Kazakhstan is one of the most comfortable long trips for us. There is no visa, there is no language problem, there is a direct flight from Baku and the prices are at our level. But the country is the size of Western Europe and there are a thousand kilometres between Almaty and Astana, so you have to choose: mountains, lakes and canyons in the south, or a capital that came from the future in the north. In this article I have gathered Almaty, the mountain routes and Astana. The transport, Kaspi payments, the food, the season, the sanatoriums and the budget are in it too.
Kazakhstan in brief
| Capital | Astana; the largest city is Almaty |
| Language | Kazakh and Russian; it is easy to make yourself understood in Azerbaijani |
| Currency | Tenge (KZT), 1 dollar ≈ 500 tenge; Kaspi QR payments everywhere, cards work |
| Visa | 90 days visa-free for citizens of Azerbaijan |
| Best time | May–June and September; skiing at Shymbulak December–March |
| Flights | Baku–Almaty and Baku–Astana direct, 4–4.5 hours |
| Daily budget | 60–90 dollars at a mid-range level |
Almaty: the city and mountains an hour away
Almaty, at the foot of the Tian Shan mountains, is green, full of apple orchards, cafés and restaurants and counts as the most comfortable city in Central Asia; someone coming from Baku soon feels at home. The city itself takes a day. In Panfilov park stands the wooden Ascension cathedral, built without nails. The Green Bazaar, the Arbat pedestrian street and Republic Square are in the centre. You go up Kok-Tobe hill by cable car.
The real attraction is in the mountains, and all of it is within an hour of the city.
Medeu is the highest open-air ice rink in the world, at one thousand six hundred and ninety-one metres. From there a cable car lifts you to the Shymbulak ski resort at two thousand two hundred and sixty metres, and in summer walking and the cable car take you up to three thousand two hundred. You drink your coffee in the city in the morning and stand on snow at midday.
Big Almaty Lake gives you turquoise water at two thousand five hundred and eleven metres; take your passport, as it is a border zone. The Kok-Zhailau plateau, meanwhile, is for walking.
Inside the city there are also the Arasan baths left from the Soviet period. In the centre, Russian, Finnish and Turkish baths are gathered in one building, and it is worth going there in the evening.
Charyn, Kolsai, Astana, Turkistan: Kazakhstan outside the city
The Charyn canyon is three hours from Almaty. With its red rocks it is called «the little Grand Canyon». In the Valley of Castles there is a two or three-hour walk. A day tour is 25–40 dollars. The Kolsai lakes and the drowned trees of Lake Kaindy, together with Charyn, make the most popular two-day route, and you spend the night in a village guest house. Altyn-Emel park, with its «singing dune» and the coloured Aktau mountains, is a separate two days.
Astana, on the northern steppe, has been the capital since 1997 and was built as a city of the future. The Baiterek tower is the city’s symbol. Khan Shatyr is a tent-shaped shopping centre. The Nur-Astana mosque, the Expo sphere and the National Museum are places to see too. Much of the city is Norman Foster’s architecture. Minus 30 in winter and 30 degrees in summer; two days is enough, and the nearby Burabay lake and pine forest resort is a day. Turkistan in the south is a UNESCO monument with the mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, reached via Shymkent. On the Caspian coast Aktau and the Bozjyra canyon are connected to Baku by ferry.
Transport in Kazakhstan and Kaspi payments
The Almaty metro crosses the centre with eleven stations, the buses work with the Onay card and a ride is twenty cents. Yandex Go taxis are very cheap: 2–4 dollars across town and 5–7 from the airport.
From Almaty to Astana the Talgo train takes thirteen hours, and the night carriage is comfortable. The flight takes two hours and costs 60–100 dollars, operated by Air Astana, FlyArystan and SCAT.
You set off for the mountain routes with a tour company or a car with a driver, which costs 60–100 dollars a day, while car hire is 30–50. The road to Charyn is asphalt.
Kaspi.kz is the app that replaces everything in Kazakhstan: the market, the taxi, the bus, the restaurant — everyone pays by QR, even the lady selling herbs at the bazaar. For a tourist a Kaspi Gold card is opened with a passport at some branches; if not, Visa and Mastercard work in most places, and take cash tenge for the bazaar. From Baku, AZAL and the Kazakh airlines fly direct to Almaty and Astana, and there is also a ferry from Baku to Aktau, 20–30 hours, for those after an adventure.
Kazakh food: beshbarmak, kazy, kumis
Beshbarmak is the national dish. Horse or mutton is served with flat pasta and an onion sauce, eaten with the hands, and that is where the name comes from.
Kazy is a horsemeat sausage, kurt is dried yoghurt and baursak is fried dough. To drink there is shubat, that is camel’s milk, and kumis, that is mare’s milk. The face of someone drinking mare’s milk for the first time is worth seeing.
Plov, lagman and manti are the shared Central Asian dishes, and Korean salads are everywhere at the bazaar. Everything is halal, the Kazakhs are Muslim, and alcohol is sold freely.
Almaty’s Green Bazaar is the best place for fruit, horsemeat and kumis. Lunch in a restaurant is 5–8 dollars and dinner in a good restaurant 15–25, while Astana is a little more expensive. The apple is Almaty’s symbol; the «aport» variety comes to the market in autumn and one apple does not fit in two hands. Milky tea, meanwhile, ends every meal.
The season and Kazakhstan’s sanatoriums
Almaty has four seasons. May–June passes green and full of blossom. In July-August the weather is 30–35 degrees while the mountains stay cool. September-October is the golden autumn and ideal for Charyn. From December to March people ski at Shymbulak, and a day pass is 25–35 dollars, three times cheaper than Europe. Astana is sharply continental: the winter is minus 20–35 with wind, and May–September is comfortable.
The sanatoriums, in the Soviet tradition, are cheap and medical. Saryagash near Shymkent is the country’s most famous resort, with mineral water for digestive and metabolic conditions; full board with treatment is 40–80 dollars a day. In the Altai mountains the Rakhmanov springs have radon water, Burabay has the mountain air, and near Almaty there are Alma-Arasan and Ak-Kayin. Regional and resort information is on the Kazakhstan Travel portal.
Budget and tickets
In Almaty a three-star hotel is 40–70 dollars and a four-star 80–130, while prices in Astana are a little higher. At Shymbulak a hotel climbs to 150–250 dollars in winter. A rented flat is 30–50 dollars, and when you compare the two options the difference shows up clearly over a few nights.
The entry tickets are cheap. Medeu is 3 dollars, Kok-Tobe 5 and the Shymbulak cable car 15–20. A day tour to the Charyn canyon is 30 dollars, and for those going without a car choosing the group in advance is the most comfortable way. Excluding the flight, a week-long trip fits into 500–800 dollars per person.
There are direct flights from Baku every day; an air ticket to Almaty gets dearer at Novruz and the New Year holiday, while the Astana flights are cheap in summer. Kazakhstan tour packages fitting Almaty, Charyn and Kolsai into one week settle the driver and guest house bookings for the mountain routes together.
Frequently asked questions about Kazakhstan
How many days does a Kazakhstan trip need?
Almaty and the mountains three days, Charyn and Kolsai two — five days in all. With Astana, seven or eight days.
Can you go with an ID card?
No, you need a foreign passport. The registration rule for those staying more than thirty days is explained in our visa article.
Which route with a child?
In Almaty, Medeu, Kok-Tobe and the Shymbulak cable car are a good choice for children. In Astana there are Khan Shatyr and the oceanarium. The road to Charyn is long, but the canyon itself is comfortable with a child.
In closing
Kazakhstan, visa-free, without a language barrier, with a direct flight and prices that suit our budget, gives you mountains, lakes, a canyon and a modern capital on one trip, and Almaty is the heart of that trip. The entry rules are gathered on the Kazakhstan page, and to build the mountain route or the sanatorium plan together, fill in the application form.
Note: the prices here are as of the publication date and can change with the season.
