Skiing and steppe beneath the Tian Shan. Here is when to go, what a day costs on site and what to see, then Okela composes your itinerary hour by hour.

Compose my trip to AlmatySee Almaty in Okela

When to visit Almaty

Best months: January, February, May, June, September and October.

What to see in Almaty

1. Medeu (patinoire) & Shymbulak
   Medeu is a narrow, high valley in the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains above Almaty, where the open-air skating rink sits against wooded slopes.
2. Kok-Tobe
   Rising to 1,100 metres above the city, Kok-Tobe gives a clear overview of Almaty and of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains to the south.
3. Cathédrale Zenkov & parc Panfilov
   Built almost entirely of wood in the early twentieth century, without metal nails, this Russian Orthodox church is one of the most distinctive buildings in Almaty.
4. Green Bazaar
   Open since 1875, this covered market is still a working place where Almaty residents shop every day.
5. Big Almaty Lake
   This alpine reservoir sits above 2,500 metres in the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains, only about fifteen kilometres south of central Almaty.
6. Musée central d'État
   This museum gathers the history of Kazakhstan from prehistory to the present day, in a city that was long the country's capital.
7. Arbat (rue Zhibek Zholy)
   This pedestrian street in central Almaty takes its name from Moscow's Arbat.
8. Charyn Canyon (excursion)
   Charyn Canyon, carved by the river of the same name in the foothills of the Tian Shan, is a surprise of red sandstone walls and erosion-sculpted shapes in a part of Central Asia many travellers don't expect.

A sample itinerary for Almaty, three days

Composed by Okela from the places in its database, with times. Yours takes your dates, pace and group into account.

Budget

Expect about €60 per person per day on site (accommodation, meals, transport and visits), depending on the comfort you choose. Okela shows the price of every step of your itinerary.

My Almaty itinerary, hour by hour

Photo: Marat Rysbekov, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.