Almaty, Kazakhstan Highlights
A curated tour of Almaty's most iconic landmarks, from Soviet-era parks and colourful wooden cathedrals to high-altitude ice rinks and breathtaking mountain scenery.
Trip Stops
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The grand civic heart of Almaty, dominated by the 34-metre Independence Monument topped by the legendary 'Golden Man' warrior riding a winged snow leopard — a symbol drawn from a 2,500-year-old Scythian burial find. The square was the site of the 1986 Jeltoqsan protests, one of the first mass uprisings against Soviet rule in Central Asia. Fun fact: the square once hosted the largest Nauryz (Kazakh New Year) celebrations in the country, drawing hundreds of thousands of people.
📍 Almaty, Almaty, Kazakhstan
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Almaty's most vibrant and beautiful market, bursting with Kazakh mountain herbs, dried fruits, legendary Aport apples, fermented mare's milk (kumiss), and the aromatic soft cheese called Irimshik. The market reflects Kazakhstan's remarkable ethnic mosaic — Uzbek vendors specialise in dried goods, Turkish women run the dairy stalls, and a lively Korean section (a legacy of Stalin's forced deportations in 1937) offers kimchi and other preserved foods. Fun fact: the city's very name comes from the Kazakh word 'alma' (apple), making this bazaar essentially the temple of Almaty's identity.
📍 Almaty, Almaty, Kazakhstan
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An 18-hectare shaded oasis in the city centre, honouring 28 soldiers from Almaty who held back a German tank assault outside Moscow in November 1941 — buying precious time for the defence of the Soviet capital. The park contains the solemn Memorial of Glory with an Eternal Flame, bronze monuments, and alleys of oak, maple, and fir. Fun fact: the park was originally a Cossack cemetery in the 1870s and has had at least seven different names throughout its history before settling on its current one in 1942.
📍 Almaty, Almaty, Kazakhstan
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One of the most extraordinary wooden buildings on Earth — a rainbow-coloured Russian Orthodox cathedral built between 1904 and 1907 almost entirely without nails, using traditional joinery techniques. It was deliberately engineered to be earthquake-resistant after a devastating 1887 quake destroyed most of Almaty's stone buildings; during construction it was actually shaken by a test machine to prove its resilience. Fun fact: the cathedral survived a massive 1911 earthquake completely intact, and during the Soviet era it was repurposed as a museum before being returned to the Church in 1995.
📍 Almaty, Almaty, Kazakhstan
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The largest museum in Central Asia, housing more than 300,000 artefacts spanning Kazakhstan's history from 7,500-year-old Bronze Age settlements to independence in 1991. Highlights include breathtaking Golden Man replicas (the original Scythian gold burial suit found in 1969), ancient carved stone balbal columns, and exquisite nomadic jewellery. Fun fact: between 1929 and 1985, the museum was actually housed inside Zenkov Cathedral before moving to its current purpose-built building.
📍 Almaty, Almaty, Kazakhstan
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Almaty's beloved 'Green Hill' rises to 1,100 m and is best reached via a scenic cable car (funicular) that has been running since 1967. At the summit you'll find sweeping panoramas of the city framed by snow-capped Tian Shan peaks, a Ferris wheel, cafés, Kazakh craft stalls, and the quirky Beatles monument — a bronze statue of all four Fab Four members that has become one of Almaty's most-photographed spots. Fun fact: the 371-metre TV tower on the hill is one of the tallest structures in Central Asia, built to withstand a magnitude-10 earthquake, and glows brilliantly at night.
📍 Almaty, Almaty, Kazakhstan
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A magnificent Soviet-Modernist bathhouse complex from the 1970s, blending traditional Central Asian wellness culture with high-design architecture. Visitors work their way through a Finnish sauna, a Russian banya, and Turkish and Moroccan hammam steam rooms. It is right across from Panfilov Park, making it a perfect pairing. Fun fact: the Arasan Baths complex was an intentional showpiece of multicultural Soviet policy — the design incorporated bathing traditions from four distinct cultures under one spectacular roof.
📍 Almaty, Almaty, Kazakhstan
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Sitting at 1,691 metres above sea level, Medeu is one of the highest-altitude speed skating rinks in the world, and has hosted over 200 world speed skating records — more than any other rink on the planet. Originally built in 1951, it was fully renovated for the 2011 Asian Winter Games. A massive dam behind the rink was built to protect Almaty from mudslides. Fun fact: the rink's high altitude and glacier-melt water produce exceptionally hard ice that many skaters consider the fastest in the world.
📍 Almaty, Almaty, Kazakhstan
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Kazakhstan's premier ski resort, perched at 2,200–3,200 m in the dramatic Ile-Alatau mountains just 25 km from the city centre. It was first opened in 1954 and has been linked to Medeu by a gondola since 2011, allowing a seamless mountain experience in all seasons — skiing and snowboarding in winter, hiking and paragliding in summer. Fun fact: Shymbulak was a serious contender venue when Almaty bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics, which ultimately went to Beijing.
📍 Almaty, Almaty, Kazakhstan
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A stunning glacial lake at 2,511 metres altitude within the Ile-Alatau National Park, shimmering in shades of turquoise and emerald depending on the season and light. Fed by glaciers and snowmelt from the surrounding peaks, it supplies a significant portion of Almaty's drinking water. Fun fact: the colour of the lake changes dramatically through the year — brilliant turquoise in summer from glacial flour, then deepening to jade green in autumn — making every visit feel completely different.
📍 Almaty, Almaty, Kazakhstan
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Often called 'Kazakhstan's Grand Canyon', Charyn stretches 154 km along the Charyn River with dramatic sedimentary rock formations estimated to be 12 million years old. The centrepiece 'Valley of Castles' section rises up to 300 metres. The canyon is also home to the Ash Grove, one of only two surviving groves of Sogdian ash trees in the world — the other being in North America. Fun fact: Charyn Canyon is actually longer than the famous Bryce Canyon in Utah, USA, though far less visited.
📍 Charyn, Almaty Region, Kazakhstan
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