Kazakhstan travel guide

The size of Western Europe, with a population of just 18 million people, Kazakhstan is a vast and largely unexplored nation, blanketed in landscapes with some of the bleakest sounding names: steppe, semi-desert, tundra, taiga. It stretches from the some of the lowest points on earth on the shores of the Caspian Sea, to the Tien Shan and Altai Mountains, peaking at over 7,000m. It is criss-crossed with ancient trading routes, traversed for centuries by Silk Road merchants, with ruined cities, fortresses and magnificent mausoleums lining these trails like chapters from an Asian fable.

Despite being conquered by the Mongols, and incorporated into the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan remains thoroughly untamed, and nomadic herders still wander remoter regions. As our Kazakhstan travel guide reveals, a vacation here is not about ticking off big sights; it is about forging your own, completely unique adventures in a land where few tourists set foot.

Most travelers flying into Kazakhstan will arrive into Almaty, which gives easy access to landscapes such as Altyn Emel National Park and Issyk Lake. Silk Road vacations may fly into the city from Tashkent in Uzbekistan, or take their time entering Kazakhstan from the southwestern desert, traveling overland to Almaty via the ancient cities of Turkestan and Sauran. Almaty is also a manageable drive from Bishkek, in Kyrgyzstan, so wider Central Asia tours will often enter or depart Kazakhstan traveling overland between these two cities. Within Kazakhstan, the southern region is usually explored overland – but those heading to the remote Altai Mountains and Lake Markakol will need to take an internal flight from Almaty to Ust-Kamenogorsk. From here, particularly intrepid overland voyages continue into Russia or across into Mongolia.