Almaty

Almaty is the largest city and the financial and cultural centre of Kazakhstan. Standing astride the Silk Road, Almaty is the gateway to the region. Just south of the city, snow-capped mountains mark the border with Kyrgyzstan. The city is known by local nicknames as the Apple City and the Big Apple.

Understand
Almaty was the capital of Kazakhstan until the city of Astana was declared to be the new capital of Kazakhstan.

Under Soviet rule, it was known as Alma-Ata. Following the independence of Kazakhstan, the city was re-named to its current name, Almaty, in 1993.

The city is relatively modern, laid out on a grid pattern, so if you're going uphill, you're probably going south. It is relatively inexpensive by international standards. The people are friendly and hospitable; there's also a significant expat community.

Pogulay is a helpful guidebook to the city, printed in English and Russian and sold at newsstands. It's priced at US$3 and covers all the attractions, including photos and descriptions.


 * Tourist Information Office VisitAlmaty. There are eight locations: Abay Avenue 15/1; Panfilov Street 84; Nazarbayev Avenue 139; Gogol Street 40A; Almaty-1 railway station; Almaty-2 railway station; Almaty airport; next to ice skating rink at Medeu's bus station. The one in Abay Avenue was wery useful (as of July 2022), free maps and guides (also for hiking). English-speaking staff there. Daily 10:00-20:00.
 * City government website
 * City government website

Get in
See Kazakhstan for entry requirements&mdash; most westerners don't need a visa for visits up to 30 days.

By plane


International flights – The national flag-carrier is Air Astana, with flights around central Asia and the Middle East. Flights to Almaty include Antalya, Baku, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Beijing-Capital, Bishkek, Delhi, Dubai-International, Dushanbe, Kazan, Hong Kong, Istanbul IST, Kyiv-Boryspil, Kuala Lumpur, Moscow-Sheremetyevo, Saint Petersburg, Seoul-Incheon, Tashkent, Tbilisi and Ürümqi. Other carriers fly directly from Ashgabat, Dubai, Frankfurt, Novosibirsk, Osh, Riga, Samarkand, Sanya and Xian. So most journeys from the west will involve at least one change of flight, Frankfurt and Istanbul usually being the most convenient.

Low cost WizzAir flies from Abu Dhabi, while FlyArystan connects Almaty with Sharjah and Kutaisi.

Domestic flights – Kazakhstan is a very big country, so most cities have regular flights to Almaty with Air Astana or SCAT Airlines or both. These include Aktau, Aktobe, Astana, Atyrau, Karaganda, Kokshetau, Kyzylorda, Kostanay, Oral, Pavlodar, Petropavlovsk, Semey, Shymkent, Taraz, Uralsk, Urdjar, Ust-Kamenogorsk and Zhezkazgan.

The low-cost airline FlyArystan opens up more and more domestic routes.

Getting there/away
Buses run daily from about 05:20 to 23:00, every 30 mins or better, and take 30 min between the airport and the center. Every taxi tout will assure you that buses are not running. But of course they are, otherwise he wouldn't be so insistent. A ride into town is 150 tenge&mdash;pay the driver or conductor.
 * Bus 92 is the only one from within the airport, the stop is just outside Arrivals. This zigzags through the northern Turksib district to Sayakhat bus station, then west along Raiymbek Batyr (for Almaty-2 railway station and city metro), along Nauryzbai (southbound) or Zheltoksan (returning northbound) to Abai Bvd, then away out to the western burbs.
 * The other buses all run from Mailin Street, the boulevard just outside the airport. From Arrivals follow the traffic flow through the barriers onto the street, keeping right for traffic into town. You cross Zakarpatskaya St which is where your bus will emerge from, pass the Favorit Hotel and a small supermarket, to find the bus-stop where folk as cheapskate as yourself are waiting. Say 10 mins walk. Bus 79 runs to Nazarbayev Ave (formerly Furmanov), and Bus 86 also runs downtown. The main advantage of this stop is Bus 106, which bypasses downtown and runs to Sayran Bus Station, for onward inter-city connections; say 50 min.

Taxis can be ordered at the booth in the arrivals hall. It may take 10 min to arrive, but it will be a sensible price, around 1,500 tenge. At least, that will be the price quoted to you, the taxi driver may have other ideas. It's a common scam here that at the end of your journey the driver will claim that the 1,500 tenge was per kilometre, taking the total to about 35,000 tenge. It's tempting, but unwise to argue too much as they turn violent quickly. The safest thing to do is to avoid taking a taxi from the airport - either take the bus, or get your hotel to send you a driver.

Yandex.Taxi is a good option if you have internet access or a SIM card. A ride to central Almaty should be around 1,500 tenge (Oct 2019).

By train


International connections from:
 * Astana via Karagandy – 6 trains per day, the quickest taking 13 hr.
 * Russia – There's no direct train, but you have to change in Astana, or (on odd dates) in Saratov. From Yekaterinburg or Omsk change in Astana or Petropavl. There is a direct service (on odd dates) between from Novosibirsk via Aktogai and Semei.
 * Tashkent – Every 2nd day, 16 hr via Taraz and Shymkent.
 * Bishkek – This is a round-about route changing near Taraz. By bus is much faster.
 * Urumqi (Wulumuqi), China – There is one train per week (leaving Urumqi Monday 23:00), 30 hr via Dostyk. A second, Chinese train may run, leaving Urumqi Sa 23:00, taking 24 hr via Khorgos, is around US$100 and comfortable. For details see Moscow to Urumqi rail itinerary.

From China
Sleeper buses leave Urumqi at 18:00 daily except Saturday and take 24 hours to reach Almaty. Tickets for a lower bed are ¥420, upper beds are ¥400, and a berth in the back bed of the bus is ¥380. Buses depart from the international area of Nianzigou Bus Station (碾子沟客运站), 50 m to the left of the main station (as you look towards the front) on the other side of the Wenshabao (温莎堡) building. Beware that the border crossing at Khorgos (霍尔果斯) is closed on Chinese national holidays, including the first week of October for National Day.

Buses also run from Yining, 100 km east of Khorgos, taking 10 hours to Almaty, fare US$30 or ¥150. They run two or three times a week, ask the bus drivers at Yining for times. Local buses also run from Yining to Khorgos (¥30-38), from where you can walk across into Kazakhstan. A taxi onward to Almaty might charge 3,000 tenge and take 4-6 hr. Tacheng (Qoqek) further north also has buses to Almaty several times a week.

From Kyrgyzstan
From Bishkek, go to the Western Bus Station. From Platform 11, a large, double decker coach bus leaves for Almaty every 2 hours. Start and end times are unclear, but it leaves at 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00. The ticket costs 500 Kyrgyz Som (May 2023). The bus will stop at the border crossing and you will have to get down and cross with your luggage. After exiting the building, cross the street. There will be some toilets and a parking lot where the bus is waiting. The bus will wait for all the passengers on the other side. Make sure to have some cash with you, there are no ATMs around. There is a money changer who hangs out by the toilets, immediately after the border crossing. Be sure to change your money here and use the bathroom before the 3 hour ride to Almaty. About 30 minutes after the border crossing, the bus may stop for a toilet break at a gas station.

Another feasible option is therefore to take a taxi to Korday Border crossing (Yandex costs about 600 som from Osh Bazar to Korday Border crossing) and then take a marshrutka on the Kazakh side to Almaty (2,500 tenge) or a shared taxi (5,000 tenge). Marshrutka goes to Sayran Bus station in Almaty.

Another option is a little more adventurous but more flexible and cheaper&mdash;take local transport from Bishkek to the border, cross, then pick up onward transport: In Bishkek, take any bus to Alamedin Market (corner of Jibek Jolu and Kurmanjan Datka)&mdash;use the 2GIS app to find a connection there. The bus stop for the border transport can be found towards the border. Look for a marshrutka signed таможня (meaning "customs"), or bus 333, or ask around. Apparently bus #285 also goes from the center of Bishkek directly to the border. The fare is 25 som from the junction and 30 som from the center to Korday. Then either share a taxi to Almaty (say 1,500 tenge), or take a marshrutka for 1,000 tenge&mdash;bargain hard or just pretend to wait for a better option.

On border formalities see Kazakhstan.

For the return journey, see Bishkek.

Get around
The city is laid out on a modern grid-pattern, and "up" usually means south, towards the mountains. However it's a gentle gradient, and in places the gradient east is similar. By day you can reality-check against the position of the sun, but at night or on dull days you could do with a compass to avoid tramping the wrong way. The other difficulty for visitors is the changed street names. Ask a local, who'll remember the old name that's in your guidebook.

By Metro
The Metro has a single line. The northern terminus is on Raiymbek Batyr east of Almaty-2 railway station. The line runs south to Abay, then turns west along Abay to Moskva Station just short of Altynsarin Ave.

The Metro is open from 06:00-24:00. The Metro is safe and guarded by police at all times. A single trip costs 80 tenge, regardless of length of trip. The tickets are plastic yellow tokens, buy them at machines or booths ("kassa") within the stations. Contactless payment at the gates is also possible by Mastercard, Visa or Union Pay. There are no day tickets or similar deals for visitors, but for frequent travellers there are rechargeable multi-trip smart cards.

The Metro stations starting from the north are:

Here the line turns west and runs beneath Abay Avenue to:

Further extensions will serve the northern and western burbs, with little relevance to visitors until the airport is linked.

By buses, and trolleys
There is an extensive network of buses and trolleybuses in the city. You can find routes and schedules using journey planner. It's a flat fare of 80 tenge within the centre, 150 tenge for the outskirts. Locals use a prepaid yellow transport card "Onay" presented to a smart-card contactless reader, but it's okay just to pay cash to the driver or conductor on boarding. You don't need exact change but you'll be unpopular if you offer a large note. Younger conductors speak a bit of English and will point out your stop.

The collection of city buses behind the corner of Rayimbek and Zheltoksan is just a depot and there are no passenger facilities here.

By taxi
There are both official and informal taxis. Official taxis can be booked in advance and normally show up rapidly. The fare difference between official and unofficial taxis may vary up to 3 times. Just raise your hand and a car will eventually stop. You should negotiate the price and direction in advance. Normally the fare varies from 200-1,000 tenge depending on the remoteness of the area. These are really efficient, and, although it takes a bit of getting used to, it is the perfect solution to getting around. Nevertheless, single travellers should be aware of muggings late at night. Avoid cars with more than one male occupant at night. Usually a car will stop within 30 seconds to 3 minutes of having your hand out. If the driver does not wish to drive to your destination, no problem. The next one will stop a minute or two after. You will need the name of your destination street and the nearest cross street, in Russian, in order to get to where you want to go. Very few people speak or understand even basic English. It is necessary to have small money. Usually drivers avoid giving change, so it is better to have the exact amount in hand.

Yandex Taxi is available, it can be ordered using smartphone app.

By bike
There is a city bike scheme, with pick-up/drop-off stations dotted around. Almost every bike store rents bikes, thus just ask in your hotel for a bike store. The prices are 2,000 tenge for a day and 2,500 tenge for 24 hr.

Do

 * There is a great range of different spas and steam rooms, Morrocoan, Finnish, Russian (including Venik (leaves to beat youself with)), Sufa at three temperatures.
 * , fare 3000 tenge one-way, 5000 tenge return (May 2024). The base station is by the corner of Abay and Dostyk. Nice views over the city & bosky burbs and towards the mountains. At the top station there's The Grill restaurant (good beer and shashliks, but you're paying for the view) and cafes. The top area is a kids' amusement park and "zoo", donkeys and hens being among the exotica. So it feels more like Sunday in the park than truly away from it all, and it's not a stepping stone into the mountains - Kok-Tobe hill stands apart from the main range, and the top is fenced in so you can't go off exploring.
 * The Film Festival last took place in mid-November of 2021.
 * Football: FC Kairat play soccer in the Premier League, Kazakhstan's top tier. Their home ground is Central Stadium, capacity 24,000, on Abay Ave (Metro Baikonur / Stadion). International games are played in Nur-Sultan.
 * Football: FC Kairat play soccer in the Premier League, Kazakhstan's top tier. Their home ground is Central Stadium, capacity 24,000, on Abay Ave (Metro Baikonur / Stadion). International games are played in Nur-Sultan.

Mountains

 * Route P22 (Dulati Street, becomes Svezhest St) runs south up the valley of River Bolshaya Almatinka. Along this route are Kok-Tobe, Tau Spa Centre, Alma-Arasan and Big Almaty Lake:
 * is a scenic lake at 2510 m altitude, surrounded by high mountains. It glistens like a mirror, changing colour with the season (a deep turquoise in autumn), and freezing in winter. Towering over it to the south east is Soviet Peak (4317 m), to the south Ozerniy (4110 m), and to the southwest Tourist Peak (3954 m). Great for hiking and climbing. Getting here and back is obviously easiest by car, otherwise:
 * Bus 28 runs from the roundabout at Al-Farabi and Navoi up Dulati St and ends at the last left turn before Alma-Arasan. Taxis here will take you to within 4 km of the lake for around 2000 tenge. Otherwise it's a 15 km hike and 1000 m rise of altitude: think about the weather and the coming back. Follow the road about 8 km until you reach a big water pipe, and then follow the steep trail next to the water pipe.
 * Or take a taxi all the way from Al-Farabi and Navoi.
 * Or take a taxi all the way from Al-Farabi and Navoi.


 * Dostyk Ave south becomes Gornaya St which climbs the valley of River Pravy Esentai. Along this valley are Medeu Ice Rink, Ile-Alatau National Park, and Chimbulak Ski resort. A bus runs up to Chimbulak from the corner of Satpaev and Baitursynuly daily at 08:00.
 * Ski & snowboard at Chimbulak, Ak-Bulak and Tabagan ski resorts, open Nov-April, lifts closed Tuesday. And hike anytime, beyond the resort up to the dam and then the glacier: tough but beautiful.
 * Ski & snowboard at Chimbulak, Ak-Bulak and Tabagan ski resorts, open Nov-April, lifts closed Tuesday. And hike anytime, beyond the resort up to the dam and then the glacier: tough but beautiful.

Buy
Good buys:
 * Handmade carpets
 * Felted goods. Handmade dolls, rugs, and slippers made with boiled lamb's wool and natural dyes
 * Handcrafted metal jewelry, including a "tumar", which is a pendant that opens like a locket
 * Handcrafted leather chess sets in a leather folding case with a board pattern stitched on. In most souvenir shops, and on ground floor of Silk Way (Zhybek Zholy and Furmanova).

Supermarkets
Almaty has many modern supermarkets, offering everything from a bakery section to toiletries and vodka. Any food you could possibly want to find is readily available. There are four major supermarket chains: Ramstore, SM-Market, Gros, and City. And plenty of single supermarkets and small local grocery shops. The chain called "Gros" has convenient locations around town and a good selection of drinks and snacks. Ramstore also has at least three locations, but is a bit pricier. The favorite stores among locals are Stolichni (Ablai Khan and Kabanbai Batyr). Super helpful staff and decent fruits and vegetables year around, but vegetable prices are very expensive. Dastarkhan (Gogolya St between Ablai Khan and Furmanova) has excellent baked goods, especially cakes and cookies.

Eat
Cheap Kazakh restaurants are all over the place, selling shashlik, soup, salad and others. Fast food places are also everywhere; the local favourite is hamburgers, with sliced kebab meat on a hamburger bun with pickles and garlic sauce.



Drink

 * Black Market, Timiryazev St 42/16, Daily 14:00-00:00 (02:00 on F and Sa). Great bar, with a fantastic atmosphere.
 * Black Market, Timiryazev St 42/16, Daily 14:00-00:00 (02:00 on F and Sa). Great bar, with a fantastic atmosphere.
 * Black Market, Timiryazev St 42/16, Daily 14:00-00:00 (02:00 on F and Sa). Great bar, with a fantastic atmosphere.

Internet
Free wifi is common in hotels but it may be unreliable. Some bars and restaurants offer free wifi.

Stands selling pre-paid SIM cards are ubiquitous and fairly inexpensive. There is one at the airport. You can easily get internet and phone access for a month for 1,500-3,000 tenge.

Crime
Almaty enjoys a relatively low crime rate and is, generally, a safe place to travel. Use common sense at night, particularly on Friday and Saturday when the youth hit the streets to get drunk, and in some unfortunate cases, look for trouble. You should abstain from any arguments with locals; otherwise you may end up in the hospital. Kazakh people are extremely friendly and welcoming towards foreigners and nothing should happen to you unless you really want it yourself. Never go to places which you don't trust or don't know about, unless you have a local person with you to help out with the language. Racism is a generally of very minor concern although the average visitor is highly unlikely to encounter any problems. You must be always respectful to the country and locals. In this case, you will feel comfortable with anyone.

Driving
Central streets such as Furmanov, Abay, Zheltoksan, Dostyk, and Abylay Khan are strictly regulated and constantly monitored by police officers. Video cameras are installed on 70% of city crossroads. There are some Kazakh drivers who reveal their aggressiveness on the roads. Therefore, it is always best to take great care when crossing the roads.

Emergencies
In the event of an emergency, call:
 * 101 Fire
 * 102 Police
 * 103 Ambulance
 * 104 Gas Service
 * 112 Emergency rescue

Registration
Very few western visitors nowadays need to register upon arrival, and for those who do, your hotel will usually sort it for you. But a few will have to attend OVIR in person, e.g. if you hope to stay longer than 30 days.

Consulates

 * 🇨🇳 China
 * 🇮🇳 India
 * 🇺🇸 United States
 * 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan
 * Almaty also has embassies or consulates (as of Oct 2019) for Australia, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Iran, Japan, Lithuania, Switzerland, Tajikstan, Thailand, and United Kingdom. It's not known what services these nowadays provide, since the capital has moved to Nur-Sultan.

Go next



 * Winter sports & hiking around nearby Chimbulak, Ak-Bulak and Tabagan ski resorts; an easy day-trip.
 * Sharyn Canyon (Шарын шатқалы, Шарын каньоны): Canyon 80 km long and as much as 300 m deep, eroded into fantastical shapes, especially along the 3 km stretch known as "Valley of the Castles". It's 200 km east of Almaty towards the Chinese border (follow A351) and often done as a day-trip, but longer tours of the area are recommended. Not far from the "Singing Dunes".
 * Astana is the new showcase capital, and while Almaty feels like a Russian city, Astana has more of a mixture of cultures.
 * Lake Balkhash is along the road between Almaty and Nur-Sultan, so you could break the long journey here. Balkhash village (12 hours by bus) has a few hotels. The lake is salty east of here, but fresh to the west where the Ili river flows in from China. It's the closest you'll get to beach action in this very land-locked country.
 * Bishkek the capital of Kyrgyzstan is a 4-5 hr drive. From there see Lake Issyk-Kul.
 * Tamgaly Petroglyphs ("Temple of The Sun"): This UNESCO site is 2-3 hours away by car (170 km west, 30 km past Copa off the road to Bishkek). The petroglyphs range from ancient (3,000 years) to "modern" (75 years), and feature pictures of the Sunman and hunting nomad tribes. There are also several grave sites. Watch out for snakes when it's hot.
 * Turgen Gorge. In the national preserve or Ile-Alatau, 90 km east of Almaty. The gorge is some 44 m deep, with hot springs, waterfalls, and forests: these include the last stands of Chim-Turgen moss fir woods that once carpeted the area.
 * Kolsai Lakes. Beautiful lakes 250 km east of Almaty. The first lake can be reached by car, to see the other lakes you have to hire a horse. You can stay overnight in a small two storey house for about 2,000–5,000 tenge per night. The lake water is fresh, clean and drinkable.
 * Urumqi in China can be reached by train once or twice a week.