Travel and Tourism in Kazakhstan

The Silk Road Cities — Turkestan and Beyond

The ancient caravan routes that crisscrossed the Central Asian steppe for more than a thousand years left behind a legacy of cities, mosques, mausoleums, and archaeological sites that represent some of the most significant Islamic heritage in the world. In southern Kazakhstan, the city of Turkestan stands as the most important of these Silk Road landmarks, a pilgrimage city of profound spiritual significance whose central monument is recognized by UNESCO as one of the finest examples of Islamic architecture in the world.

Turkestan, formerly known as Yasy, was an important urban center along the Silk Road from at least the eighth century CE, but it achieved its greatest religious significance through the life and work of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, a Sufi teacher, poet, and mystic born around 1093 who became the most revered Islamic figure in the history of the Kazakh and broader Turkic world. Yasawi's poetry, written in Old Turkic rather than Arabic or Persian, brought Sufi teachings to the ordinary nomadic peoples of the steppe in their own language, and his spiritual influence helped establish Islam as the religion of the Kazakh people. After his death in 1166, Yasawi's tomb became one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the Islamic world east of Mecca, and it was said that three pilgrimages to the shrine equaled one Hajj to Mecca in religious merit.

The mausoleum that stands over Yasawi's tomb today was commissioned by the great Central Asian conqueror Timur, known in the West as Tamerlane, who ordered its construction in 1389 as an act of religious devotion and political calculation, positioning himself as a patron of Islam and a respecter of the spiritual traditions of the Turkic peoples he had conquered. The structure Timur commissioned is one of the largest medieval buildings in all of Central Asia, a massive rectangular structure 46.5 meters high and 65.5 by 45.8 meters in plan, whose blue-tiled dome is one of the largest medieval domes ever constructed. The mausoleum is unique in that its construction was never completed, apparently because Timur died in 1405 before the building was finished, and the unfinished state of the upper sections of the walls and the remains of scaffolding incorporated into the structure have been preserved as historical evidence of how such a building was constructed.

The interior of the mausoleum is organized around a large central hall, the kazandyk, which contains a massive bronze cauldron weighing more than two tons that was cast in 1399 and used to prepare drinks distributed to pilgrims. This cauldron, one of the finest examples of medieval Islamic metalwork in existence, is decorated with arabesque patterns and inscriptions of exceptional quality. Around the central hall are arranged a series of chambers serving different functions, including the burial chamber containing Yasawi's tomb, prayer halls, and spaces for pilgrims to rest and worship. The tilework that decorates the interior is of extraordinary quality, combining geometric patterns with floral arabesques and calligraphic inscriptions in a palette of blues, greens, and whites that has been carefully restored.

The underground mosque of Hilvet, near the main mausoleum, is a small subterranean chapel that was used by Yasawi for meditation and prayer during the period when he is said to have withdrawn from public life and confined himself to a small underground cell, refusing to step on the same earth as the Prophet Muhammad, whose grave in Medina was on the same latitude. The underground mosque, accessible by a narrow staircase, preserves a meditative atmosphere that powerfully evokes the ascetic spirituality of the Sufi tradition.

The archaeological site of Otrar, located some 60 kilometers northwest of Turkestan, is one of the most historically significant ruins in Kazakhstan. The ancient city, known in medieval sources as Farab or Utrar, was a major urban center of the medieval Islamic world and held a position of strategic importance at the confluence of the Arys and Syr Darya rivers. The city is best known in world history as the location where Genghis Khan's trade embassy was massacred in 1218 on the orders of the local governor, an act that precipitated the Mongol invasion of Central Asia and led to the destruction of many of the region's greatest cities. The ruins of Otrar cover an area of more than 200 hectares and have been the subject of ongoing archaeological excavation since the Soviet period, revealing extensive remains of medieval architecture, ceramics, and artifacts that document the city's sophisticated urban civilization before the Mongol catastrophe.

Sauran, another medieval ruin south of Turkestan along the old Silk Road, presents a remarkably complete picture of a fortified medieval city. The outer walls of the city, constructed of compressed earth and still standing to a significant height in many sections, enclose an area of some 45 hectares and clearly delineate the urban footprint of a community that once housed tens of thousands of inhabitants. The city's defensive towers, gates, and sections of its internal street plan are visible, making Sauran one of the best-preserved medieval urban sites in Kazakhstan and an important complement to the Turkestan complex.

Taraz, in the Zhambyl Region of southern Kazakhstan, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central Asia, with a history of urban settlement extending back more than 2,000 years. The city appears in Chinese chronicles as a trading post on the Silk Road and was a site of several significant historical events, including the Battle of Talas in 751 CE, when Arab forces defeated a Chinese Tang Dynasty army, determining that Central Asia would develop as part of the Islamic rather than the Chinese cultural sphere. The city's archaeological layers preserve evidence of its long history, and several ancient monuments, including the mausoleum of Karakhan and the mausoleum of Aisha Bibi, a beautiful example of eleventh-century Central Asian architecture, are preserved near the modern city.

Shymkent, the third-largest city in Kazakhstan and the largest in the south, serves as a gateway to the Silk Road heritage of the region and has its own urban history stretching back to medieval times. It is a cosmopolitan and commercially energetic city with a warmer climate than either Astana or Almaty and a food culture that reflects the agricultural richness of southern Kazakhstan. For the traveler following the Silk Road corridor, Shymkent provides comfortable accommodation, good transport connections, and a vibrant urban atmosphere that makes it an excellent base for excursions to Turkestan and the surrounding archaeological sites.

Mangystau Region — The Moonscape

In the extreme west of Kazakhstan, on a low plateau above the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, lies one of the most unusual landscapes on Earth. The Mangystau region, centered on the port city of Aktau, contains geological formations, underground places of worship, and vast empty spaces that transport the visitor to a world utterly unlike anything else in Central Asia or, arguably, anywhere in the world. Mangystau is among the least visited significant travel destinations in all of Asia, accessible only by air to the city of Aktau and by rough desert roads to its most remote attractions, yet those who make the journey consistently describe it as transformative.

The geological heart of the Mangystau experience is the Ustyurt Plateau, an enormous flat-topped table of chalk and limestone that dominates the region and is carved at its edges by dramatic escarpments. The formation known as Bozzhyra sits within a vast depression in the northern Mangystau steppe and consists of a natural amphitheater of stark white chalk formations that rise from the pale steppe floor like the ruins of some alien civilization. The formations, which resemble columns, towers, battlements, and sculptural abstractions of extraordinary variety, have been shaped by millions of years of erosion acting on soft limestone layers laid down in ancient seas. The scale of Bozzhyra is immense and the color palette restricted to whites, creams, and the blue of the enormous sky above, creating an aesthetic of surpassing strangeness. Photographers who visit Bozzhyra at dawn or dusk, when the low angle light gives the white formations a warm golden or rosy cast, produce images so otherworldly that they are routinely mistaken for composite photographs of imaginary landscapes.

The Valley of Balls, known by its Kazakh name of Torysh, presents another extraordinary geological spectacle. The valley floor is covered with hundreds of spherical stone concretions, ranging in size from tennis balls to boulders more than two meters in diameter. These concretions formed within the sedimentary rock through a process of mineral precipitation around nuclei, a phenomenon that occurs in sedimentary environments worldwide but rarely on the scale or concentration found in the Torysh valley. Walking among these spherical stones, some of which have been exposed and rounded further by erosion while others remain partially embedded in the surrounding matrix, is a disorienting and thought-provoking experience that prompts reflection on geological time and the creative forces of the Earth.

The underground mosques of Mangystau represent one of the most singular expressions of Islamic sacred architecture anywhere in the world. Cut directly into the soft limestone cliffs and plateaus of the region by dervishes and holy men between the tenth and nineteenth centuries, these subterranean places of worship range from small chambers little larger than a room to elaborate multi-chambered complexes with carved column arcades, niches for oil lamps, and spaces large enough to accommodate hundreds of worshippers. The practice of creating underground mosques in Mangystau reflects both the practical challenge of building in a region almost entirely devoid of building materials other than stone and the meditative spirituality of the Sufi tradition, which valued withdrawal, contemplation, and the creation of sacred space through effort and devotion.

Sultan Epe is one of the most accessible of these underground sanctuaries, a complex carved from the chalky limestone that contains several interconnected chambers and has been an active place of pilgrimage for centuries. The walls of Sultan Epe bear carved decorations of considerable sophistication, including geometric patterns and calligraphic inscriptions. Shopan Ata, another underground mosque set into a cliff face above the Caspian steppe, is notable for the views it commands across the surrounding landscape and the elaboration of its carved interior.

The most revered site in all of Mangystau, and one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in Kazakhstan, is the underground mosque and tomb of Beket Ata, a Kazakh saint and mystic who lived in the eighteenth century and is considered by many Kazakhs to be a protector and intercessor whose blessing can cure illness and resolve life's difficulties. Reaching Beket Ata is itself a pilgrimage act of considerable seriousness. The site is accessible only on foot along a canyon trail of approximately 40 kilometers round trip through some of the most remote and inhospitable terrain in Kazakhstan, in a region that receives essentially no rainfall and where summer temperatures can reach 45 degrees Celsius. Despite these challenges, the pilgrimage to Beket Ata attracts thousands of Kazakhs each year, from all social backgrounds and age groups, who make the journey as an act of faith and devotion. The underground mosque at the site, the last of four mosques that Beket Ata is said to have constructed during his lifetime, is a white-painted chamber set into the cliff of a dramatic canyon, reached by a staircase cut from the rock face.

Aktau, the regional capital and port city on the Caspian Sea, is the base from which visitors explore the Mangystau region. The city is a Soviet-era planned town built to support the development of the region's oil and gas industries and has the somewhat characterless architecture typical of such developments, but its location on the Caspian coast gives it an agreeable seafront promenade and access to beaches that attract visitors from across Kazakhstan during the summer. The Caspian Sea, the world's largest inland body of water covering 371,000 square kilometers, provides the western horizon of Aktau with a blue expanse as compelling as any ocean coastline, and the sunsets over the Caspian from the Aktau seafront are famously beautiful.

All UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan's UNESCO World Heritage list reflects the country's extraordinary range of natural and cultural assets, from ancient architectural masterpieces of the Islamic world to globally significant steppe ecosystems and shared Silk Road heritage.

The Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi in Turkestan (2003) was the first site in Kazakhstan to receive UNESCO World Heritage inscription and remains one of the most significant architectural monuments in all of Central Asia. Constructed between 1389 and 1405 under the patronage of Timur (Tamerlane), the mausoleum is an outstanding example of Timurid architecture and one of the best-preserved monuments of this style, which subsequently influenced the development of Islamic religious architecture across Central Asia, Iran, and South Asia. The mausoleum is also a living place of pilgrimage of profound spiritual significance for Muslim communities across the region, meaning that it represents outstanding universal value both as an architectural achievement and as a continuing cultural and religious practice.

The Petroglyphs within the Archaeological Landscape of Tamgaly (2004), located approximately 170 kilometers northwest of Almaty in a secluded gorge of the Chu-Ili mountains, constitutes one of the most important concentrations of ancient rock art in Central Asia. The site contains some 5,000 petroglyphs carved into dark sandstone boulders over a period spanning from the second millennium BCE through the early twentieth century, representing an extraordinary record of human presence, ritual practice, and artistic expression across more than three thousand years. The images include solar deities, humans engaged in ritual activities, animals including horses, cattle, camels, deer, and snow leopards, and abstract symbols that encode cultural information now partially lost to interpretation. The landscape around the petroglyphs preserves remains of settlement sites, burial structures, and other archaeological evidence that together document a comprehensive picture of life in this mountain valley across millennia.

The Saryarka — Steppe and Lakes of Northern Kazakhstan (2008) encompasses two strictly protected nature reserves, the Korgalzhyn Nature Reserve and the Naurzum Nature Reserve, which together protect a landscape of outstanding biological significance. The site is a critical habitat for a large number of waterbird species, including several globally threatened species, and represents one of the last significant remnants of the extensive steppe and wetland ecosystems that once covered vast areas of the Eurasian continent. The Korgalzhyn lakes are notable as the northernmost nesting site in the world for the pink flamingo, whose large breeding colonies create a spectacle of extraordinary biological beauty in an otherwise austere steppe landscape. The site is also important for mammal species including the saiga antelope, a prehistoric-looking bovid whose population has been severely reduced by poaching and habitat loss and which is the subject of major conservation efforts supported by the protected area system.

The Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor (2014) is a transnational serial World Heritage property inscribed jointly by China, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan that encompasses a 5,000-kilometer section of the Silk Road network stretching from Chang'an (modern Xi'an, China) through Central Asia. Kazakhstan's contribution to this inscription includes eight archaeological sites and ruins that document the history of the Silk Road in the region, including the ancient cities and caravanserais, Buddhist temples, medieval towns, and burial grounds that lined the route through what is now southern Kazakhstan. The Kazakhstani sites include the ruins of Kulan, Aktobe, Kostobe, Ornek, Talgar, Ka???? (also spelled Kayalyk), Koilyk, and the archaeological remains of the city of Akyrtas. Together these sites illustrate the role of the Silk Road in facilitating not only commercial exchange but the movement of ideas, religions, technologies, and artistic influences across the Eurasian continent.

The Western Tien-Shan (2016) is another transnational inscription, shared by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, that recognizes the outstanding universal value of the western portion of the Tien Shan mountain system as a center of plant diversity of global significance. The site encompasses several protected areas in the western Tien Shan where remarkable concentrations of endemic and rare plant species survive in a mountain ecosystem of exceptional biodiversity. Kazakhstan's component of the inscription includes sections of the Aksu-Zhabagly Nature Reserve, the oldest nature reserve in Central Asia, established in 1927, which protects extraordinarily rich communities of wild fruit trees, including wild ancestors of the apple, apricot, plum, and walnut, as well as rich assemblages of tulip species and other flowering plants that bloom in spectacular profusion each spring.

The Cold Winter Deserts of Turan (2023) is the most recently inscribed World Heritage property with a Kazakhstani component, a transnational inscription shared by Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan recognizing the outstanding universal value of the cold desert ecosystems of the Turan lowlands. The Kazakhstani component includes the Altyn-Emel National Park and the Barsakelmes State Nature Reserve, which protect portions of desert and semi-desert habitat critical for threatened species including the Asiatic cheetah, saiga antelope, and a range of desert-adapted birds and reptiles. The inscription recognizes the Turan desert region as one of the world's most important remaining examples of cold desert ecosystems and one of the most significant remaining habitats for large mammal species that once roamed across much of Central Asia.

Outdoor Adventures and Nature

The geographic diversity of Kazakhstan translates directly into an extraordinary range of outdoor adventure and wildlife observation opportunities that place it among the most exciting adventure travel destinations in Asia.

The Tian Shan, or Celestial Mountains, which form the southern boundary of Kazakhstan and rise dramatically behind Almaty, offer some of the finest mountaineering and alpine trekking in the world. Khan Tengri, at 6,995 meters the highest peak accessible within Kazakhstan (Peak Pobeda at 7,439 meters, the second highest, is technically disputed in jurisdiction), is one of the great peaks of the Snow Leopard mountaineering challenge and is famous for its remarkable pyramid shape and the pink marble from which it is composed. The climb is technically demanding and requires significant mountaineering experience and equipment, but the approach to base camp at the glacier and the views of the surrounding peaks and glaciers are accessible to trekkers with good physical fitness and acclimatization. The base camp for Khan Tengri and the neighboring peak Pobeda is reached from the Inylchek Glacier, one of the largest glaciers in Central Asia, requiring several days of travel by helicopter or a long approach on foot.

The Ile-Alatau National Park immediately behind Almaty provides accessible mountain terrain for hiking, camping, and nature observation within easy reach of the city. The park encompasses a range of habitats from mountain forest through subalpine meadow to permanent snow and ice, and its biodiversity includes several species of particular interest to wildlife observers, including the elusive snow leopard, whose tracks are occasionally seen by alert trekkers in the higher zones, the Tian Shan brown bear, the argali (Marco Polo sheep), the Siberian ibex, and numerous species of alpine birds. The park's accessibility from Almaty makes it one of the most visited natural areas in Kazakhstan, but it is sufficiently large and varied that solitude is easily found away from the main trails in the summer season.

Burabay National Park, located approximately 250 kilometers north of Astana in the Akmola Region, is often described as Kazakhstan's Switzerland, an admittedly generous comparison but one that conveys the park's quality of dramatic natural scenery combining forested hills, granite outcrops rising sharply from their surroundings, and a network of pristine lakes whose clear waters reflect the forests and rocks. The park is one of the most popular domestic tourism destinations in Kazakhstan, particularly among residents of Astana who seek a natural escape from the capital. The granite formation known as Zhumbaktas, or Sphinx Rock, rises from the waters of Lake Burabay and has become one of the most photographed natural landmarks in Kazakhstan. The park offers hiking, boat trips on the lakes, horse riding, and in winter, cross-country skiing.

The saiga antelope, a prehistoric-looking bovid whose distinctive bulbous nose and horizontal pupils give it an alien appearance, was once one of the most numerous large mammals on Earth, roaming the Eurasian steppe in herds of millions. By the early twenty-first century, populations had collapsed due to hunting, habitat loss, and periodic mass die-off events linked to bacterial disease, reducing the global population to a fraction of its historic levels. Kazakhstan harbors the largest remaining populations of saiga and has been a focus of major conservation efforts by both the Kazakhstani government and international organizations. Watching the saiga in the steppe environments of central and western Kazakhstan, where herds of hundreds or even thousands of animals still gather during their seasonal migrations, is one of the great wildlife experiences of Asia and one that is dependent on the continuing success of conservation efforts.

Hot air ballooning over the Altai Mountains of eastern Kazakhstan offers one of the most spectacular aerial perspectives available anywhere in the country, with the jagged peaks, deep river valleys, and extensive forests of the Kazakh Altai visible from above in a panorama of extraordinary grandeur. Camel trekking in Mangystau, horseback riding on the open steppe, white-water rafting on the rivers of the Tian Shan, and cycling the network of rough tracks that crisscross the Kazakhstani steppe are all experiences available through specialized tour operators working in their respective regions.

Festivals and Events

The festival calendar of Kazakhstan reflects the country's rich cultural heritage, its Soviet legacy, its Islamic traditions, and its increasingly confident projection of national identity on the world stage.

Nauryz, celebrated on March 21, is the supreme national holiday of Kazakhstan and the most important date in the cultural calendar. The spring equinox festival, observed across a region stretching from the Balkans to Mongolia and from Siberia to the Arabian Peninsula under various names, takes its most distinctly Kazakh form in the celebrations staged across the country. Yurts are erected in city squares and parks, Nauryz kozhe is distributed freely to passers-by, traditional music is performed on stages and in open-air venues, eagle hunters display their birds, horsemen demonstrate traditional riding skills, and the entire population dresses in its finest traditional clothing. The celebrations in Astana and Almaty draw particularly large crowds and are organized on a grand scale with major musical performances and cultural exhibitions. In smaller towns and in rural areas, Nauryz retains a more intimate, community-centered character with family gatherings, communal meals, and the ceremonial cleaning and renewal of homes.

Republic Day on October 25 and Independence Day on December 16 are the primary secular national holidays, marked by official ceremonies, public events, and, on Independence Day, a public holiday. Independence Day falls in mid-winter in most of Kazakhstan, which gives Astana's celebrations a distinctive quality, with fireworks against the winter night sky and illuminated architecture creating a visual spectacle of particular beauty in the cold.

Astana Day, celebrated on July 6, marks the birthday of the capital and has grown into a major urban festival with concerts, fireworks, and public celebrations in the city's parks and public spaces. The date coincides with Nursultan Nazarbayev's birthday and carries particular symbolic weight as a celebration of the national project he initiated.

The Silk Way Rally, a prestigious off-road motorsport race that passes through some of Kazakhstan's most remote and spectacular terrain, attracts international competitors and provides a showcase for the dramatic landscapes of the Mangystau region and the Kazakhstani steppe. The rally is part of the international off-road racing calendar and draws teams from across the world.

The World Nomad Games, held every two years and hosted in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan on alternate occasions, is a multi-sport event dedicated to the traditional games of the nomadic peoples of Central Asia and the world. Events include traditional forms of wrestling, horse sports including kokpar and kyz kuu (a horseback pursuit game), eagle hunting demonstrations, traditional archery, and numerous other athletic and sporting traditions. The games have grown significantly in international prominence since their founding in 2014 and attract competitors from dozens of countries.

The Major Cities Beyond Almaty and Astana

While Astana and Almaty receive the majority of international tourism attention, Kazakhstan's regional cities offer their own distinctive characters and attractions that reward the traveler who ventures beyond the obvious destinations.

Shymkent, the third-largest city in Kazakhstan with a population exceeding one million, is the cosmopolitan hub of the country's south and a city with a warmer, more Mediterranean atmosphere than either of the two major cities. Located near the Uzbek border and historically close to the great Silk Road cities of the Fergana Valley, Shymkent has a long history as a trading center and a cultural character that reflects its position at the meeting point of Kazakh, Uzbek, and broader Central Asian traditions. The city's Ordabasynsky Bazaar is one of the most lively and authentic markets in Kazakhstan, a chaotic and colorful spectacle of commerce that encompasses everything from fresh produce and meat to household goods, clothing, and crafts. Shymkent's restaurant scene benefits from the agricultural richness of the surrounding region, with excellent lamb, fresh vegetables, and the flatbreads and noodle dishes that characterize southern Kazakh cuisine. The city serves as a natural base for excursions to Turkestan and the Silk Road sites of the south.

Karaganda, the fourth-largest city in Kazakhstan, has a history as one of the most important industrial centers of the Soviet Union, built around the vast coalfields of the central Kazakh steppe. The city grew largely through the forced labor of the Gulag system: the Karlag camp complex, one of the largest in the Soviet Gulag archipelago, operated in the region from 1930 to 1959 and held at various times hundreds of thousands of prisoners, including political prisoners, intellectuals, ethnic minorities, and ordinary criminal convicts from across the Soviet Union. The Memory of Victims of Political Repression Museum in the village of Dolinka, outside Karaganda, is one of the most important memorial sites in the former Soviet Union, a place of historical reckoning with the darkest chapter of Soviet history and an essential destination for any traveler seeking to understand the full complexity of Kazakhstan's twentieth-century past. Despite this somber history, contemporary Karaganda is an energetic industrial city with a significant student population, a growing cultural scene, and a genuinely authentic character that stands in contrast to the more polished face of Astana.

Aktobe, the capital of the Aktobe Region in western Kazakhstan, is the main urban center of the western steppe and an important transit point for travelers crossing the country by road or rail. The city's position on the historic route connecting the Ural River towns with Central Asia has given it a long history as a service and trading center, and its proximity to significant oil and gas fields has brought industrial development and a cosmopolitan working population. Oral (formerly Uralsk) in the far northwest near the Russian border is one of Kazakhstan's oldest cities, with a history dating to the seventeenth century as a Cossack settlement on the Ural River, and its position on the river that forms the traditional boundary between Europe and Asia gives it a distinctive geographic and historical character.