Kazakhstan is the ninth-largest country on Earth, and that size really does focus your attention on what you’re going to see and do here. And then when you’re planning a route. Yeah, that vast distance between some of the places to visit really does make it hard. Almaty and Astana alone are 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) apart, and the route between Astana and Shymkent is enormously long too. The chances are any loop through the country’s highlights ends up funneling back through Almaty at some point rather than running in a neat straight or circular line. This itinerary is built around that reality: 10 days, looping out from Almaty to Astana and down through the south to Shymkent and Turkestan, rather than fighting the geography. Here’s how we spent our first 10 days in Kazakhstan.
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This 10-day itinerary and route covers Almaty, a series of day trips into the mountains, a visit to Kazakhstan’s capital city, Astana, then a long run south to Shymkent and Turkestan. I’ve got specific posts on each of the places we visited, so you can see the planning detail behind each leg, see my Almaty Travel Guide and my guide to how to get around Kazakhstan, both of which this itinerary draws on throughout.
10 Day Kazakhstan Itinerary
Ten days is a good amount of time to spend in Kazakhstan, although I reckon you’ll end up wanting longer. Or coming back. We allocated 10 days for our first visit to Kazakhstan, and were back in less than 9 months. Our first visit was after we’d traveled the Pamir Highway through Tajikistan, spent time in Kyrgyzstan and traveled overland from Bishkek to Almaty.
Here’s the route, day by day.
Day 1: Arrive in Almaty
However you’re arriving, it’s a good idea to plan for Almaty as your starting point. If you’re flying in, it’s an easy city to arrive into internationally and has lots of inbound flights. Don’t forget to allocate time to clear immigration and get into the city; it’s straightforward but not instant. My guide on going from the airport to the city is here.
If you’re coming overland from Kyrgyzstan, see my guide on coming from Bishkek. Settle into your accommodation, get a feel for the city, and eat somewhere easy rather than trying to sightsee on jet lag. Almaty is a great place for easy. There are tons of options for coffee, food, drink, and you’ll find Kazakh food alongside international options and a fabulously easy transit system.
My guide to Almaty explains where we stayed (and why) in the city.
Day 2: Explore Almaty
You’ll want to have a full day in the city itself. See my Almaty Travel Guide for the full rundown of sights, but don’t skip an hour or two on Almaty’s subway, it’s one of the more unusual, cheap things to do in the city, and each station is its own small museum. Round out the day with dinner from my guide to food and drink in Kazakhstan.
How to get around Almaty: walk the central sights, use the metro to cover ground fast, and use Yandex for anything further out.
Where to eat in Almaty: see my Almaty Travel Guide and food and drink guide above for our picks.
Day 3: Day Trip to the Mountains
Almaty’s real appeal, I mean aside from the myriad coffee shops, craft beer bars and international food, is what surrounds it, not just the city itself. Pick a day trip from my guide to the best day trips from Almaty, Charyn Canyon, the Kolsai and Kaindy Lakes, or Big Almaty Lake are all realistic in a single day. Yes really. It’s a long day, but such good value.
I wrote about how it works out here.
I’ve got a full guide to each: Charyn Canyon, Kolsai and Kaindy Lakes, as well as Big Almaty Lake. If you can’t decide, Big Almaty Lake is the easiest half-day option, while Charyn and Kolsai/Kaindy are full-day trips best done with an early start.
How to get to the day trips: a guided tour is the easiest option for all three; self-drive or private transfer also work, see each guide for specifics.
How long to spend: a full day for Charyn and/or Kolsai/Kaindy, half a day is enough for Big Almaty Lake alone.
Day 4: Almaty to Astana
Now it’s time to head north. See my full How to Go from Almaty to Astana guide for the details, but the short version: fly if you’re short on time, take the overnight train if you’d rather sleep through the 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) than fly it. Obviously, if you’ve had a day in Almaty, or a half-day trip, then you can take the overnight train to Astana and combine the adventure of train travel in Kazakhstan with a bed for the night. Read about overnight trains in Kazakhstan here.
Once you’re in, see my Astana Travel Guide to start planning what to do.
How to get to Astana: fly (under 2 hours) or take the overnight train (12 to 18 hours depending on service).
Where to stay in Astana: book centrally near the main sights, stay at the Baiterek Premium for a great location.
Day 5: Explore Astana
Astana feels like a different country to Almaty: wide boulevards, deliberately futuristic architecture, and a much more spread-out layout. Spend today on the headline sights, the Baiterek Tower and the newer landmarks around it.
See my full Astana Travel Guide for the complete list.
How to get around Astana: the city is spread out, so use Yandex or the new metro (which doesn’t have the WOW factor of Almaty’s metro, but it’s extremely new and functional!) rather than trying to walk between districts.
Day 6: Explore Astana (Continued)
Astana is worth a second day; it’s simply too spread out to cover in one. Use today for whatever didn’t fit yesterday, plus a slower pace, a proper sit-down meal, a museum you skipped, or just time to actually enjoy the architecture instead of rushing between stops. Or, even go wine tasting. Kazakh wine might not have the historic settings of other Soviet states like Moldova, but it’s pretty darn good. I wrote about wine tasting in Astana here.
You should note that Astana’s museums close on Mondays, so don’t make the rookie mistake that we did and miss some of them!
Where to eat in Astana: see my Astana Travel Guide for our picks, including the Georgian food scene that turns up all over the city.
Day 7: Astana to Shymkent
I’ve included this as Day 7, as you’ll actually catch the overnight train from Astana’s newest station, Nurly Zhol, the previous night (i.e. the night of Day 6). It’s a fabulous train, and you can even book a cabin that has an ensuite bathroom and shower! It’s fabulous (read about it here). But, as I say in that guide, it’s a long old haul, so you won’t actually arrive in Shymkent until mid-afternoon, so that’s going to eat into your Day 7 by quite a lot.
You can also fly, since it’s by far the most practical way to cover this leg directly, but since when did practicality fit into overland travel?
Once you’re in, see my Shymkent Travel Guide to get oriented.
How to get to Shymkent: fly direct from Astana, or route back via Almaty and take the overnight train or a flight from there.
Where to stay in Shymkent: stay central, around Ordabasy Square; everything worth seeing is within a short walk or a cheap Yandex ride. My recommendation on where to stay in Shymkent is here.
Day 8: Shymkent to Turkestan
Turkestan is an easy day trip from Shymkent. If you’re just wanting to visit the mausoleum complex that Turkestan is famous for, then head out early in the morning (see my How to Go from Shymkent to Turkestan guide for the easiest transport) and my Turkestan Travel Guide for what to actually see once you arrive.
The Khoja Ahmed Yasawi Mausoleum is the reason most people make this trip, and it’s worth the trip to Turkestan on its own.
How to get to Turkestan: shared taxi or train from Shymkent, both covered in the route guide above.
How long to spend at Turkestan: a full day covers the mausoleum complex properly, including lunch at the Karavan Saray complex.
You’ll likely have spent half a day in Turkestan, so head on back to Shymkent.
Day 9: Back to Shymkent, or Onward to Uzbekistan
Spend your 9th day in Shymkent. It’s Kazakhstan’s oldest city and has a few places of interest; there’s a delightful Independence Park, the fantastic Shymkent Qala (Fort) and the thought-provoking, but incredibly worthwhile Museum of the Victims of Political Repression. There’s more on what to see and do in Shymkent in my guide here.
Day 10: Shymkent to Almaty, or cross the border to Uzbekistan
From Shymkent, either head to Almaty (my guide on how to do this is here) and fly onwards. Or, use this as a jumping-off point into Uzbekistan instead, which is exactly what we did. If that’s the plan, see my How to Go from Shymkent to Tashkent guide for the border crossing details before you commit to it as your final day.
How your trip ends depends on how you plan to move on from Shymkent. We’ve left Kazakhstan both ways ourselves. On our first visit, we crossed the border into Uzbekistan overland from Shymkent, which folds neatly into this itinerary if you extend it by a day. You’ll need to start for the border in the morning; otherwise you chance getting stuck in lines.
On our second visit, we flew out of Almaty in the small hours instead.
Final Words on the Kazakhstan Itinerary
10 days is enough to get a genuine feel for Kazakhstan without rushing every leg, Almaty’s mountains, Astana’s strange, futuristic skyline, and the south’s much older Silk Road history around Turkestan. It’s a lot of ground for a country this size, and you’ll spend real time in transit to cover it. That’s part of the experience here, not a flaw in the plan. Adjust the pace to suit you, add a day in Almaty if the mountains pull you in, or cut Astana down to one day if two feels like too much. The route holds up either way.
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