Cities in Kazakhstan: list by population and what is nearby on charyn.kz

Aktau, Kazakhstan: what to do in the Caspian port city and the desert around it

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Aktau, Kazakhstan, is the country’s only seaport, a city of about 183,000 people on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, built from scratch in the desert after 1958. Inside the city you get a long seafront walk, a summer beach season and a handful of Soviet-era monuments. Its real value for a traveller is as the base for the canyons, chalk landscapes and pilgrimage sites of the Mangystau region.

Where Aktau is and what kind of trip it needs

Aktau sits on the Mangyshlak Peninsula in Mangystau Region, in the south-west of Kazakhstan. It is about 2,080 km in a straight line from Almaty and about 388 km from Atyrau, so for most visitors it is a separate trip by air rather than a side trip from the south-east.

Aktobe, Kazakhstan: what to see, the weather by month and trips into the steppe

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Aktobe, Kazakhstan, is a large industrial city in the far west of the country, where the Kargaly River joins the Ilek on a flat steppe plateau. It has a short list of city sights and several reservoirs within easy reach. The weather is sharply continental, so late spring and early autumn are the comfortable windows for a visit.

Where Aktobe is and what kind of trip it makes

Aktobe sits in the north of Aktobe Region in western Kazakhstan. By Wikipedia, Orenburg in Russia is about 200 km to the northwest and Orsk about 150 km to the northeast. Oral is about 421 km away in a straight line, Atyrau about 524 km and Kostanay about 550 km. We could not confirm the road distance or travel time from Almaty or Astana.

Almaty weather by month: temperature, rain, snow and what to pack

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Almaty has mild winters by Kazakh standards and hot summers. The station normal is 0.5 °C by day and −8.1 °C at night in January, and 30.5 °C (87 °F) and 18.6 °C in July. Spring is wet and September is the driest month, which makes it the safest choice for a day in the mountains.

Astana weather by month: how cold it gets, wind and frost

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Astana is cold and windy in winter, warm and bright in summer. The station normal is −10.3 °C by day and −18.7 °C at night in January, and 26.6 °C and 14.9 °C in July. For a winter trip the key number is 52: that is how many nights a year reach −20 °C or colder, although some winters have three times as many as others.

Atyrau, Kazakhstan: weather, sights and what the city works for as a base

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Atyrau, Kazakhstan, has a weather pattern of extremes: average July highs near 34°C and January highs below zero, with very little rain all year. The city sits on the Ural River near the north Caspian shore, in the far west of the country, and is best known for oil. For a traveller it is a short stop with a riverside walk, several museums and a medieval ruin within reach, rather than a destination in its own right.

Karaganda, Kazakhstan: what to see in the coal city and when to come

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Karaganda, Kazakhstan (also spelled Karagandy or Qaraghandy) is a coal-mining city of about half a million people in the centre of the country, roughly 230 km southeast of Astana according to Wikipedia. Most visitors come for one of three reasons: the Karlag forced labour camp museum at Dolinka, a break on the long rail line between Astana and Almaty, or a jumping-off point for the steppe hills further out. It is a one- or two-day stop, not a holiday destination in itself.

Pavlodar, Kazakhstan: weather, things to do and the Irtysh river city as a base

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Pavlodar weather in Kazakhstan swings hard: summer days average about 25–26 °C, while January highs sit near −14 °C. The city is a regional capital on the Irtysh River in the north-east of the country. A visit centres on a few landmarks, the river embankment and summer boat rides, not on wild nature.

Is Pavlodar worth a detour?

Pavlodar suits travellers already in northern Kazakhstan who want a calm river city, not a nature destination. Wikivoyage calls it a fairly quiet and uneventful former Soviet city. It names the mosque, the Orthodox cathedral and the Second World War memorial park as the main sights.

Things to do in Almaty: 10 places, a one-day plan and three days without a car

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Almaty splits into two kinds of day: museums and markets in the centre, and the mountains directly above the city. Most of the top things to do in Almaty fit into three days by metro, bus and taxi, with no rental car. Check two things before you plan: three central sights close on Mondays, and the rink, the zoo and the lake road that many Almaty travel guides still describe are shut. All statuses below were checked on 5 November 2026.

Things to do in Astana: Khan Shatyr, Baiterek, the pyramid and a one-day plan

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Most things to do in Astana, Kazakhstan fall into two groups you can cover in one day. The National Museum, Hazrat Sultan Mosque and the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation stand on Tauelsizdik Avenue, while Baiterek and Khan Shatyr are linked by the 2.2 km Nurzhol Boulevard. One warning first: we could not confirm opening hours for any of these from the organisations’ own pages. The hours below name their source, and you should check them before you go. Time permitting, add the Nur Alem sphere, where only the Singularity Museum is open now, and the nearby Astana Botanical Garden.

Things to do in Kokshetau, the lakeside city that serves as a base for Burabay and Zerenda

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Things to do in Kokshetau fit into a day or two: climb Bukpa Hill for the view, walk the Lake Kopa shore, and visit the regional and city museums. The city matters more as a base. Burabay National Park, the Zerenda lake resort and the Elikti ski slopes all lie within easy reach.

Kokshetau is a northern regional capital, not a destination in itself

Kokshetau is the administrative centre of Akmola Region, on the southern shore of Lake Kopa at about 234 m above sea level. By Wikipedia it is about 300 km north-west of Astana along the A1 highway, while the Kazakh Wikipedia gives 276 km along the same road. Almaty is roughly 1,615 km away, so this is a trip from Astana, not from the south.

Things to do in Konaev, the reservoir town north of Almaty

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Things to do in Konaev centre on the Kapchagay Reservoir: summer beaches, a water park and the country’s largest gambling zone, plus an ancient Usun-period burial complex on the Ili River. The city lies about 73 km in a straight line north of Almaty and suits a day or weekend in the warm months. Outside summer there is little to draw a nature traveller here.

Where Konaev is and what kind of trip it is

Konaev sits on the western shore of the Kapchagay Reservoir, on the Ili River near the point where the railway crosses it. Russian Wikipedia puts it 56 km north of Almaty. English Wikipedia gives 76 km by rail, and the straight-line distance works out at about 73 km. Russian Wikipedia’s 56 km is shorter than the straight line, so treat it with caution.

Things to do in Kostanay, a steppe city on the Tobol River

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Things to do in Kostanay fill a day or two: regional museums, the restored 1893 Maral-ishan mosque, Victory Park, the Tobol embankment and a set of whimsical street sculptures. The city sits on the Tobol River in northern Kazakhstan, about 571 km in a straight line north-west of Astana. Go for the city and its frontier history, and do not expect mountains or lakes nearby.

Where Kostanay is and who it suits

Kostanay is the capital of Kostanay Region, on flat steppe at the north-east edge of the Turgay plateau. Wikipedia puts it 571 km north-west of Astana, 704 km by road, and 260 km from Chelyabinsk in Russia, the nearest city of a million people. It is far from Almaty and the southern mountains: this is a different Kazakhstan, shaped by Russian, Ukrainian and German settlement and the 1950s Virgin Lands grain campaign.

Things to do in Kyzylorda, the desert city on the Syr Darya

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Things to do in Kyzylorda fit into a day: a late 19th-century mosque and church, the 1905 railway station, the regional museum and a walk along the Syr Darya. The city matters more as a base. It sits on the railway toward the Aral Sea, Baikonur and the old towns around Turkistan, in the desert of south-central Kazakhstan.

Where Kyzylorda is and what kind of trip it is

Kyzylorda is the capital of Kyzylorda Region in south-central Kazakhstan, about 830 km south-west of Astana, according to Russian Wikipedia. It lies on both banks of the Syr Darya at 125–135 m above sea level, on a flat plain of irrigated rice fields, sand ridges and salt flats. Turkistan is about 278 km away in a straight line and Shymkent about 430 km.

Things to do in Oral (Uralsk): a Cossack river town on Europe's edge

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The main things to do in Oral (Uralsk) are tied to its past: the old Cossack quarter called Kureni, the Mikhailo-Arkhangelsky cathedral from 1741–51, and the story of the Pugachev uprising that renamed the city. Oral is the capital of the West Kazakhstan Region, on the Ural and Chagan rivers. It works as a one- or two-day history stop, not as a base for the nature sites covered elsewhere on this guide, which are all more than 750 km away.

Things to do in Oskemen, the river city at the edge of the Altai

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The main things to do in Oskemen sit along its two rivers: the Strelka spit where the Ulba joins the Irtysh, the riverside promenade, a cluster of museums and a large open-air Etno Park. Most visitors use the city for a day or two, either for the city itself or as a base for East Kazakhstan and the Rudny Altai. It is a long way from Almaty, and the trip is easiest in summer.

Things to do in Petropavl, the northern city on the Ishim River

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Things to do in Petropavl revolve around its history as a frontier fortress, the steep right bank of the Ishim River and the lakes and birch woods on the flat plain around it. It is the northernmost regional capital of Kazakhstan, 428 km north of Astana by road according to Wikipedia, and only about 40 km from the border with Russia. Come in summer: winters here last four to five months.

Things to do in Semey, the Irtysh city of Abai and Dostoevsky

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Semey is a city of around 300,000–350,000 people on both banks of the Irtysh River in north-eastern Kazakhstan, about 1,000 km north of Almaty according to Wikipedia. The main things to do are literary museums devoted to the poet Abai and the exiled novelist Dostoevsky, a memorial to the victims of nuclear testing, and a long suspension bridge. It suits a one- or two-day city stop rather than a nature trip.

Things to do in Shymkent and how to use it as a base in southern Kazakhstan

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The main things to do in Shymkent sit within a short walk: a Soviet square, the curved lanes of the old town, a late-19th-century mosque and the Shym-Qala hillfort with its museum. The city lies in the far south of Kazakhstan, about 690 km west of Almaty and 120 km north of Tashkent by Wikipedia, so most visitors pair it with Turkistan or a crossing to Uzbekistan. Spring and early autumn are the comfortable seasons; July and August run well above 30 °C.

Things to do in Taldykorgan, and how the city works as a base for Jetisu nature

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Things to do in Taldykorgan fit into a day: two museums, a drama theatre, parks and a cluster of monuments to Kazakh poets and heroes. The city is the capital of Jetisu Region, about 230 km in a straight line from Almaty, on the Karatal river at roughly 570–600 m. Most foreign visitors will treat it as a stopover or a base, not a destination in itself.

Where Taldykorgan is and what kind of stop it makes

Taldykorgan sits in the centre of Zhetysu (Semirechye, the ‘Seven Rivers’ land), on the banks of the Karatal where the plain meets the foothills of the Zhetysu Alatau. Almaty is about 230 km away in a straight line and Konaev about 164 km. The road distance is longer; we could not confirm a typical driving time.

Things to do in Taraz, the old Silk Road city near the Kyrgyz border

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The main things to do in Taraz are its medieval mausoleums, above all Aisha Bibi about 18 km west of the city, the Karakhan mausoleum in the centre and the excavated old town shown in the Ancient Taraz museum. The city sits on the Talas River in the far south of Kazakhstan, close to the Kyrgyz border, about 450 km in a straight line from Almaty. Plan it as a history stop rather than a nature base.

Things to do in Turkistan, Kazakhstan: the Yasawi Mausoleum and a compact old city

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Turkistan, Kazakhstan, is worth a trip mainly for one monument: the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site commissioned by Timur in 1389 and never finished. Around it lie a park with historic buildings, a semi-underground mosque and an early 20th-century railway station. Wikivoyage calls it a small but ancient city of about 1,600 years, and notes there is not a huge amount to do outside the centre, so plan on a focused visit rather than a long stay.

Things to do in Zhezkazgan, the copper city at the centre of Kazakhstan

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Things to do in Zhezkazgan are few but specific: cosmonaut trees, copper-mining history that reaches back to the Bronze Age, two museums and a theatre. Most foreign visitors will use the city as a base for the Ulytau hills, not as a destination in itself. Plan a short stop rather than a long stay.

Where Zhezkazgan is and what kind of trip it demands

Zhezkazgan (also spelled Jezkazgan) sits near the geographic centre of Kazakhstan, on the Kara-Kengir river, at the edge of the desert and semi-desert zones. It is far from both main gateways: about 464 km in a straight line from Astana. Since 8 June 2022 it has been the administrative centre of the new Ulytau Region.