One day in Almaty

Day by day

1. Day 1: Ascension Cathedral (Zenkov Cathedral) and Green Bazaar

   Ascension Cathedral (Zenkov Cathedral), Green Bazaar, Museum of Kazakh Folk Musical Instruments and Arasan Baths, then Kok Tobe in the evening.

   1. Morning

      Ascension Cathedral (Zenkov Cathedral)

      Visit during a service to hear the choir, dress modestly and, for women, carry a headscarf. Allow 1 hour with the park.

   2. Late morning

      Green Bazaar

      Try kazy, kurt and dried apricots before you buy, and bring cash; prices are by the kilogram. Allow 1–1.5 hours.

   3. Lunch

      Lunch: Beshbarmak

      Kazakh restaurants in the centre; it is also served at family celebrations.

   4. Afternoon

      Museum of Kazakh Folk Musical Instruments

      Combine it with the cathedral and memorial in the same park. Allow 45 minutes.

   5. Late afternoon

      Arasan Baths

      Bring flip-flops and a towel or rent them, and try a venik (birch-twig) treatment in the Russian banya. Allow 2–3 hours.

   6. Evening

      Kok Tobe

      Go up an hour before sunset to see the city in daylight and then lit up, and check the weather: the view vanishes in winter smog.

If it rains

• Swap in Central State Museum of Kazakhstan (Samal): Allow time for the nomadic culture rooms, which put the steppe's horse-based life in context.
• Swap in Kasteyev State Museum of Arts (Golden Square): Head first to the Kazakh halls on the ground floor, which you will not see anywhere else.
• Swap in Almaty Metro art stations (City centre): Ride the whole line between Raiymbek Batyr and Abay stations, getting off at the decorated stations.

Where to stay for this itinerary

Pace and daylight

The sights in this plan add up to roughly 7–8 hours of visiting over one day, before meals and getting between them. Daylight runs from about 9 hours in December to 15.4 hours in June, so in winter start early and keep museums for the afternoon.

Getting between stops: Ride-hailing. Yandex Go and inDrive are widely used and inexpensive, with fixed fares shown in the app; they are the easiest way to reach Medeu, Kok Tobe and the museums.

More or fewer days

• 2 days in Almaty
• 3 days in Almaty
• 5 days in Almaty

Questions travellers ask