Kazakhstan starts three hours east of Almaty.
Which Charyn day gets you down among the pillars instead of looking at them. Whether Kolsai is worth a night in Saty. What Big Almaty Lake costs by car and what it costs on foot. Every tour in the country, reviewed.
Charyn, Kolsai and the singing dune: what a Kazakhstan trip is built around.
The red canyon a long morning east, the two lakes past Saty village, the dune that hums inside a gated national park, the ice rink and ski slopes an hour above the city, and the capital that went up on empty steppe. Each one books differently.
Kazakhstan keeps a drowned forest, a singing dune and a hunting eagle.
Mountains and steppe you can find across Central Asia. A spruce forest standing dead under turquoise water, a lone dune that hums in dry weather and a golden eagle that hunts to the hand belong to this country.
The Sunken Forest of Kaindy
An earthquake in 1911 pushed a limestone landslide across the Kaindy gorge, the valley behind it filled, and a spruce forest was left standing in the water. The bare trunks still break the surface; the branches below are preserved by the cold. The last few kilometres to the shore are a rough track, which is why almost nobody arrives in their own car.
- 1Charyn Canyon, Kolsay, and Kaindy Lakes Day Trip★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 1,522 reviews
- 2Kolsai, Kaindy Lakes and Charyn Canyon Small-Group Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 642 reviews
- 3Kolsai-Kaindy Lakes and Charyn Canyons Day Trip★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 505 reviews
The Singing Dune of Altyn-Emel
One dune, roughly three kilometres long and 150 metres high, sits between two rivers with no other sand for miles around it. Walk down the crest when the sand is dry and it gives off a low drone you feel through your boots. It is inside a gated national park a long drive from Almaty, so it runs as a very long day or an overnight.
- 1Singing dunes & Aktau mountains group tour to Altyn Emel★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 74 reviews
- 23 Days Tour: Altyn Emel NP, Charyn Canyon, Kaindy & Kolsay Lakes★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 8 reviews
- 3Two Day Tour to Altyn Emel: Singing Dune and Aktau Mountain★★★★★★★★★★ 4.1 · 8 reviews
The Eagle Hunters’ Birds
Berkutchi, the eagle hunters of the Kazakh steppe, fly golden eagles at fox and hare from horseback and traditionally release the birds back to the wild after a few seasons. You meet them at the ethno-villages outside both cities and in the gorges above Almaty, usually alongside a yurt, a saddle and a bowl of kymyz.
- 1Nomadic Lifestyle Experience at Huns Ethno Village★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 60 reviews
- 2Experience the Nomadic Lifestyle at ‘The Huns’ Ethno-village★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 25 reviews
- 3Discover Nomadic Lifestyle in ‘The Huns’ Ethno-village★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 25 reviews
Charyn Canyon: decide how far into it you actually get.
All 42 Charyn Canyon tours →
Charyn is a long morning east of Almaty and most trips bolt it onto the Kolsai and Kaindy lakes on the same ticket. The three below carry more travellers than anything else on the site; the full list splits the rest by how long you are away and who is driving.
Canyon and both lakes in one run
Into the Valley of Castles before the heat, north over the pass to Kolsai for the water, the rough track to Kaindy, then the drive home in the dark.
A night in Saty, the lakes properly
Sleeping at the lakes takes the rush out of it. A Saty village guesthouse puts you at Kolsai for the morning light and leaves Kaindy for the way back down.
Charyn on its own, at your own pace
No lakes and no convoy. Four hours in the gorge instead of ninety minutes, with time to walk the riverbed at the bottom and climb the far rim.
Almaty is a city with a mountain range at the end of the street.
Apple orchards, Soviet boulevards, a wooden cathedral that came through the 1911 earthquake, and a cable car up to a ridge where the whole Alatau lines up behind you. Almost every trip in the country starts here.
The most popular tours in Kazakhstan.
Every review →More travellers take these than anything else in the country, and each one earns its place for a different reason.
1
Charyn Canyon, Kolsay, and Kaindy Lakes Day Trip
Explore Charyn Canyon, Kolsai, and Kaindy Lakes from Almaty on a 17-hour guided trip with local food and UAZ adventure.
From · $58
Read our review →
2
Kolsai, Kaindy Lakes and Charyn Canyon Small-Group Tour
from $58
3
Kolsai-Kaindy Lakes and Charyn Canyons Day Trip
from $43
4
Kolsay, Kaindy Lakes and Charyn Canyon Day Trip
from $43
5
Kolsai Kaindy Lakes & Charyn Canyons 2-Day Tour
from $130
6
Kolsai Kaindy Lakes with Charyn Canyons 2-day tour
from $130
7
Kolsai Kaindy Lakes with Charyn Canyons Day Tour (lunch included)
from $57
8
Esik Lake and Turgen Waterfall Day Trip
from $28
Astana was empty steppe inside living memory.
A capital moved north in 1997 and built from scratch on the Ishim river: a glass pyramid, a tent-shaped mall, a golden tower with a handprint at the top, and winters that reach minus thirty. Two days is enough, and it is worth them.
What a day out in Kazakhstan actually costs.
Every tour on the site, cheapest first. Distance is what you pay for here: the further from Almaty, the longer the vehicle is out.
City walks, the Medeu and Shymbulak run, Issyk Lake, and a seat on the big group day to Charyn.
Where most of the country sits: the lakes overnight, Big Almaty Lake by car, a full day in Astana with lunch and pickup.
Private drivers, jeep days into Altyn-Emel and the multi-day loops that cross the Almaty region end to end.
Everything good near Almaty is uphill.
The road out of the southern suburbs climbs past the ice rink at Medeu, through the ski slopes at Shymbulak and on to a turquoise reservoir at two and a half thousand metres. You can run the whole ladder in a day, or walk one rung of it.
- 1City tour and Medeu, Shymbulak and Kok-Tobefrom $49
- 2Big Almaty Lake Roundtrip Transfer and Tourfrom $69
- 3Big Almaty Lake Tour with Optional Hikefrom $69
Kazakhstan runs two seasons, and they want completely different days.
The mountain road to Big Almaty Lake and the track into Kaindy open up from late spring, and Charyn is at its best between April and October. From December the Alatau above the city belongs to the ice rink and the ski slopes, and the lakes freeze hard.
Kazakhstan is enormous, and the best of it is a long drive.
All Altyn-Emel tours →
Singing dunes & Aktau mountains group tour to Altyn Emel
Read our review →
Ancient petroglyphs of Tanbaly – UNESCO World Heritage
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Burabay National Park Tour with Lunch and Pickup
Read our review →The Kazakhstan days that will not wait until the morning.
Most of Almaty can be arranged from the hotel the night before. These cannot. They run on park permits, on one road in, and on villages that have more guides than beds.
- 01Singing dunes & Aktau mountains group tour to Altyn EmelAltyn-Emel is a gated national park a long way east of Almaty. Entry is arranged by the operator in advance; there is no turning up at the barrier.
- 02Kolsai Kaindy Lakes & Charyn Canyons 2-Day TourThe lakes overnight means sleeping in Saty, a village whose guesthouse beds are counted in dozens. Summer weekends go weeks ahead.
- 03Burabay Oasis Private Tour+ Lunch+ Pickup+ Bonus ActivityBurabay is a few hundred kilometres north of Astana. Only the tours that include pickup and lunch make it fit inside one day.
- 04Ancient petroglyphs of Tanbaly – UNESCO World HeritageThe Tanbaly petroglyphs are a UNESCO site with no bus to the gate, so every visit is a chartered day out of Almaty.
By place — where you sleep decides the day
Almaty114 tours
Astana19 tours- Charyn Canyon42 tours
- Kolsai & Kaindy Lakes40 tours
Big Almaty Lake9 tours
Altyn-Emel5 tours
Issyk Lake5 tours- Every review →
How two weeks in Kazakhstan tends to fall out.
The newest Kazakhstan tour reviews.
Everything reviewed →
1-Day Tour to Shymbulak, Medeo, Kok-Tobe Hill & Zoo
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Issyk Lake – shining pearl of Almaty surroundings + Golden Man museum
Read our review →
Almaty Hightlights Tour: Discover Culture, Nature, and History
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Private: Shymbulak, Medeu, Koktobe, Cathedral, 28’s park, Bazar
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VIP Shymbulak, Alma-Arasan, Central Mosque & Cathedral ChurchTour
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One Day Tour to Altyn-Emel: Singing Dune and Aktau Mountain
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Two Day Tour to Altyn Emel: Singing Dune and Aktau Mountain
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Guided Night Time Tour of Astana in a Private Car
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Private Comfort Burabay Nature Tour: All included
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