Dostoevsky Museum
The well laid-out Dostoevsky Museum incorporates the wooden house where the exiled writer lived from 1857 to 1859 with his wife and baby. The displays range over Dostoevsky’s life and works, including his five years in jail at Oms and five years of enforced military service at Seme
Palace of Independence
The Palace of Independence is well worth a visit especially for its huge scale model of how Astana is planned to look in 2030. It also holds an interesting ethnographic hall with exhibits similar to those at the Presidential Cultural Centre . English-language tours are available. I
Aral Tenizi
The NGO Aral Tenizi, which works to revive the Aral fishing industry, can arrange 4WDs and drivers to visit the sites. Ask for English-speaking Serik Dyusenbaev. A half-day trip to the Zhalanash ship cemetery and the sea costs 15,000T for up to four people. A day trip to the Kok-Ar
Ploshchad Poyushchykh Fontanov
The eastern half of the Nurzhol bulvar starts with this plaza which springs to life with music-and-water shows at 9pm on summer evenings. Further east stand twin golden-green, conical business centres: the southern one contains the headquarters of Samryk-Kazyna , Kazakhstan’s sover
National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan
This huge blue-glass-and-white-marble museum covers the history and culture of Kazakhstan from ancient to modern times. Themed halls comprise interactive displays and artifact exhibits, ranging from a full-sized yurt in the Hall of Ethnography to a chronicle of the capitals modern
Panfilov Park
This large and attractive rectangle of greenery is one of central Almatys most popular strolling and hangout places for all ages. At its heart stands the candy-coloured Zenkov Cathedral , Kazakhstans nearest (albeit distant) relative to St Basil’s Cathedral and one of Almaty’s few
Respublika Alany
This broad, Soviet-created ceremonial square provides a panoramic view of the snowcapped mountains on a clear morning. Its focus is the tall Independence Monument . The stone column is surmounted with a replica Golden Man standing on a winged snow leopard. Around its base are statu
Bayterek Monument
Nurzhol bulvars centrepiece is the 97m-high Bayterek monument, a white latticed tower crowned by a large glass orb. This embodies a Kazakh legend in which the mythical bird Samruk lays a golden egg containing the secrets of human desires and happiness in a tall poplar tree, beyond
Karaganda Ecological Museum
The Karaganda Ecological Museum, run by a dedicated, campaigning environmental NGO, has to be the most imaginative museum in the country. Everything can be touched, and this includes large rocket parts that have fallen on the steppe after Baykonur space launches, and debris collect
Palace of Peace & Accord
This beautiful, glass-and-steel pyramid was opened in 2006 as the home for the triennial Congress of World and Traditional Religions, hosted by Kazakhstan (next in 2015). The half-hour tour (English-speaking guides available) shows you a 1350-seat opera hall, the 3rd-floor atrium w
Presidential Cultural Centre
The yurt-shaped Presidential Cultural Centre houses an excellent museum whose highlight is the 2nd floor, with outstanding collections of Kazakh jewellery and ‘gold and gold-makings’. These include gold jewellery and replicas from the Scythian burial mounds at Berel and the Issyk b
Yasaui Mausoleum
The main chamber is capped with an 18m-wide dome, above a vast, 2000kg, metal kazan (cauldron) for holy water, given by Timur. Around this central hall are 34 smaller rooms on two floors. Yasaui’s tomb lies behind an ornate wooden door at the end of the main chamber: you can view i
Levoberezhny Park
This large new park on the south bank of the Irtysh contains several interesting exhibits and is well worth a couple of hours of your time. Moving west from the entrance through still-growing botanical gardens you reach the Ethnographical Exhibition which comprises houses in the tr
Kok
This 1100m hill on the city’s southeast edge is crowned by a 372m-high TV tower visible from far and wide, and affords great views over the city and the mountains, plus an assortment of attractions at the top. The easy way up is by the smooth cable car , which glides up in six minu
Khan Shatyr
Astanas most extraordinary building (so far), the Khan Shatyr is a 150m-high, translucent, tent-like structure made of ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), a heat-absorbing material that produces summer temperatures inside even when it’s -30°C outside. Touted as a lifestyle centre
Central State Museum
Almaty’s best museum, 300m up Furmanov from Respublika alany, takes you through Kazakhstan’s history from Bronze Age burials to telecommunications and the transfer of the capital to Astana, with many beautiful artefacts. A large replica of the Golden Man stands in the entrance hall
Doing business & staying in touch while in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan: Doing business & staying in touch
Kazakhstan Weather, Climate and Geography
Kazakhstan Weather, climate and geography
Kazakhstan History, Language and Culture
Kazakhstan History, Language and Culture
Kazakhstan Travel Guide and Travel Information
Kazakhstan Travel Guide
