Kazakhstan · Almaty & the Tian Shan

4.9 from 227 Google reviews

Canyons, alpine lakes and the mountains above Almaty.

Almaty has the Tian Shan on its doorstep: a ski slope within an hour, Charyn Canyon and the Kolsay lakes within a day, and a drowned spruce forest at Kaiyndy standing upright in the water.

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10,000+ travellersCarried since 2016 across five countries
Licensed tour operatorDubai commercial licence 1169482 for inbound and outbound tours
Our own vehicles and guidesOur own team runs your private tour; larger coaches come from partners we check
24/7 while you travelA real person reachable for the whole trip, not office hours
33private itineraries
3–9days
17day tours priced
2cities we stay in

Why Kazakhstan

The mountains start at the city

Medeu and Shymbulak are inside an hour of the centre. You can land in the morning and be at 3,200 metres by afternoon.

Empty in a way Europe is not

Charyn Canyon runs for 154 kilometres and you will often walk its floor with almost nobody else there.

Visa-free for 30 days

Most European, UK and GCC passports enter without a visa, and Almaty is well connected to the Gulf.

Where you will actually go

Every place our Kazakhstan trips spend a night, ordered by how many itineraries use it. These are the names you will see on a day-by-day plan, so it is worth knowing which is the city, which is the mountains and which is the one night that is a home stay.

Almaty and the Tian Shan33 trips stay here

A city with a three-thousand-metre mountain range at the end of the street.

Read the guide → Saty Village and the Kolsay Lakes7 trips stay here

A working village in the Tian Shan, and the only sensible base for the lakes.

Read the guide →

Six trips to start with

A spread of lengths, from a long weekend to a full exploration. Prices are live for two people sharing and change with your dates and group.

See all 33 Kazakhstan tours → · 13 day tours →

When to go

Average daytime high, night-time low and rain days across the cities our Kazakhstan trips actually stay in. Not a forecast, and not the capital standing in for the mountains.

0°
-10°5Jan
2°
-8°7Feb
8°
-2°12Mar
16°
4°12Apr
19°
9°15May
24°
13°12Jun
27°
16°10Jul
25°
14°10Aug
20°
10°7Sep
13°
3°10Oct
6°
-4°8Nov
0°
-9°6Dec
Comfortable Workable Hard going Bottom row: average rain days that month

Best months here: Jul, Aug, Sep. Five years of recorded observations, averaged across the cities these trips stay in.

Plan your trip

The practical answers people look up before a trip to Kazakhstan, each linked to where we checked it.

How long
Our Kazakhstan trips run 3 to 9 days; 5 days is the length we offer most.
Best months
Most comfortable: Jul, Aug, Sep. Workable: Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Oct. See the climate chart
Visa
Depends on your passport. Visa rules for Kazakhstan
Money
Kazakhstani tenge (KZT). National Bank of Kazakhstan
Time
UTC+5 across the whole country since 1 March 2024, no clock change. Government of Kazakhstan
Plugs
Two round pins (types C and F), 220–230 V. UK plugs need an adapter; US devices must be dual-voltage.
Language
Kazakh is the state language; Russian is officially used alongside it. Constitution of Kazakhstan (2026)

Checked against the official sources linked, 3 October 2026. Rules and rates change; check the source again before you travel.

What we can put in a day

These are day tours held in our own pricing system, with rates and vehicles already contracted. Any of them can be moved into a trip.

  • Almaty City Tour (Half Day)
  • Almaty City Tour + Kok Tobe
  • Shymbulak & Medeu Tour
  • Shymbulak + Kok Tobe Tour
  • Alma Arasan + Ayusai + Presidential Park
  • Issyk Lake & Turgen Gorge
  • Charyn Canyon & Black Canyon
  • Charyn Canyon & Kolsay Lake
  • Charyn + Kolsay + Saty Stay
  • Kaiyndy Lake Tour
  • Oi-Qaragai Mountain Resort
  • Oi-Qaragai + City Tour

4.9 stars, 227 Google reviews

Travo's own reviews, real names, unedited. See all on Google.

Those reviews are from travellers on our Georgia trips, where we have run longest. We have not written reviews for Kazakhstan and will not invent them, so you are seeing our overall rating rather than feedback on Kazakhstan trips.

Tell us what you have in mind.

A consultant will suggest an itinerary and give you a real price for your dates and group, in your own currency. No obligation, and nobody will call you unless you ask.

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