Trips from Pavlodar: where to go and how far each place is

The obvious trips from Pavlodar are the two Bayanaul lakes, Zhasybay and Toraigyr, roughly 180–190 km away in a straight line and suited to a summer weekend. In the city itself there is the Mashkhur Zhusup Mosque. Everything else here is 240–340 km away and makes more sense as part of a wider route through Semey, Astana or Karaganda.

Bayanaul is the main reason to use Pavlodar as a base

Only one sight on this list is in Pavlodar itself. The rest start at about 182 km in a straight line, and road distances will be longer. Pavlodar lies about 398 km in a straight line from Astana, so it is a long way from the usual Almaty–Astana circuit.

The table sorts the ten places by straight-line distance from Pavlodar. The trip length column follows each place’s own page, and some “day” trips are day trips from Astana, not from Pavlodar.

We could not confirm bus or train links to any of these places. Without a car, budget extra time, and check transport before you commit.

Zhasybay or Toraigyr: two Bayanaul lakes for a summer weekend

Pick Zhasybay for swimming and Toraigyr for a quieter, smaller lake, or see both in one Bayanaul stay. Both lie in Bayanaul National Park and are rated best from June to August. Both are rated off from November to March, and April is only possible.

Zhasybay is freshwater and sits in a basin between granite ridges. It measures about 3.5 × 2.4 km and reaches 14.7 m deep. It is popular with people from central and northern Kazakhstan, so expect company in summer. Toraigyr is much smaller, at 0.88 km² and 3.1 m deep. It has rocky shores, two stone islets called Zhartas and a village on the shore, and it is named after the poet Sultanmakhmut Toraigyrov.

In the city: the Mashkhur Zhusup Mosque

The Mashkhur Zhusup Mosque is the one sight that needs no transport planning. It opened in 2001 in a park in the city centre, holds 1,500 worshippers, and has four 63-metre minarets. Its dome is shaped like a shanyrak, the crown of a yurt, and under it hangs a chandelier with 434 lamps.

It is a working mosque, so visit with the respect any place of prayer deserves. We could not confirm visiting hours or dress rules for non-Muslim visitors. Its season rating stays at “possible” even in winter.

East towards Semey: pine forest, a poet’s museum and a nuclear crater

Three places cluster around Semey, roughly 270–310 km from Pavlodar in a straight line. A Semey weekend can cover more than one of them. Semey Ormany protects about 662,167 ha of ribbon pine forest on sand around the city. Its best months are May and September, and wildfire is the main risk for visitors and for the forest itself.

The Abai Museum in Semey is devoted to Abai Qunanbaiuli (1845–1904), poet, composer and philosopher, who studied and lived in the city. Its page lists it as open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00, and closed on Mondays.

Chagan Atomic Lake fills a crater about 400 m across and 100 m deep, left by an underground thermonuclear explosion on 15 January 1965 on the Semipalatinsk Test Site. The water is still radioactive. That fact, not the scenery, should drive your decision, and we could not confirm current access rules.

West and south: places easier from Astana or Karaganda

Four places on this list belong to other bases, and from Pavlodar they only make sense if you are travelling on. Kobeituz, near Ereymentau, is a salt lake of about 6.9 km² and roughly 20 cm deep, with salinity given as 334 g/l. In warm months an alga can turn it pink, and there are no facilities on the shore.

Buiratau National Park covers 88,968 ha, was created in 2011, and shelters an isolated herd of about 200 argali. It charges a small entry fee and has four routes. The Ereymentau Mountains run for 70–75 km and top out at Akdym, 901 m, with burial mounds, Turkic stone figures and more than 400 plant species. Part of the range belongs to Buiratau.

Shaitankol, the Devil’s Lake, is a pool of about 60 × 40 m in pine forest some 5 km from Karkaraly. It is known for a legend about a cross thrown into the water, dated to 1905. At about 340 km in a straight line, it is the farthest place on this list.

When to go: June to August for lakes, May and September for the rest

Summer is the only real lake season, and the shoulder months suit the forest and the crater better. We could not confirm climate figures for Pavlodar itself. The ratings below come from each place’s own season assessment.

If you want one trip that covers the most ground, June or August works for almost everything. September is the better choice for the Semey side.