Almaty

No reviews yetCity Almaty, Kazakhstan

Abai Theatre, Almaty, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Accession Cathedral, Almaty (1), Almaty, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Panfilov Street, Almaty, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Museum of Folk Instruments, Almaty, Almaty, Almaty, Kazakhstan

About Almaty

Snow-capped peaks rise straight out of the southern edge of Almaty, so close that you can ride from a city cafe to a glacier-fed valley in under an hour. Kazakhstan's largest city spreads across the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau, with long, tree-lined avenues sloping gently downhill from the mountains toward the steppe.

Almaty was the country's capital until 1997 and remains its cultural and business heart. Founded as the Russian fort of Verny in the 1850s, it was rebuilt again and again after earthquakes, which is why its most beloved building is a wooden cathedral that rode out the great quake of 1911. Soviet-era boulevards, green parks and a lively bazaar give the centre an easy, walkable feel.

Most visitors split their time between town and mountains. In the city, Panfilov Park, the Green Bazaar and the opera fill a day. Above it, the Medeu skating rink, the slopes of Shymbulak and the turquoise Big Almaty Lake are classic half-day trips, and the cable car to Kok Tobe gives the best sunset view over the lights of the city.

Best seasonMay to June and September to October; December to March for skiing

Ideal stayThree to four days, longer with mountain or canyon trips

ArrivingAlmaty International Airport, plus long-distance trains to Almaty-1 and Almaty-2 stations

Almaty Has So Much to Discover: 12 Highlights

Religious Sites 1

Ascension Cathedral Almaty

Painted in candy-bright colours and finished in 1907, this Russian Orthodox cathedral in Panfilov Park is built almost entirely of...

Parks 1

Panfilov Park

Named after the Panfilov Guardsmen who defended Moscow in 1941, this large leafy park surrounds the Ascension Cathedral in the mid...

Museums 3

Museum of Kazakh Folk Musical Instruments

Housed in an ornate wooden building at the edge of Panfilov Park, this small museum displays hundreds of traditional instruments,...

Central State Museum of Kazakhstan

The country's main history museum, under a large blue dome near Republic Square, covers everything from Bronze Age burial mounds a...

Kasteev State Museum of Arts

Named after the pioneering Kazakh painter Abylkhan Kasteev, this is the largest art museum in the country, with galleries of Kazak...

Sports 2

Medeu

In a mountain valley above the city, at about 1,700 metres, Medeu is a huge open-air skating rink where dozens of speed-skating wo...

Shymbulak

Almaty's main ski resort lies higher up the same valley and is reached by a long gondola from Medeu, then by chairlifts that climb...

Nature 1

Big Almaty Lake

High in the Ile-Alatau National Park, around 2,500 metres above sea level, this glacial lake changes colour through the seasons fr...

Viewpoints 1

Kok Tobe

A cable car rises from near the Palace of the Republic to the top of this hill on the southeast side of the city, where the tall A...

Markets 1

Green Bazaar

Almaty's best-known market fills a large hall and surrounding stalls with dried fruits, nuts, honey, spices, Korean salads and the...

Arts 1

Abai Opera and Ballet Theatre

Named after the poet Abai Kunanbaiuly, the city's grand opera and ballet theatre opened in its current building in the early 1940s...

Landmarks 1

Republic Square Almaty

This vast ceremonial square on Satpayev Street is centred on the tall Independence Monument, a column topped by the Golden Man war...

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