Kazakhstan's mountain city — snow peaks at the end of every street, Soviet grandeur, glacial lakes and Central Asia's best coffee
✈ International🛂 Visa — Visa-Free (14 days)💱 ₸
₸481,312
Est. total budget · 2 adults
4
Days
8
Attractions
10
Meals planned
💡 Recommended trip length for Almaty: 4 days — Medeu and Shymbulak, Big Almaty Lake, the Green Bazaar and Zenkov Cathedral, Kok-Tobe at sunset, and a long day out to Charyn Canyon.
🗓 Prices & visa rules verified: August 2026
1
Arrival Day
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2
Day 2 — a free sample of your itinerary
Your unlocked preview day
🫖
08:00
🫖Breakfast
Baursak fried bread, cheese and black tea with milk.
₸1,202 /person (est.)
🚡
10:00
🚡Kok-Tobe Hill· Almaty
🕒 10:00–23:00 · Last entry 21:00 · Go up by cable car at dusk and take a taxi down, or the queue at closing is long. Cheap and genuinely good views.
₸2000.00⏱ 2.5 hoursviews
🍜
12:30
🍜Lunch
Lagman noodles, manti dumplings or plov.
₸2,644 /person (est.)
Kok-Tobe Hill → Panfilov Park
🚕~20 min by taxi · Dostyk cable car base → Zhibek Zholy (M1)
⛪
13:50
⛪Panfilov Park & Zenkov Cathedral· Almaty
🕒 08:00–19:00 · Last entry 17:30 · One of the tallest wooden buildings in the world and it survived the 1911 earthquake intact. Cover shoulders; women may want a headscarf inside.
Free⏱ 1.5 hoursculture
Panfilov Park → Almaty Central Mosque
🚶~5 min on foot · Zhibek Zholy (M1) → Pushkin St
🕌
15:30
🕌Almaty Central Mosque· Almaty
Part of your Day 2 — unlock to see the full description, how long to allow, opening hours and the ticket price.
🔒 Locked
Almaty Central Mosque → Green Bazaar
🚶~5 min on foot · Pushkin St → Zhibek Zholy (M1)
🍑
16:35
🍑Green Bazaar· Almaty
🕒 08:00–19:00 · Last entry 17:30 · Closed Mon · Haggle gently on dried fruit and nuts. The Korean salad row at the back is the local secret.
Free entry⏱ 1.5 hoursshopping
🍖
19:00
🍖Dinner
Beshbarmak, shashlik and a Kazakh craft beer.
₸4,327 /person (est.)
3
Day 3
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4
Departure Day
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🔒 You're viewing 1 of 4 days. Unlock to open the other 3 fully-planned days.
✈️Flights₸355,769
Per person · return from India₸177,885
Total · 2 adults₸355,769
🏨Accommodation₸34,615
3-Star hotel · per night (per room)₸11,538
3 nights × 1 room₸34,615
🎭Attractions & Activities₸21,000
Medeu & Shymbulak₸11,000
Big Almaty Lake₸6,000
Kok-Tobe Hill₸4,000
Total (all pax)₸21,000
🍽️Food & Dining₸54,327
🌅 Breakfast × 3d × 2 pax₸7,212
☀ Lunch × 4d × 2 pax₸21,154
🌙 Dinner × 3d × 2 pax₸25,962
Total food & dining₸54,327
🚕Airport Transfer₸8,400
Taxi · per cab, one way₸4,200
Airport ⇄ hotel · 2 legs × 1 cab₸8,400
🚇Local Transport₸7,200
Per person · per day (public transit)₸900.00
4 days × 2 pax₸7,200
🛂Visa — Not requiredVisa-free ✓
Entry typeVisa-free for your nationality ✓
StayShort-stay tourism — no visa needed
Estimated Grand Total
Almaty · 4 days · 2 adults
₸481,312
Your dates, group & final plan set inside the full itinerary.
In your Itinerary
8 attractions
✓ All 8 attractions with descriptions, opening hours & ticket prices. Your personalised day-by-day plan unlocks with the full itinerary.
✓ Day 2
01 / 8
🚡 Kok-Tobe Hill
Almaty
views
2.5 hours
🕒 10:00–23:00
A cable car from the city centre to a wooded hilltop with a fairground, a Beatles statue and the whole of Almaty spread out against the mountains at sunset.
✓ Day 2
02 / 8
🍑 Green Bazaar
Almaty
shopping
1.5 hours
🕒 08:00–19:00
The city's central market — horse meat and kazy sausage, mountains of dried apricots and walnuts, Korean salads from the deported Koryo-saram community, and free tastings everywhere.
✓ Day 2
03 / 8
⛪ Panfilov Park & Zenkov Cathedral
Almaty
culture
1.5 hours
🕒 08:00–19:00
A candy-coloured 1907 Russian Orthodox cathedral built entirely of wood without a single nail, standing in a park of monumental Soviet war memorials.
✓ Day 2
04 / 8
🕌 Almaty Central Mosque
Almaty
culture
1 hour
🕒 09:00–18:00
A blue-domed, gold-topped mosque holding three thousand worshippers, built in 1999 — a quiet counterpoint to the Soviet architecture around it.
05 / 8
🏔 Medeu & Shymbulak
Medeu Gorge
adventure
6 hours
🕒 09:00–18:00
The world's highest Olympic skating rink at 1,691 m, then a three-stage gondola up to a ski resort at 3,200 m with the Tien Shan range opening out around you.
06 / 8
🏞 Big Almaty Lake
Tien Shan
nature
0.75 hours
🕒 08:00–18:00
A turquoise glacial reservoir at 2,511 m ringed by peaks, 28 km up a rough valley road — the picture that sells Kazakhstan, and it does not disappoint.
07 / 8
🏜 Charyn Canyon Day Trip
Charyn
nature
3 hours
🕒 08:00–19:00
Three hours east, a 154 km red sandstone gorge cut into the steppe — the Valley of Castles section is a two-kilometre walk between spires down to the river.
08 / 8
🎨 Arbat & Republic Square
Almaty
leisure
1.5 hours
🕒 08:00–23:00
Zhibek Zholy pedestrian street with buskers and portrait painters, running down to the vast Soviet-scale Republic Square and the Independence Monument.
✓ All 4 stops on your Day 2 route. Unlock to see all 8 attractions mapped across your full itinerary.
✓ All 10 tips — visa, airport transfer & ways to spend less.
🛬
Airport → your hotel
Almaty International Airport (ALA) is about 15 km from the city centre. Order a Yandex Go for an upfront fare of roughly KZT 2,000–4,000 — much cheaper than the official Blue Sky airport taxi (a fixed KZT 9,000) or street taxis. There's no metro to the airport; buses 79/86 are cheap but slow with luggage. Add your hotel on the Day-by-Day tab for an exact distance and fare. Verified Jul 2026.
🆘
Emergencies
112 for all services. Altitude matters here — Shymbulak tops 3,200 m, so take the gondola slowly if you feel light-headed.
📱
SIM & data
Beeline, Kcell and Tele2 sell cheap tourist SIMs — you need your passport to register one. Data is fast and very cheap; coverage drops in the mountain valleys.
🌤
Best time to visit
May, June and September are ideal — green mountains, mild city. July and August are hot in the city but perfect at altitude. December to March is ski season at Shymbulak. April and November are muddy shoulder months.
🚕
Getting around
Use the Yandex Go app for taxis — it is cheap and removes haggling. The two-line metro is spotless but limited. Buses need a transport card. Mountain trips need a hired car or a tour.
💵
Money
Tenge only; cards work well in the city but bring cash for mountain gates and markets. Kaspi is the local payment app and is everywhere, though it needs a Kazakh number. ATMs are plentiful downtown.
🛂
Visa for Indians
Indian passport holders enter Kazakhstan visa-free, but only for 14 days per entry. No advance application and no fee — just carry a passport valid 6+ months and proof of onward travel. Watch the 14-day limit if you are combining Almaty with a longer Central Asia trip.
🍖
Food to try
Beshbarmak (the national dish, boiled meat over wide noodles), lagman, manti, plov, shashlik and baursak. Horse meat is common and normal here. Vegetarians will find Uzbek and Georgian restaurants the easiest option.
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Altitude & weather
The city sits at 800 m and Shymbulak at 3,200 m. Weather changes fast — carry a warm layer and a waterproof even on a clear morning, and check the gondola status before travelling up.
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Language
Russian is the working language and Kazakh the state one; English is limited outside hotels and modern cafés. Download offline Russian on Google Translate — the camera mode is very useful for menus.