A plan for Almaty

History

Although the Silk Road touched the foothills upon which Almaty sits today, it left little of the grandeur found farther south in Central Asia’s great caravan cities. The few inhabitants were nomadic herdsmen, with no substantial towns until the Russians colonised and built a wooden fort in 1854. An industrial town, named Verny, grew around the fort, although it was twice flattened by earthquakes. The Soviets renamed it Alma-Ata ("Alma" may mean "apple" – modern apples originated in this region) and the city became the capital of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. A railway and highway connected it to Russia. Trotsky lived in exile here for a year before fleeing to Turkey.

The city was laid out on a low-rise grid pattern, with broad boulevards and parks, and has never had an organic "old town". During World War II, Soviet industries relocated here beyond Nazi attack, along with hospitals, universities, cultural institutes and workers from elsewhere (especially Slavs, Uyghurs and Koreans) so the city became quite cosmopolitan. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the city became the capital of independent Kazakhstan and was renamed Almaty.

For a capital city, Almaty was rather off-centre: hard up against lofty Trans-Ili Alatau mountains, the Kyrgyzstan border lies just south. Hence, in 1997, the government shifted the capital north to Astana. Though the capital no more, Almaty remains the country's business centre, its cultural core, as well as its largest city. In 2024 it had a population of 2,250,000.

Climate

Almaty's climate is continental, influenced by the mountains. Winter daytime temperature is about -2 to -5 °C, while June-Aug is around 30 °C. The best times to visit are April-May (though these can be wet) and Sep-Oct.

Talk

Most locals in Almaty speak Russian. Kazakh, a Turkic language related to Turkish, is the state language of Kazakhstan and is also used. Many people in tourist-facing businesses speak English.

Visitor information

Visit Almaty is the online portal and gives details of its eight locations: the airport, Zenkov 24A, Panfilov 84, Dostyk 56/3, Timiryazev 40/2, Orbita 2, and Omarov 2 foot of the cable-car. The Kerey-Zhanibek Khandar location is next to Medeu ice rink in the mountain resort of Chimbulak.

Religious

1 Ascension Cathedral (Zenkov Cathedral), Gogol 40 (Panfilov Park, Metro Zhibek Zholy). Daily 07:00-18:00. Completed in 1907 and renovated in the 2020s - new saints were painted in, though presumably they were known to the hagiographers. The iconostasis is spectacular. At 56 m this among the tallest wooden buildings in the world, which you wouldn't guess from the smoothly-painted exterior hues of custard, icing sugar and coloured marzipan - it's more like a trap for Hansel & Gretel. Free. (updated Dec 2024)

2 St Nicholas Cathedral, Baytursynov 56 (Metro Baykonur), ☏ +7 727 267 5910. Russian Orthodox church built in 1909. It was used as stables for Soviet cavalry horses but reopened as a church in 1980. Main entrance is west side from Baytursnov, but there's also a little gate from the park just south. (updated Dec 2024)

3 Central Mosque, Pushkin 16 (Metro Raiymbek Batyr), ☏ +7 727 397 6390. Daily 05:00-22:00. Grand mosque with marble walls and spacious decorated interior. Free. (updated Dec 2024)

4 Sophia Cathedral, Latifa Hamidi 30, ☏ +7 727 397 4105. Daily 07:00-19:00. Built 1893-95 after its predecessor was destroyed by an earthquake, the church became the centrepiece of a monastery, but the complex was crushed by the communists. Only in 2007 were both restored. The tranquil monastery compound has a few other chapels you can look in on. Free. (updated Dec 2024)

5 Holy Kazan Cathedral (Svyato-Kazanskiy Sobor), Khaliullina 45a. Small, brightly painted Russian Orthodox Church with a gorgeously ornate interior. Free. (updated Dec 2024)

Museums

6 Museum House of Akhmet Baytursynov, Baytursynov 60 (Metro Baikonur), ☏ +7 727 292 1089. Mon-Sat 10:00-17:30. Akhmet Baytursynov (1873-1937) was a Kazakh intellectual active in politics, poetry, linguistics and education, so inevitably he was shot during Stalin's "Great Purge". (updated Dec 2024)

7 Museum of Almaty, Kabanbay Batyr 132, ☏ +7 727 267 5905. Tue-Sun 10:00-19:00. Small museum of the history of the city, mountaineering and the Republic, housed in a former orphanage. Audioguide available on your own mobile device. Adult 1500 tenge. (updated Dec 2024)

Saunas or banyas are where folk relax and socialise during the miserable cold months. These have different styles eg Moroccan, Nordic or Russian (where half the fun is flagellating yourself with veniki leaves). A two hour session with various extras might be 5000 tenge in 2024. There's some 30 saunas across the city, not including private hotel facilities or seedy "gentlemen's clubs", and many are part of large leisure complexes. A good example is Arasan at Tulebaev 78 near Ascension Cathedral, open daily 07:00-22:30.

Football: FC Kairat play soccer in the Premier League, Kazakhstan's top tier, which plays April-Nov. Their home ground is Central Stadium, capacity 24,000, on Abay Ave (Metro Baikonur / Stadion). International games are played in Astana.

Events

Nauryz Myrami is the spring festival, on or about 21 March each year.

Indie Film Festival is held in September.

Almaty Marathon is run in September.

Theatre

Artishock is an experimental theatre at Kunaev 9.

La Boheme is a theatre at Valikhanov 43, Metro Zhibek Zholy.

Abay Kazakh State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater is at Kabanbay Batyr 110, Metro Almaly.

M Lermontov State Academic Russian Drama Theater is at Abay 43, Metro Abay.

KELT is an English language theatre within KIMEP University, Metro Abay.

Uyghur Theatre is at Nauryzbai Batyr 83.

Almaty Theatre is on Halyk Square off Al-Farabi.

Mountains

1 Kok-Tobe Park. Small Soviet-esque fun fair perched on a hilltop, where the highlight is getting there on the cable car. (The base station is at Luganskiy 2, east end of Abay.) Up top is a series of overpriced rides, games and attractions, and two restaurants; the wildest beasts in the "mini-zoo" are some hens and goats. The park is fenced in with no access to the nearby mountains, but you can walk to or from town via the service road. Adult return by cable car 10000 tenge, by minibus 3500 tenge. (updated Dec 2024)

Route P22 (Dulati Street, becomes Svezhest) runs south up the valley of River Bolshaya Almatinka. Along this route are Kok-Tobe (the hill not the funfair), Tau Spa, Alma-Arasan gorge and Big Almaty Lake.

2 Tau Spa, Alma-Arasan Gorge 1/3, ☏ +7 701 733 4565. Year-round mountain spa with pools and cabin accommodation. Mixed reviews. (updated Dec 2024)

Kazakh cheap places are plentiful, selling shashlik, soup, salad and so on.

Burgers are popular fast food, typically with sliced kebab meat on a hamburger bun with pickles and garlic sauce.

Bahandi is a burger chain with 8 city locations, the most central is at Baytursynova 61, two blocks south of Tole Bi.

Alasha, Ostpanova 20, ☏ +7 707 7463 489. Daily 12:00-00:00. Uzbeki restaurant. Brace yourself for being sung at, danced at, and horse meat. (updated Dec 2024)

Basilic, Shevchenko 127, ☏ +7 778 344 9000. 24 hours. Sit-down canteen with an English menu. Low prices and offers local specialties such as horsemeat. (updated Dec 2024)

China Town, Mametova 47 (corner with Abylai Khan), ☏ +7 727 233 2152. Daily 10:00-00:00. Inexpensive Chinese eatery, large servings. Plenty of vegetarian dishes such as tofu. (updated Dec 2024)

Crudo Steakhouse, Abaya 17, ☏ +7 777 279 0717. Daily 12:00-01:00. Steakhouse, mixed reviews on food quality and value for money. Good if you would like to try horse. (updated Dec 2024)

Mamma Mia, Panfilov 109, ☏ +7 747 128 1457. Sun-Thu 10:00-23:00, Fri Sat 10:00-00:00. Chain pizzeria with filling portions, veggies won't starve. (updated Dec 2024)

Namaste, Gogol 155, ☏ +7 707 790 0956. Daily 11:00-22:30. Good Indian food. (updated Dec 2024)

Restaurant Princess, Tolebayeva 53 (corner with Gogol), ☏ +7 727 261 0627. Daily 12:00-00:00. Popular Chinese restaurant. (updated Dec 2024)

Tandoor, Tole Bi 102, ☏ +7 707 388 9933. Daily 11:00-23:00. Good-value Indian and other Asian food. (updated Dec 2024)

Tarih, Abylai Khan 104 (corner of Shevchenko), ☏ +7 778 146 5566. Daily 12:00-00:00. Great Kazakh food with an interesting modern touch. (updated Dec 2024)

Tyubeteika, Satpaeva 32, ☏ +7 701 589 7619. Daily 12:00-00:00. Uzbek restaurant, good food with grumpy service. They also have outlets at Abylai Khan125 and Dostyk Ave. (updated Dec 2024)

Venezia, Kairbekov 61 (corner of Tole Bi), ☏ +7 727 293 8167. Daily 10:00-01:00. Good selection of meat, veggies may struggle, (updated Dec 2024)

Grand Zina, Kabanbay Batyr 85 (within Almaty Hotel), ☏ +7 700 437 0000. Daily 08:00-00:00. A cool restaurant with great mosaics. (updated Dec 2024)

Barmaglot Bar, Satpaev 3, ☏ +7 777 825 3030. Tue-Sun 17:00-03:00. For evening drinks, gets lively after 23:00. A bit stuffy: there are strict age requirements (21+ for women, 25+ for men) and a dress code. (updated Dec 2024)

WL13Bar (William Lawson), Bogenbai Batyr Street 102, ☏ +77088131313. 16:00-02:00. Irish pub (updated Mar 2025)

Fuller's Pub Pheasant Feather, Dostyk Ave 116, ☏ +77719808181. English pub (updated Mar 2025)

Yard House Pub, 2, Samal-1 Microdistrict (Dostyk avenue and Zholdasbekov Street intersection), ☏ +77475808868. Kazakh pub (updated Mar 2025)

The Shakespeare Pub, 40 Dostyk avenue, ☏ +77717721900. Western beer and Indian food (updated Mar 2025)

Harat`s Pub, 121 Makatayev Street, ☏ +77767775858. Irish pub (updated Mar 2025)

Harat`s Irish Pub, 110 Panfilov Street, ☏ +77273546184. (updated Mar 2025)

Напитки: The Bar, 555A Seifullin Ave. 19:00-02:00. Kazakh beers from $2 (updated Mar 2025)

Munchen pub na Panfilova, 102 Panfilova Str. 17:00-05:00. (updated Mar 2025)

Harvey's pub & grill, 223 Nazarbayev Str. Kazakh sport bar & pub with a variety of international beers (updated Mar 2025)

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 also upward sloping.

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 Bauyrjan Momyshuly.

The Metro is open from 06:00-00:00, and is safe and guarded by police at all times. You need to put your bags through a scanner upon entering the station before ticketing. A single trip costs 120 tenge (as of 2026), regardless of length of trip. The tickets are paper with a QR code, buy them at 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.

Metro stations from the north are:

1 Raiymbek batyr (Russian: Райымбек батыра, Kazakh: Райымбек). North terminus, for Almaty-2 railway station & buses around Sayakhat. (updated Dec 2024)

2 Zhibek Zholy-Dostyk (Russian: Жибек Жолы). For Ascension Cathedral, Panfilov Park, Green Bazaar, Museum of Kazakh Musical Instruments and Kazakh-British Technical University. (updated Dec 2024)

3 Almaly (Russian: Алмалы). For Hotel Almaty, Opera & Ballet House, Kunayev Museum and Republican Book Museum. (updated Dec 2024)

4 Abay (Russian:Абая, Kazakh:Абай). For Central State Museum, Kazakh National Agrarian University, State Academic Russian Drama Theatre, and Kok-Tobe cable-car. (updated Dec 2024)

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

5 Baikonur (Russian:Байконур, Kazakh: Байқоңыр). For Sport Palace and Central Stadium. (updated Dec 2024)

6 Auezov Theater (Russian: Театр имени Мухтара Ауэзова, Kazakh: Мұхтар Әуезов атындағы театры). For Auezov Theatre, Circus, Rahat Palace Hotel & Kusteyev Fine Arts Museum. (updated Dec 2024)

7 Alatau (Russian: Алатау). For Mahatma Gandhi Park. (updated Dec 2024)

8 Sayran. This is a 2.5-km walk to Sayran bus station, as the lake lies between. (updated Dec 2024)

9 Moskva. This station is nearer to Sayran bus station, though it's still a 1.5-km hike north up Utegen Batyr. (updated Dec 2024)

Beware of traffic, safeguard valuables and take care when drunk, same as anywhere else.

People frequently ride E-Scooters on pavements at high speed. During the evening and night, many of those riders are drunk and may not change direction for you.

The emergency number is 112, but you can also directly contact each service; 101 Fire, 102 Police, and 103 Ambulance.