The ground floor holds traditional Kazakh items - a brightly decked yurt, carpets, costumes, elaborate horse tackle. Upstairs you'll find the archaeological section, including models of some of the country's most important old buildings, and the Hall of Gold and Precious Stones, with the obligatory Golden Man replica.
The 3rd-floor covers Kazakhstan's history from the 14th century on. Explanatory material is in English, Kazakh and Russian. Photos are not allowed.
reviewed
-
U
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.
reviewed
-
V
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.
reviewed
