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…
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
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.
reviewed
-
F
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
-
G
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.
reviewed
-
H
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
-
I
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.
reviewed
-
J
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
Advertisement
-
K
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
-
L
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
-
M
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
-
N
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
-
O
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…
reviewed
-
P
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…
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
-
Mountain Kingdoms Of Kyrgyzstan Reverse
16 days (Bishkek)
by Intrepid
Wander the wide streets of Bishkek, Soak up the charming atmosphere of Karakol, Go hiking in Djety Oguz Valley., Stay in a yurt with a nomadic family, Admire…Not LP reviewed
from USD$1,760 -
Bishkek To Ashgabat
30 days (Bishkek)
by Intrepid
Eat mutton dressed up as itself in a Bishkek restaurant, Visit the wilds of Chong Kemin National Park, Practice your echoes in the canyons of Djety Oguz, Watch…Not LP reviewed
from USD$3,595 -
Q
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…
reviewed
Advertisement
-
R
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…
reviewed
-
S
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
-
T
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
-
U
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
-
V
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