Almaty General Sights

General Sights

Alpine park. Outside town, on the road to Chimbulak. Medeu skating rink is on this road too. Presidential Palace. You will not be allowed to go inside. Nonetheless, the scenery and architecture is breathtaking. Kazakh Museum. Opposite to Presidential Palace. Blue-roofed. Features displays on Kazakh history, from prehistoric times through the Mongol periods to the present. 45-minute guided tours available (in Russian only). The 28 Panfilov Heroes Memorial Park. Honours the men from Kazakhstan who died on the battlefields of the 2nd World War against Nazi fascism. There is an 'eternal flame' by the war memorial where schoolchildren put flowers on the last day of school, and newlyweds also come to have their photos taken there. In the park is an Orthodox church built in 1870 without a single nail, painted in dollhouse colors with a metallic steeple. You can often hear the beautiful singing coming from inside. Old orchards. The orchards give Almaty its name. Ironically, most have been destroyed in recent, ill-thought out building developments, but a few remain. Republic Square/New Square. Former administrative center. Since the capital was moved to Astana, this square has been renovated. TV stations occupy some buildings. There are flower gardens. There is also a Kazakh memorial, consisting of a tall statue of the golden boy, an early Kazakh figure, whose name is Altyn Adam, and circled by metal bas relief panels recounting the history of Kazakhstan, from the time of the fierce Amazon-like queen, to independence 10 years ago. Arbat. Almaty’s artist row on a tree-lined pedestrian street. "Arbat" - is a nickname of the street. The real is Zhybek-Zholy (Silk road). On the same street you can visit the big mall - TsUM (in Russian - ЦУМ - Центральный Универсальный Магазин) Chocolate factory. Tours possible. Medeu. The highest olympic sized ice stadium. More than 180 world records were made on this ice. Fun to visit in winter. Tipsy teenagers teeter across the ice, coloured lights and loud pop create a slightly surreal but fun ambiance. There is also a large mountain-water swimming pool just below the ice rink, open in summer. The water is extremely invigorating, about 15 degrees celsius! Chimbulak. Ski-resort. Opened from November till April-May. A base for some great hikes. You can hike up to the top to get a great view of the city. Or you can bypass Chimbulak and carry along the road, past the hotel and walk up to the dam and then the glacier. A tough but beautiful walk. Hiking is definitely a highlight here. Charyn Canyon. The second largest canyon in the world. Located 200km to the east of Almaty. Recommended for tours more than one day.