What to see in Akmola Region comes down to three kinds of trip: forested lakes around Burabay and Kokshetau, open steppe with low rocky hills and a salt lake east of Astana, and the ALZHIR memorial on the site of a Soviet camp for women. Almost everything here works best from June to August. The memorial is the one place that makes sense year-round and the closest to Astana, about 38 km in a straight line.
Seven places, three kinds of trip
The region splits cleanly by landscape, and that decides how long you need. ALZHIR and the Ereymentau hills are day trips from Astana; the lakes and Kobeituz are better as weekends. All distances below are straight lines, not road distances, so the drive will be longer.
| Place | What it is | Straight-line distance | Best months | Trip length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALZHIR Memorial | Museum on a former Gulag camp | ~38 km from Astana | May–June, Aug–Sep | Day |
| Ereymentau Mountains | Rocky hills in the steppe, up to 901 m | 127 km from Astana | June and August | Day |
| Kobeituz | Shallow pink salt lake | 158 km from Astana | June and August | Weekend |
| Lake Zerenda | Small freshwater lake, pine hills | ~44 km from Kokshetau | July–August | Weekend |
| Lake Shchuchye | Deep forest lake by Shchuchinsk | ~220 km from Astana, 63 km from Kokshetau | June–August | Weekend |
| Lake Bolshoye Chebachye | Largest Burabay lake, granite shores | 61 km from Kokshetau | June–August | Weekend |
| Okzhetpes | Cliff with an 18th-century legend | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
If you have one day and no interest in water, the choice is between history (ALZHIR) and landscape (Ereymentau). If you have a weekend in summer, the lakes are the main draw.
The Burabay and Kokshetau lakes are the summer centrepiece
The forested lakes in the north of the region are the reason most people travel here, and they are firmly a June-to-August destination. Three of them have their own pages, and they differ more than the word ’lake’ suggests.
| Lake | Depth | Setting | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shchuchye | 31–40 m (sources differ) | Forest, on the northern edge of Shchuchinsk | Burabay National Park |
| Bolshoye Chebachye | about 33 m | Granite shores, islands, foot of Mount Kokshetau | Burabay National Park |
| Zerenda | up to 6.8 m, 9.6–11.9 km² | Sandy bottom and beaches, pine hills | Kokshetau National Park |
Shchuchye is the deepest of the Kokshetau lake group and sits right by a town. Bolshoye Chebachye is the largest of the Burabay group, a tectonic lake with granite shores and islands. Zerenda is the quiet, shallow one, with sandy beaches; it is getting shallower, so water levels are worth checking before you pick a month.
Okzhetpes belongs to the same lake-and-hills landscape by type, but we could not confirm its exact location, distance or season. Its name means ‘an arrow won’t reach’, and its legend is tied to Ablai Khan.
East of Astana: the Ereymentau hills and pink Kobeituz
The steppe east and north-east of Astana offers a very different trip: open land, low rock and almost no infrastructure. The Ereymentau Mountains are a 70–75 km chain of rocky hills topping out at Akdym, 901 m. They hold a branch of Buiratau National Park, burial mounds, Turkic stone statues and more than 400 plant species; the best months are June and August.
Kobeituz lies near Ereymentau, so the two pair naturally. It is a 6.9 km² salt lake roughly 20 cm deep, with salinity given as 334 g/l, and an alga can tint the water pink in warm, sunny months. There are no visitor facilities on the shore. If the colour is the reason you go, aim for June or August and a bright day: the pink is not guaranteed.
ALZHIR is the closest trip from Astana and the most serious one
The ALZHIR museum and memorial stands about 38 km in a straight line from Astana, on the site of the largest Soviet camp for women. The camp held the wives of men branded ’traitors to the Motherland’ from 1938 to 1953; the museum opened in 2007.
This is a place of memory, not a sightseeing stop, and it is worth reading up before you go. Among the places with a confirmed season, it is the only one rated possible or better in every month. 31 May is a memorial date here, so expect the site to be busier and more solemn on that day. We could not confirm opening hours or entry fees.
When to go: June to August for nearly everything
Summer is the shared window: every lake and the steppe sites peak between June and August. May and September are good for ALZHIR and the Ereymentau hills but marginal for Kobeituz. From late autumn to early spring, the forested lakes are rated only possible in October and December–February and off in November and March, while Kobeituz is off from October to April.
| Months | What works |
|---|---|
| December–February | ALZHIR; winter visits to the Burabay and Zerenda lakes possible |
| March–April | ALZHIR; Ereymentau possible in April; little else |
| May | ALZHIR at its best, Ereymentau good |
| June–August | Everything: lakes, Kobeituz, Ereymentau, ALZHIR |
| September | ALZHIR at its best; forest lakes and Ereymentau still good, Kobeituz only possible |
| October–November | ALZHIR; lakes and hills only possible |
If you can choose one month for the whole region, June, July and August are all rated best or good at every confirmed site.
(note to editor: the seasons table shows good or best ratings at every confirmed site in June and July too, not only August)
- Public transport to any of these places, including buses from Astana or Kokshetau
- Road conditions to Kobeituz and the Ereymentau hills
- Opening hours and entry fees at the ALZHIR memorial
- Entry rules and any fees for Burabay, Kokshetau and Buiratau national parks
- The exact location, distance and season for Okzhetpes