HAVE TIME TO MAKE IT WITHIN 24 HOURS

1. START WITH BREAKFAST IN THE MOUNTAINS 

To do this, you need to get to the high-mountain sports complex "Medeu".

At 10:00 the Medeu-Shymbulak gondola starts operating. You buy a ticket, climb to a height of 2,200 meters, choose any cafe or coffee shop you like and have breakfast with a view of the mountains and the city. 

The descent on foot from Shymbulak will take approximately 30-40 minutes. As a bonus to a full cardio workout, you will get cool photos with the mountains in the background.

2. PLAN YOUR LUNCH 

When your desire to see the Almaty Mountains is satisfied, go to the Green Bazaar. No, no, we do not encourage you to buy anything unless necessary. This will be a real excursion! 

The fact is that the bazaar building itself, built in the mid-70s of the last century, became an unofficial architectural monument of Soviet modernism in Almaty. For those who notice the references to Le Corbusier, our applause.

3. RETURN TO TOWN

There are two options to have lunch right at the Green Bazaar.

First: walking along the food shops and tasting everything from air dried horse meat and kumis to Korean salads, Uzbek navat and Uyghur lagman.

Second: walking upstairs to the second floor of the bazaar building to one of the local cafes. 

4. GO STRAIGHT

...towards the mountains. Or, as Almaty residents say, “upward.” Through the Park named after 28 Panfilov Guardsmen, where you must stop to look at the Ascension Cathedral - one of the tallest wooden churches in the world.

5. FIND A PEDESTRIAN STREET ON THE MAP 

In Almaty this is Panfilov Street. Go towards the Kazakh National Opera and Ballet Theater named after Abaya. All that you will see around is the “old center”, preserving the memory of the city from the times of Verny and Alma-Ata. 

Look at the facades of buildings more often. Mosaics from the mid-20th century have been preserved here. Some of which are real works of art.

6. GO TO A MUSEUM

The Museum of Art named after A. Kasteev is the largest art museum in the country, a leading research, cultural and educational center in the field of fine arts. A real must visit for all visual learners.

7. HAVE A NATIONAL STYLE DINNER 

Let it be leisurely and cozy. In one of the Kazakh cuisine restaurants in Almaty. To have time to try all the most delicious things: besbarmak, kuyrdak, baursaks, kumis and tea with tary. 

8. LOOK AT THE CITY AT NIGHT

You can do this from a height of the 26th floor, taking a glass of your favorite cocktail in your hand. 

To do this, head to BarFly, located in the legendary Kazakhstan Hotel. It is impossible to imagine a better ending to the day in Almaty.