Almaty is the former capital of Kazakhstan and is still its largest city. Being a financial and cultural centre of Central Asia, Almaty boasts moderately-sized tourist and expatriate communities. On a clear day, you can see the beautifully rugged, snow-capped mountains, right at the city's doorstep to the south. The city, in general, slopes from south to north which makes navigating the streets easy. If you are travelling uphill, you're going south. There is also a small mountain range bordering the city to the east.

Almaty is in the top 50 most expensive cities worldwide for expats to live in according to Mercer Human Research. Although Almaty dropped from 30th place in 2007 to 44th in 2008, it's still more expensive than Toronto, Los Angeles or Hamburg. Still, if done carefully - Almaty can be as cheap as many South American and Eastern European cities. It is a beautiful gateway to this undiscovered and distinctive country. Kazakh people are very kind and welcoming, and you will be pleasantly surprised by the hospitality.

Airports in Almaty

1. Almaty International Airport (ALA)

Almaty International Airport (IATA: ALA, ICAO: UAAA) is the largest international airport in Kazakhstan. It is about 15 km (9.3 mi) northeast of Almaty, the country's largest city and commercial capital. Almaty airport accounts for half of the passenger traffic and 68% of cargo traffic to Kazakhstan.

How to Get Cheap Flights to Almaty?

Traveloka is a search engine that generates preferable flights ticket that process data is obtained from the user input. For those who are looking for flight tickets, this website is highly recommended. You can get the flight ticket with the best price from it. You enter your origin and destination and then click search after then it will come up with dozens of results with different rates and packages. There is an application for Traveloka, and you can access now on your mobile phone.

When is the Best Time to Fly to Almaty?

The best time to visit Almaty are the summer months from June to September when the temperatures are moderate around 20 to 30 degrees Celsius. Hence it is the best time for sightseeing also. April is the wettest month and temperatures during May, September and October are little coolers, around 10 to 20 degrees Celsius yet you can visit Almaty during these months. Almaty can become cold and chilly in December, January and February, so, if you like doing ice skating and skiing and can bear the harsh winters, then you can travel Almaty during these months.

What are the Top 3 Things to Do in Almaty?

1. Kok Tobe - Kok Tobe is the highest point in the city of Almaty standing on an 1100 m hill at the south-east edge of the city. It is worth a visit to Kok Tobe because of its panoramic view of the city from all directions. To reach the Kok Tobe hill, one should take a cable car ride which starts near Hotel Kazakhstan and goes over some of the oldest parts of Almaty and the magnificent fruit-growing gardens. Once you reach the Kok Tobe hill, you would see the great 372 m high TV Tower which is visible from far and offers excellent views of the mountains and the city plus a few attractions at the top.

2. The Shymbulak Ski resort - Is located in the picturesque Zailiuskiy Alwatau mountains, 2260 m above sea level and is around 25kms outside the Almaty City with an average temperature of 25 degrees in summers and -7 degrees in winter. The average snowfall is approximately 1.5 m with the ski season starting from December till April. You can take the three ski lifts at the resort to reach the highest point at 3200m above sea level. You can reach the ski resort by taking the Gondola cars from Meadeu with the World's third longest Gondola with a length of 4.5 km. Once you reach the resort, you can soak in the views of the majestic mountains with snowy slopes and the evergreen Tien Shan Firs.

3. Ascension Cathedral - Also, known as the 'Zenkov Cathedral', is one of the most beautiful, magnificent and architectural monument of the city of Almaty. With the height of 56 meters, it is located in the green Panfilov Park of Almaty. A. Zenkov had supervised the construction of this cathedral in the early 19th century and legend goes that it was built without a single nail. But unfortunately, it’s not true. Although the design is remarkably unique but it's because of the advanced technological expertise of that time. They used the construction concept of Semi ruche which meant using of reinforced concrete, timber preservation and ventilation.