Almaty
Overview
If you close your eyes at home, you open them again in Almaty and someone tells you that you are in Europe, you will believe that someone. Almaty could perfectly be in Spain, France, Germany, UK... anywhere in Europe, as it is a totally European city in almost all ways: people dressed in European style, European buildings, fancy and expensive restaurants, pubs and discos, pedestrian streets, European shops and shoping malls.... the Kazakh city has it all.
Almaty makes for a couple of days sightseeing and it is also useful if you're a Westerner travelling around Central Asia and you want to feel at home, have some Western food at a fancy restaurant, a beer at a trendy pub or go shopping to Zara, Mango or Louis Vuitton. Otherwise, Almaty has not much to offer the visitor. But remember, as any European city, Almaty has European prices as well.
Almaty makes for a couple of days sightseeing and it is also useful if you're a Westerner travelling around Central Asia and you want to feel at home, have some Western food at a fancy restaurant, a beer at a trendy pub or go shopping to Zara, Mango or Louis Vuitton. Otherwise, Almaty has not much to offer the visitor. But remember, as any European city, Almaty has European prices as well.
Sightseeing
Almaty is really big. However, it doesn't have many impressive sights, being the most recommendable the Zenkov Cathedral, a beautiful wooden Russian Orthodox Church and Medeu Stadium, where you can go ice-skating in the so-called highest ice-rink in the world.
-Zenkov Cathedral: The most beautiful sight in Almaty. It is a Russian Orthodox church made totally of wood and beautifully painted, resembling a bit the ones in Moscow and Saint Petersburg (just a little bit). You can get inside to admire the beautiful frescoes and painted walls. It is located in Penfilov Park, really close to the WWII Memorial Monument.
-Green Market: A Market in the main pedestrian street of Almaty. It has two separate areas: an open-air one where you can mostly find household stuff and a covered one, where you can find clothes, a few souvenirs and food. The meat section is worth a look, as they have separate stals for the different kinds of animals. Interesting to have a look at the horse section.
-Central Mosque: A marble mosque with a golden dome. It is big but not really worth a visit if you have previously seen other mosques. You can get inside, but it is quite empty, just some wooden stairs and a mihrab.
-Medeu Stadium: Quite interesting to go, as you see a bit of the Kazakh mountanious landscape and you can enjoy ice-skating in the highest ice-rink of the world laying at more than 1700 meters above sea level (or at least that is what they say). The stadium is big and you have plenty of space to skate, but watch out, as there are no barriers so you better know how to brake. The entrance fee costs 1800 tenge and the skates rental for 2 hours is 1000 tenge. Take bus number 12 for 80 tenge from the opposite side of Hotel Kazakhstan.
-Kok Tobe Mountain: A hill on the way to Medeu from where to have an overview of all Almaty. There's a small zoo and amusement park on the top. A couple of restaurants and souvenir stalls, too. Nothing really special, only to have an aerial view of Almaty. When we visited it, they were renovating the area, so half of it was closed. In summertime it must be nicer. There's a cable car going up there (closed when we visited it) but you can take bus 99 or 95 for 80 tenge and it drops you at the foot of the hill. From there you can walk around 15 minutes to the top or take a minibus for 300 tege one way. There is an entrance fee to the hill of 100 tenge.
-Kazakhstan National Museum: In Panfilov Park, right next to the WWII Memorial Monument. We didn't get inside, but it is quite nice from the outside, as it is made of wood.
-Panfilov Park: You will go to this park. It is centrally located and it contains the Zenkov Cathedral, the WWII Memorial Moument and the National Museum. Besides that, it makes for a walk around.
-WWII Memorial Monument: It is a really huge Soviet monument to commemorate 28 Almatian soldiers killed during WWII. It is the typical Soviet monument, so not aesthetically nice, but quite impressive for its size. There's an eternal flame in front of it, too.
-Zhibek Zholy Street: As all European big cities, Almaty has its own It is the typical pedestrian street with shopping centers, expensive clothing shops, artists, restaurants... and the Green Market, too. It makes for a walk, but you've seen plenty of these streets in any major European city.
-Zenkov Cathedral: The most beautiful sight in Almaty. It is a Russian Orthodox church made totally of wood and beautifully painted, resembling a bit the ones in Moscow and Saint Petersburg (just a little bit). You can get inside to admire the beautiful frescoes and painted walls. It is located in Penfilov Park, really close to the WWII Memorial Monument.
-Green Market: A Market in the main pedestrian street of Almaty. It has two separate areas: an open-air one where you can mostly find household stuff and a covered one, where you can find clothes, a few souvenirs and food. The meat section is worth a look, as they have separate stals for the different kinds of animals. Interesting to have a look at the horse section.
-Central Mosque: A marble mosque with a golden dome. It is big but not really worth a visit if you have previously seen other mosques. You can get inside, but it is quite empty, just some wooden stairs and a mihrab.
-Medeu Stadium: Quite interesting to go, as you see a bit of the Kazakh mountanious landscape and you can enjoy ice-skating in the highest ice-rink of the world laying at more than 1700 meters above sea level (or at least that is what they say). The stadium is big and you have plenty of space to skate, but watch out, as there are no barriers so you better know how to brake. The entrance fee costs 1800 tenge and the skates rental for 2 hours is 1000 tenge. Take bus number 12 for 80 tenge from the opposite side of Hotel Kazakhstan.
-Kok Tobe Mountain: A hill on the way to Medeu from where to have an overview of all Almaty. There's a small zoo and amusement park on the top. A couple of restaurants and souvenir stalls, too. Nothing really special, only to have an aerial view of Almaty. When we visited it, they were renovating the area, so half of it was closed. In summertime it must be nicer. There's a cable car going up there (closed when we visited it) but you can take bus 99 or 95 for 80 tenge and it drops you at the foot of the hill. From there you can walk around 15 minutes to the top or take a minibus for 300 tege one way. There is an entrance fee to the hill of 100 tenge.
-Kazakhstan National Museum: In Panfilov Park, right next to the WWII Memorial Monument. We didn't get inside, but it is quite nice from the outside, as it is made of wood.
-Panfilov Park: You will go to this park. It is centrally located and it contains the Zenkov Cathedral, the WWII Memorial Moument and the National Museum. Besides that, it makes for a walk around.
-WWII Memorial Monument: It is a really huge Soviet monument to commemorate 28 Almatian soldiers killed during WWII. It is the typical Soviet monument, so not aesthetically nice, but quite impressive for its size. There's an eternal flame in front of it, too.
-Zhibek Zholy Street: As all European big cities, Almaty has its own It is the typical pedestrian street with shopping centers, expensive clothing shops, artists, restaurants... and the Green Market, too. It makes for a walk, but you've seen plenty of these streets in any major European city.
Accomodation
Almaty is a big city, so there are plenty of hotels, but expensive ones. Being in a low budget, we stayed at 74/76 hostel for some 20€ per night per room with shared toilet. Not the best place ever, but probably the cheapest one in Almaty. The owner is friendly, it is a clean place, but not really a hostel feeling.
Food & Drink
Thousands of options. And 95% of them really expensive as they are fancy, modern and trendy restaurants, pubs and clubs. Almaty, from my point of view, has a problem. It wants to look European so much that they have filled up the city with thousands of these restaurants, You have them everywhere and they all look the same: modern, fancy... and expensive. So no option for nice traditional Kazakh places.
Anyway, there's still chance of finding some kebab, hamburger and samsa places scattered around town, as well as a KFC and a Burger King in the pedestrian street for some cheaper eats, although expect prices the same as in western Europe.
As to drinks, plenty of, again, fancy coffee shops where to have an espresso, cappuccino or latte. Beer is available everywhere.
Anyway, there's still chance of finding some kebab, hamburger and samsa places scattered around town, as well as a KFC and a Burger King in the pedestrian street for some cheaper eats, although expect prices the same as in western Europe.
As to drinks, plenty of, again, fancy coffee shops where to have an espresso, cappuccino or latte. Beer is available everywhere.
Transportation
Almaty is well connected to all places in Kazakhstan. We came from Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) by marshrutka (400 Kyrgyz soms). The trip takes 5 hours including border formalities, which are almost unexistant (stamp on your visa, filling in an immigration form and that's all). The marshrutka drops you at Sayran bus station, some 5 km from the city center.
To get out of Almaty, we took a sleeper bus to Urumqi(China) for 10100 tenge. the trip lasts about 24 hours and instead of seats, you have beds in the bus.
To get around in Almaty you can use the metro (only onle line, though) for 80 tenge each trip, or the buses (also 80 tenge). No marshrutkas in Almaty.
To get out of Almaty, we took a sleeper bus to Urumqi(China) for 10100 tenge. the trip lasts about 24 hours and instead of seats, you have beds in the bus.
To get around in Almaty you can use the metro (only onle line, though) for 80 tenge each trip, or the buses (also 80 tenge). No marshrutkas in Almaty.
Safety
It feels totally safe. The city is well lit (actually too lit) after dark and the cars respect traffic rules, so no problems at all. Just behave as in your homecity in Europe r in any other Western place.
The only problem in winter is walking in some sidewalks, as they don't clean up the ice and they can be slippery.
The only problem in winter is walking in some sidewalks, as they don't clean up the ice and they can be slippery.
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