Baikonur

city in Kazakhstan

Ust-Kamenogorsk

city in East Kazakhstan

Turkestan

city in Kazakhstan

Shymkent

city in Kazakhstan

Semey

city

Pavlodar

city in Kazakhstan

Atyrau

city in Kazakhstan

Almaty

former capital of Kazakhstan and the nation's largest city

Nur-Sultan

capital of Kazakhstan

Pavlodar Region

Baikonur Cosmodrome

A lot of Russia's space exploration missions were launched from here. Permits are necessary and must be arranged at least 45 days in advance; the only practical way of doing this is through a specialist travel agency. Visits during space launches are particularly popular, but scheduling is subject to unpredictable delays.

Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic

Palace of Peace and Reconciliation

The pyramid portion of the building is 62 m high and sits on a 15-m-high earth-covered block. All of this construction is above ground level. The building holds a summit of all religions of the world every 2–3 years. Though the landscaping of the park rises up to cover the lower levels, these are not in fact basements. This building offers a great view of the city, two art galleries, an archaeological and ethnographic museum, opera hall, and a cafe.

Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi

Khan Shatyr Entertainment Center

It's a giant transparent tent big enough to hold 10,000 people. The 150-m-high tent has a 200-m elliptical base covering an area larger than 10 football stadiums, and contains a park, a shopping and entertainment area with squares and cobbled streets, a boating river, minigolf and an indoor beach resort. It even contains its own monorail with several stops. While Nur-Sultan is one of the world's coldest capitals with temperatures down to -40°C in the cold season, the transparent material lets sunshine in and helps to keep temperatures comfortable all year.

Otrar

ghost town in Kazakhstan

Semei State Medical University

university in Semey, Kazakhstan

Baiterek Tower

An example of the futuristic architecture in the newborn city. Nicknamed Chupa Chups by the locals due to its similarity to a giant lollipop, this 97-m-high building offers a great view of the city as well as an art gallery, an aquarium and a restaurant. There is a pleasant bar on one of the upper levels. In the centre of the top sphere, the ever-so-humble President Nazarbayev made a golden palm print where visitors may put their own hands. At busier times the queue for the palm can be very long. Nazarbayev designed the Baiterek himself and the original sketches can be seen in the national museum.

A. Kasteyev State Museum of Arts

Huge collection spanning Oriental, Russian and Kazakh arts. The Stakhanovite scenes from Stalin's era are fascinating.

Ascension Cathedral, Almaty

Completed in 1907, it is the second-tallest wooden building in the world.

Shymbulak

mountain in Kazakhstan

Kazakh Museum of Folk Musical Instruments

Small museum with fine traditional facade; exhibits have descriptions in Kazakh, Russian and English.

Central State Museum of Kazakhstan

Blue-roofed. Features displays on Kazakh history, from prehistoric times through the Mongol periods to the present. Guided tours in English (and other languages) are available if you call the museum ahead of time to reserve.

Central Mosque Almaty

Spacious decorated interior.

Palace of Independence (Nur-Sultan)

Mosque in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan

Nur-Astana Mosque

The second largest mosque in Nur-Sultan and the third largest in Central Asia, completed in 2008. The dome area contains symbols from all over the world like the Statue of Liberty, the fragment of the great Chinese wall, the "Doriphor" statue, Parthenon and others.

National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan

The national museum moved to this location in 2014. The museum is huge and very modern with interactive displays in English, Russian and Kazakh. Popular with tour groups but it's big enough to absorb them. The displays take you through the history of Kazakhstan up to the modern day. It also hosts an art gallery with many temporary exhibitions. The main entrance hall is huge with a golden eagle that flaps its wings to patriotic music at certain times in the day. One of the highlights is on the ground floor where an animated diorama of the planned Nur-Sultan emerges out of the floor on the hour, be sure to get there early as it can get crowded. The golden hall display has a model of the golden man costume along with a range of other beautiful golden objects found around Kazakhstan. Don't miss Nazabayev's rough sketches for the presidential palace and Baiterek.

Republic Square, Almaty

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.

Sawran (Kazakhstan)

Big Almaty Lake

Shymkent Qalasy

Manjali Mosque

mosque in Atyrau, Kazakhstan