Kazakhstan, one day trip at a time.
Which Charyn run reaches the Valley of Castles with light to spare. Whether Kaindy is worth the extra hour of dirt road. What a car up to Big Almaty Lake actually costs. Every bookable day in the country, reviewed.
Charyn Canyon: pick the run that fits your day.
All Charyn tours →
The Valley of Castles is a long morning east of Almaty and most groups get an hour or two on the canyon floor. These three differ in what they do with the rest of the day.
Red rock and back before dinner
Out of Almaty at first light, down into the red corridor while the shadows are still long, back in the city the same evening.
Charyn and the Tien Shan lakes together
The canyon on day one, Kaindy’s drowned spruce and the first Kolsai lake on day two, with a night in a village guesthouse between them.
Half a day, one turquoise lake
Twenty-five kilometres of switchbacks above the city and the reservoir turns the colour of glass. Down again before lunch when the road is dry.
The days a Kazakhstan trip is planned around.
A red canyon three hours east, a forest standing in a lake, water the colour of glass at 2,510 metres, ski slopes forty minutes from a city of two million. These are the days most itineraries are built on.
Almaty puts mountains at the end of every street.
The old capital sits hard against the Zailiysky Alatau with snow on the ridge most of the year. Green Bazaar in the morning, the cable car up Kok-Tobe at dusk, and a lake or a canyon within a day’s drive in almost every direction.
The tours travellers in Kazakhstan take most.
Every review →One combined canyon-and-lakes day out-books everything else in the country. Here is that run, and the seven behind it.
1
Charyn Canyon, Kolsay, and Kaindy Lakes Day Trip
Explore Charyn, Black, Kolsai, Kaindy, and Moon Canyons on a 17-hour Almaty day trip with guides, park tickets, and mountain views.
From · $58
Read our review →
2
Kolsai, Kaindy Lakes and Charyn Canyon Small-Group Tour
from $58
3
Kolsai Kaindy Lakes with Charyn Canyons 2-day tour
from $130
4
Esik Lake and Turgen Waterfall Day Trip
from $28
5
Big Almaty Lake Tour with Optional Hike
from $69
6
Astana City Tour: Private Full Day with Lunch and Comfort Pickup
from $149
7
Kolsai and Kaindy Lakes with Charyn Canyons Day Trip
from $57
8
Burabay Oasis Private Tour+ Lunch+ Pickup+ Bonus Activity
from $249
Kaindy drowned a spruce forest. The trunks are still standing.
An earthquake in 1911 dammed a valley in the Tien Shan and the forest went under. The bare trunks still break the surface, and the Kolsai lakes (you will see the name spelled Kolsay too) sit further up the same road. It is a long day from Almaty, and a better two.
All 59 lake tours →
What a day out in Kazakhstan costs.
Every tour on the site in three price bands. A canyon day here costs less than a city walking tour in most of Europe.
City walks, the Medeu and Shymbulak circuit, half-days up to Big Almaty Lake and the shorter canyon runs.
The long day trips: Charyn with the lakes, Issyk and Turgen, Burabay out of Astana, lunch usually included.
Two- and three-day mountain routes, a car and driver for the day, and the Altyn-Emel runs that need park entry and a lot of road.
Astana is a capital raised on open steppe inside thirty years.
The city has answered to two names since 1997 and kept the same skyline: Baiterek over the boulevard, the domes of Hazrat Sultan, the tent roof of Khan Shatyr. Burabay’s pine lakes are a morning’s drive north, and the Karaganda steppe holds the KarLag museum.
- 1Astana City Tour: Private Full Day with Lunch and Comfort Pickupfrom $149
- 2Burabay Oasis Private Tour+ Lunch+ Pickup+ Bonus Activityfrom $249
- 3Astana City Tour: Certified Private Guide+Lunch+Wine Tastingfrom $129
A dune that hums, a rock gallery, a felt tent with tea on.
Steppe and mountains run right across Central Asia. The Aigaikum dune, the Tanbaly carvings and a working eagle-hunting family are Kazakh in particular.
The Singing Dune
Aigaikum is a wall of sand roughly 150 metres high, stranded between two bare mountain ranges inside Altyn-Emel National Park, and when the surface is dry it hums as it slides. The park is a hard four hours from Almaty on rough road, so most runs take two days and add the striped Aktau badlands on the way.
- 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 Bronze-Age Gallery
Thousands of carvings are cut into the dark rock of the Tanbaly gorge north-west of Almaty: sun-headed figures, hunters, oxen and long files of ibex. Some operators spell it Tamgaly. It has been on the UNESCO list since 2004 and is quiet enough that you often walk it alone.
- 1Ancient petroglyphs of Tanbaly – UNESCO World Heritage★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 18 reviews
- 2Tamgaly Tas and City of Nomads Day Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.4 · 8 reviews
- 3Tanbaly Gorge: Ancient Petroglyphs UNESCO Site Day Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 8 reviews
The Yurt and the Eagle
Kazakh herding culture is not a museum piece. At the ethno-villages outside Almaty, families still raise the felt tent, play the dombra and fly golden eagles trained the way their grandfathers trained them. Expect kumis, a fire and an afternoon that runs long.
- 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
The Kazakh year splits at the snow line.
Mountain days, all year →From December the Shymbulak lifts run and Medeu freezes forty minutes above Almaty. From June the mountain roads open and the Assy plateau, the Kolsai lakes and the Turgen gorge become drivable. Charyn works in both halves.
Medeu and Shymbulak ski resort private excursion
Read our review →
Day Trip by SUV: Turgen Waterfall & Assy Plateau Adventure
Read our review →Kolsai, Kaindy Lakes and Charyn Canyon Small-Group Tour
Read our review →By base — Almaty, Astana or a landmark
Almaty208 tours
Astana34 tours
Charyn Canyon67 tours
Kolsai & Kaindy Lakes59 tours
Big Almaty Lake16 tours
Issyk & Turgen14 tours
Burabay7 tours- Every tour in Kazakhstan →
Fresh reviews from Almaty and the steppe.
All recent →
Karatau Mountains Adventure Caves and Waterfalls
Read our review →
Half-Day Private Tour to Alzhir Camp from Nur-Sultan
Read our review →
Astana Private Custom Walking Tour with A Local Guide
Read our review →
Private Transfer from Nursultan Nazarbayev (NQZ) Airport to Astana
Read our review →
Overnight Ranch Stay and Horse Tour to Kabanbay Batyr Mausoleum
Read our review →
Astana City Tour Explore Night City with a Certified Guide
Read our review →
Kolsai Kaindy Lakes and Charyn Canyon Day Tour Lunch Included
Read our review →