Distances from Kazakhstan cities to places
Choose one of 20 cities and a place to get the straight-line distance and the 20 nearest places. The figure does not measure the road.
A straight line can mislead you by a factor of nearly three
Use this tool to compare places, not to plan a day. On the map, Kolsai looks closer to Almaty than Charyn Canyon. By road it is the longer trip.
| Route | Straight line | By road | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Almaty to Charyn Canyon | 179 km | about 195 km, per Tengrinews and park materials; the same Tengrinews guide also says 200 km | 1.1 |
| Astana to Burabay | 228 km | about 257 km | 1.1 |
| Almaty to Kolsai Lakes | 120 km | 275 to 300 km or more: Kolesa.kz (2020) 275 km, Tengrinews (2018) about 300 km, nur.kz (2021) over 300 km | from 2.3 |
| Almaty to Big Almaty Lake | 22 km | closed to private vehicles; about 15 km on foot, 4 to 6 hours up | n/a |
That spread is why the tool applies no multiplier. One that suits Charyn would understate the road to Kolsai by more than half. Road figures come from the pages for these places, which cite their sources.
Almaty has far more nearby than Astana
The table of 20 nearest places is a quick measure of how much you can do from one base. From Almaty, all 20 lie within 39 km, starting with the Botanical Garden at 3 km. From Astana, the twentieth, Lake Toraigyr, is 295 km away.
So Almaty suits a stay with short outings, while nature trips from Astana usually take a weekend. See the lists for trips from Almaty and trips from Astana.
Limits of the calculation
The tool applies the haversine formula, with an Earth radius of 6,371 km, to two sets of coordinates and rounds to the nearest kilometre.
- Each city is one point. From the city’s edge the figure differs. Big Almaty Lake shows 22 km here, but it is about 15 km in a straight line from Almaty’s southern edge.
- Each place is one point too. In a large park, your actual destination can be tens of kilometres from it.
- Places cannot be a starting point. Charyn to Kolsai is not available here.
- Ten places have no distance. They have no coordinates, as listed on the map page.
If you are not driving, the transport guide matters more than any figure here.