Things to do in Kazakhstan

18 places worth the trip in Kazakhstan, grouped by what they are. Every guide explains what to see, the best time to go and the practical details, checked against official sources. Best time to visit Kazakhstan: May–Sep.

Cities (4)
Nature (4)
National parks (3)
Heritage (2)
Landmarks (1)
Mosques & temples (1)
Mountains (1)
Viewpoints (1)
Museums (1)

Cities in Kazakhstan

The Baiterek tower with its golden sphere rising above a winter Astana cityscape

Astana, Kazakhstan

Astana and Baiterek Tower

Astana has been Kazakhstan's capital since 1997, and its new administrative centre on the left bank of the Ishim River was planned and built almost from scratch. At its heart stands Baiterek, a white lattice tower holding a gilded sphere with an observation deck 97 metres above the ground.

The colourful wooden cathedral seen down a tree-lined path with flower beds under a blue sky

Almaty

Kazakhstan's largest city, home to about 2.35 million people, set at the foot of the snow-capped Trans-Ili Alatau. The former capital mixes Soviet-era avenues and parks with landmarks such as the wooden Zenkov Cathedral and the Green Bazaar, and has mountains and ski slopes on its doorstep.

A tall red stele topped by a statue rising from a paved city square, with low buildings and parked cars around it

Shymkent (city of republican significance)

Shymkent

The largest city of southern Kazakhstan, about 120 kilometres north of Tashkent, with more than 1.2 million people. Founded on the Silk Road caravan route, it is now a regional hub with leafy parks, the monumental Ordabasy Square and easy access to Turkestan and ancient Sayram.

Speedboats on the Caspian below a pale limestone cliff, with apartment blocks and the red-and-white rooftop lighthouse above

Mangystau Region

Aktau and the Caspian coast

Aktau, 'white mountain' in Kazakh, is a port city built from the 1960s on white limestone cliffs along the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. Its beaches draw visitors in summer, and it is the gateway to the desert landscapes and underground mosques of Mangystau.

Nature in Kazakhstan

Aerial drone view of the blue Big Almaty Lake surrounded by mountains in daylight

Ile-Alatau National Park, Almaty

Big Almaty Lake

A natural alpine lake about 15 kilometres south of central Almaty, lying at 2,511 metres inside Ile-Alatau National Park. Its water shifts from light green to turquoise through the year, and it is a main source of drinking water for the city, so access is tightly controlled.

A boat floating on Kolsai Lake, with the surrounding forest reflected in the still water

Kegen District, Almaty Region

Kolsai Lakes

Three lakes strung along the Kolsai River on the northern slopes of the Tian Shan, at the heart of the Kolsai Lakes State National Nature Park. The lower lake can be reached by road from the village of Saty, while the middle and upper lakes are reached on foot or on horseback through spruce forest.

Rows of bare grey spruce trunks rising from bright turquoise water below a forested slope

Kegen District, Almaty Region

Kaindy Lake

A small lake in a narrow gorge of the Tian Shan, inside the Kolsai Lakes National Park, created when an earthquake-triggered landslide dammed a mountain river in 1911. The pale trunks of drowned spruce trees still stand in its blue-green water, giving it the nickname of the sunken forest.

Two hikers standing on a pale, cracked limestone outcrop against a clear blue sky

Karakiya District, Mangystau Region

Bozzhyra, Mangystau

Bozzhyra is a tract of white chalk and limestone cliffs on the western escarpment of the Ustyurt Plateau, around 270 to 300 kilometres east of Aktau. Its twin pointed outcrops, known as the fangs, and wind-carved walls make it the best-known landscape of Mangystau.

National parks in Kazakhstan

A rocky canyon landscape at Charyn Canyon with mountains in the background

Charyn National Park, Almaty Region

Charyn Canyon

A long canyon system cut into red sedimentary rock by the Charyn River, about 200 kilometres east of Almaty near the Chinese border. Its best-known stretch, the Valley of Castles, is lined with eroded towers, and the whole area is protected by Charyn National Park, created in 2004.

A cone-shaped hill banded in red, orange and cream layers above dry scrub under a deep blue sky

Kerbulak District, Zhetysu Region

Altyn-Emel National Park

A large desert national park between the Ili River and the Aktau range, established in 1996 and part of the Cold Winter Deserts of Turan World Heritage Site since 2023. It is known for the Singing Dune, the banded Aktau and Katutau mountains and the Saka burial mounds of Besshatyr.

A jagged rocky mountain rising above dense pine forest and the rippled water of a lake

Burabay District, Akmola Region

Burabay (Borovoe)

A national park in the Kokshetau massif where forested granite hills rise abruptly from the northern steppe around Lake Burabay, Lake Shchuchye and other lakes. Often called the pearl of Kazakhstan, it has been a protected forest and resort for more than a century.

Heritage in Kazakhstan

The long brick mausoleum with its turquoise dome and tall unfinished portal towers under a clear blue sky

Turkistan, Turkistan Region

Turkestan and the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi

The town of Turkestan in southern Kazakhstan grew up around the shrine of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, a 12th-century Sufi master and poet. The vast mausoleum begun for him by Timur in 1389 was never finished, and is one of the largest and best-preserved buildings of the Timurid period.

Bronze Age petroglyph carvings on a rock face at Tamgaly, Kazakhstan

Zhambyl District, Almaty Region

Tamgaly Petroglyphs

A UNESCO World Heritage archaeological landscape around the Tamgaly (Tanbaly) gorge, about 170 kilometres north-west of Almaty. Around 5,000 petroglyphs, together with ancient settlements, burial grounds and altars, record the lives and beliefs of pastoral peoples from the Bronze Age to the early 20th century.

Landmarks in Kazakhstan

A large Kazakh flag hanging beneath the translucent tent roof of Khan Shatyr, with the central mast and gallery floors around it

Nura District, Astana

Khan Shatyr

Khan Shatyr, the 'Khan's tent', is a transparent tent-shaped entertainment centre designed by Norman Foster and opened in 2010. Rising 150 metres including its spire, it shelters shopping streets, restaurants, a cinema, a family games centre and the Sky Beach Club, an indoor beach under the dome.

Mosques & temples in Kazakhstan

The white Hazrat Sultan Mosque with its central dome and four slender minarets under a blue sky with heavy clouds

Saraishyq District, Astana

Hazrat Sultan Mosque

Opened in July 2012, the Hazrat Sultan Mosque is one of Astana's best-known landmarks: a white building in classical Islamic style decorated with Kazakh ornaments, with a 51-metre central dome and four 77-metre minarets. It holds up to 10,000 worshippers and welcomes visitors of all faiths outside prayer times.

Mountains in Kazakhstan

Jagged rock peaks and glaciers covered in snow under a blue sky

Medeu District, Almaty

Medeu and Shymbulak

Two linked mountain venues in the Medeu valley just south of Almaty: the Medeu skating stadium at 1,691 metres and the Shymbulak ski resort above it, joined by a 4.5 kilometre gondola. Together they make the city's main mountain playground in winter and summer.

Viewpoints in Kazakhstan

Almaty's tower blocks stretching to the hazy horizon, framed by fresh green leaves in the foreground

Medeu District, Almaty

Kok-Tobe

A hill about 1,100 metres above sea level on the south-eastern edge of central Almaty, topped by a recreation park and the city's tall TV tower. A cable car rises from Dostyk Avenue in about six minutes, and the summit looks out over the city and the snow-capped mountains.

Museums in Kazakhstan

The dark glass Nur Alem sphere rising behind young trees and a lawn under a blue sky with white clouds

Yesil District, Astana

Nur-Alem (EXPO 2017 sphere)

Nur Alem, 'radiant world' in Kazakh, is the glass sphere about 80 metres in diameter that served as Kazakhstan's pavilion at EXPO 2017. After the fair it became a museum of future energy, and it now houses alem.ai, an international artificial intelligence centre with a public exhibition on its ground floor.

Kazakhstan holiday packages

A boat floating on Kolsai Lake, with the surrounding forest reflected in the still water

NatureAdventure

Kazakhstan · 7 nights4★ Hotel

Almaty Lakes & Charyn Canyon

Big Almaty Lake
Kolsai Lakes and Kaindy
Charyn Canyon

Includes accommodation · daily breakfast · private driver-guide · guided excursions

Indicative from

$2,028 pp

The Baiterek tower with its golden sphere rising above a winter Astana cityscape

City breakCulture

Kazakhstan · 6 nights4★ Hotel

Astana & Almaty

Baiterek Tower
Hazrat Sultan Mosque
Kok-Tobe hill

Includes accommodation · daily breakfast · astana–almaty flight · guided sightseeing

Indicative from

$1,559 pp

Kazakhstan travel overview Plan a Kazakhstan trip

Kazakhstan travel guides