Almaty is a city with a history spanning just over a century and a half: founded as the military fortification of Verny, it later became the capital of the Kazakh SSR and then of independent Kazakhstan — a status it held until the capital moved to Astana in 1997.
A city where two eras sit side by side
This dual status is visible in the architecture: Soviet-era buildings sit alongside the wooden Ascension Cathedral, one of the tallest wooden structures in the world built without a single nail (and one that withstood the devastating 1911 earthquake — the very same one that created Lake Kaindy).
An unhurried first day
For the first day after a long-haul flight, the city allows for a gentle, unhurried introduction: a relaxed walk through Panfilov Park by the cathedral, an evening view of the mountains from Kok-Tobe, reached by cable car, and the Green Bazaar — the city's oldest covered market.
Making the pace match how you feel
It's precisely an individual transfer from the airport and a flexible first day, untied from any bus schedule, that allows the pace to match how you actually feel after the flight — for some, that means a light city walk on arrival day through our Almaty City Tour; for others, simply resting and shifting the city introduction to the following morning, before heading out to the mountains or Big Almaty Lake — a good, low-intensity first day in nature.
