A five-day tour of the main sightseeings of southern Kazakhstan

About tour:

Day 1: On the first day of the tour, we will introduce you to the main sights of Almaty – you will see old city buildings and cathedrals that are simply soaked with history, stroll through the famous Almaty park and city squares that are not inferior to the park in beauty, and also climb Mount Kok -You. And after a city tour, we will go to the mountains and visit the Medeo complex and the Chimbulak resort. The day will be bright, eventful and interesting!

Day 2: On the second day of the tour, we will visit the largest natural reserve in Kazakhstan – Altyn-Emel. The path to the reserve will take about five hours, so the tour will begin early in the morning. In the reserve we will visit the beautiful mountains of Aktau and the amazing  Poyushii barhan (Singing Dune). Toward evening, we will return to a small village in the reserve, where we will stay overnight in a guest house.

Day 3: On the third day of the tour we will go to the Charyn Canyon – the largest canyon in Central Asia. The landscapes of the canyon are fascinating, and we will have enough time to explore it – we will examine the upper panoramas and take a walk along the bottom of the canyon, among the steep cliffs more than 100 meters high. Then we will continue our journey and in the evening we will arrive in the village of Saty, where we will spend the night in a guest house.

Day 4: The fourth day will be more relaxed than the previous one – a minimum of trips and maxim walks in nature. We will go to Kolsai lakes and spend all day here, having light hiking to the second lake, hidden by nature deeper in the mountains. Toward evening, we will return to the guest house in the village of Saty.

Day 5: After breakfast in the guest house, we will go to Lake Kaindy, which formed in the gorge, flooding the trees and creating a kind of underwater forest. In the first part of the path to the lake we will pass on the Soviet UAZ SUV (bukhanka), the second part we have to walk. But it’s worth it! Having a picnic by the lake and having a rest in this beautiful place, we will return to the village of Saty, where we will have lunch at the guest house and go on the return trip to Almaty. We will arrive in the city late in the evening.

For this tour, we recommend you to wear comfortable trekking shoes, bring a windbreaker and hats.

IMPORTANT: In the Altyn-Emel nature reserve you have to drive about 260 km along dirt roads of not the best quality. Please be prepared for off-road adventures.

The tour starts from your hotel in Almaty. After the tour, the guide will accompany you to your hotel, or any other point in the city.

Looking for something more?

If you have 7-14 days for explore Central Asia, we can offer to you combine tour to Kazakhstan with visit to Kyrgyzstan or Uzbekistan with our team!