Charyn Canyon and Kolsai Lakes, a great day trip from Almaty
If you are a regular reader of this site, you may have figured out already that I have a soft spot for Kazakhstan, a country which I have covered multiple times.
Yet, most of what I have seen so far (aside from a short outing to Shymbulak ski resort next to Almaty) was its urban landscape (see my posts about what to do in Astana and Almaty, btw!). It was about time I explored a bit of the countryside, as well.
Fortunately, while Kazakhstan is huge (if overlaid over the map of Europe, it would stretch all the way from the west coast of Ireland to the Russo-Ukrainian border!), many of its top natural wonders are located within driving distance of Almaty.
What’s more, these offer to the visitor a stunning diversity of landscapes and ecosystems, from the Alpine environment and peaks of Kolsai Lakes National Park to the sandstone cliffs of Charyn Canyon, often called “the Kazakh Grand Canyon”, and the broad steppes in between!
Covered in this piece:
Is it possible to visit the Kolsai Lakes and Charyn Canyon in one day?
Visiting Lower Kolsai Lake
Infrastructure at Lower Kolsai Lake
Where to eat at Lower Kolsai Lake
Charyn Canyon National Park
Infrastucture at Charyn Canyon
Trails to visit Charyn Canyon
This post may contain affiliate links. If you book or buy something through them, I earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. It's one of the ways I keep Places of Charm going. Thank you for your support!
This post was made possible thanks to the support of Almaty Tourism Bureau and Air Astana. All opinions are my own.
Kolsai Lake and Charyn Canyon in one day? Long but doable
The itinerary of this excursion was as follows: leave downtown Almaty early in the morning, head straight for Lower Kolsai Lake (the only one of the three Kolsai Lakes that is easily accessible by car), retrace the road back towards Almaty and stop at Charyn Canyon National Park on the way. Finally, head back to Almaty in the evening.
If you look at the map, you will see that all these spots look relatively close to Almaty. And *relatively” is the key word, because this itinerary, while doable, is still a rather long drive for European (and even for US) standards!
The good news is that the roads are pretty good in general, including several stretches of multi-lane motorway, so you can complete this whole itinerary on a regular car.
For reference: we left Almaty at around 6.15am. The drive to Lower Kolsai Lake took us around four hours. Charyn Canyon is located roughly along the same route (it just required a detour of a few kilometers on the way back to Almaty).
From Kolsai Lake to Charyn Canyon it was around 1h 30 min. We arrived at Charyn Canyon at around 15.00 and left for Almaty at 16.30. So, it was a rather lightning visit, but enough to see the main highlights.
If you have the luxury of time, it wouldn’t hurt to look for a hotel in the area (as we shall soon see, there are quite a few unconventional accommodation options in the area, including yurts (the traditional Kazakh nomadic tent) and “capsule” bungalows) and visit these places as a more leisurely pace. For example, by accessing the upper Kolsai lakes or walking Charyn Canyon’s lower trail.
Another plus of this itinerary is the chance to take in the sheer scale of the Kazakh steppe, which meets the Tian Shan mountains here.
From this point, the arid plain stretches northwest for thousands of kilometres. In this region, though, it is far from featureless: ravines cut across it, and rocky outcrops rise from the grass. You may also spot Kazakh horsemen driving herds of cattle across it, a scene that would have been familiar to the nomadic peoples who have roamed this land for millennia.
After several hours heading east, the road turns south toward the foothills of the Tian Shan. The landscape change is abrupt. One moment you could be in the Arizona desert, the next, you may well think you are in Switzerland.
Visiting Lower Kolsai Lake
The Kolsai Lakes National Park has a three-lake system, with the Lower, Middle and Upper Kolsai Lakes.
The only one that is (almost) accessible by private car is the Lower Kolsai Lake. The middle one, which is famous for its underwater forest, can be accessed through a service of mini-vans (the sturdy, Soviet-designed “Bukhankas”) and the upper lake requires some serious hiking.
By the way, there is an access fee to enter the National Park, which is paid at the entrance (I can’t provide an exact fee indication since the fee is indexed to something called “Kazakhstan’s monthly calculation index”, which sets the exact amount, but I would say shouldn’t be more than $10/€10).
I only cover the Lower Kolsai Lake here, since it was necessary to prioritize in order to be able to also see Charyn Canyon on the same day.
Infrastructure at Lower Kolsai Lake
The road ends around 1 km from the Lower Kolsai Lake. It is here, a this terminus located at an altitude of 1,800m, where you find most of the infrastructure to service the visitors who come to visit the lakes.
There are a number of bars, cafés, restaurants and (paid) toilets, as well as the typical souvenir shops, as well as some companies that offer horse rides and other experiences, such as the drive in a special vehicle to the Middle Kolsai Lake. There is also plenty of parking space.
I didn’t get the impression that there is a lot of hospitality infrastructure at the moment (Oct.’26), but this is an industry that seems to be developing fast. In fact, when driving to the lakes you can see quite a few camping/hotel sites and the “/” is intentional, because I am not sure to which category of accommodation they belong since they tend to be either yurts (although I guess a modern reinterpretation of the traditional concept) as well as capsule-like bungalows.
I guess “glamping” is the best way to define these modalities of accommodation that appear to be popular in the vicinity of Kolsai Lakes National Park. Maybe something to find out next time!
From the road terminus and services base it’s a 15 min walk to the Lower Kolsai Lake. It is a rather pleasant walk with no particular technical difficulty. The trail is perfectly demarcated and maintained.
At the end of the trail you find a little dock and a water sports base where it is possible to rent rowing and pedal boats.
Top place to eat at Lower Kolsai Lake
Tary Café (by Sandyk Group)
Also at the edge of the lake, but some 100 meters uphill is the most upmarket establishment in the area: the Tary Café and restaurant, which has also a panoramic terrace and a souvenir shop.
This place is part of the Sandyk Group, which runs also a Kazakh cuisine restaurant which I featured in my Astana story, and has a partnership with Air Astana to supply the airline’s business class inflight meals.
The walk up to Tary Café is well worth it, since it is an ideal spot to rest a bit after the long drive from Almaty and replenish energies by tasting some Kazakh specialities, all while enjoying some privileged views of the lake.
The place is tastefully decorated, arranging traditional Kazakh motifs in a rather subtle minimalist way, and, at the same time, underlining the beauty of the surrounding landscape.
Charyn Canyon National Park
We shall soon see what’s in Charyn Canyon, one of the great natural attractions of Kazakhstan, but first I would like to highlight that Charyn is not the only canyon in this part of the world.
When driving between the Kolsai Lakes and Charyn, you pass by the “Black Canyon”, which is slightly smaller than Charyn and made of darker rocks (hence its name). Interestingly, a glass bridge is being built over the Black Canyon!
I didn’t stop due to time constraints, but even the drive by provided some really stunning views, which you can see in the picture below.
Arriving at Charyn Canyon - Infrastructure
Charyn Canyon is located in a totally different environment from Kolsai Lake. Here the landscape is desert as far as the eye can see, which is the Tian Shan range, on the border with China.
Access to the canyon is through a branch of the main road, which takes you to the visitors’ center car park, itself barely a couple of hundred meters from the edge of the canyon. By the way, just like at Kolsai Lake, there is also an entrance fee to access the national park.
The visitors’ center is quite a modern building (it opened in 2023) which blends quite well with the landscape. There is a small exhibit area, an ever smaller souvenir shop, toilets and a branch of Tary Café (the same that we have already seen at Kolsai Lake!).
Next to the visitors’ center there are also a number of structures painted in earthy colours. That is the Pana Unique Charyn, a glamping resort, also of recent construction.
Trails to visit Charyn Canyon
The section of the canyon that most visitors see, called “Valley of the Castles” is only a small part, a couple of kilometres long, of a whole geological system that stretches for over 150 km).
There are two main ways to visit it: through the upper or the lower part. Since there was time for one, opted for the easiest and fastest: the upper one. This upper trail has also the benefit of offering broad panoramic views.
The title of “little brother of the Grand Canyon of Colorado” is well deserved. Charyn Canyon is much smaller than its US counterpart but the overall setup is quite reminiscent of it and also very impressive, reaching a depth of 300m at some points (although the depth is closer to 150m along the most commonly visited area).
It was formed as the Charyn river (from which it takes its name) made its way from the nearby Tian Shan mountains, where it has its source, through sandstone and other soft rocks. In the picture below you can see the start of the upper trails, which follows the edge of the cliffs along the Valley of Castles.
The upper trail presents no technical difficulty, since it is rather flat. Every few meters there are salients that, like a terrace, offer a closer view of the valley below (through which the lower trail passes).
Wildlife at Charyn Canyon
While walking along the canyon you will come across large numbers of great gerbils. These little rodents are a constant presence during your walk as they constantly pop in and out of their little burrows and you can see them quarreling with each other or carrying materials for their “homes”.
I added the next couple of pictures to give you a sense of the scale of the scenery here. Zoom in and you will see a few people standing on rocky ledges along the rim of the canyon!
With these views, and little time to spare, this intense one-day excursion from Almaty came to an end. More than three hours of driving lay ahead, though fortunately much of it on motorways.
However, and before you go, let me recommend the following pieces, which you may find of interest if you are planning a trip to Kazakhstan in the near future:
24 hours in Almaty, Kazakhstan, what to do and what to see (updated 2026)
Almaty is Kazakhstan’s largest city and it was also its political capital until 1997, when the government moved to more centrally-located Astana (I did visit Astana in the same trip and a post with my impressions is coming up soon, btw!).
Kazakhstan is the size of whole of Western Europe and Almaty is literally at one of its corners, right on the foothills of the Tian Shan mountain range, which limits with Kyrgyzstan and China. The view of the Tian Shan’s snowy peaks is, actually, the first sight greeting visitors arriving at Almaty’s international airport (you can find also my review of Air Astana’s flight from Europe here).
These mountains play, actually, an important role in the life of Almaty’s residents and I had a chance to get a taster of them, but, since we have only 24 hours in the city, let’s go on a quick city tour first!
Covered in this post:
A walking tour of central Almaty
The Almaty metro
The city baths
Panfilov Park and the Orthodox Cathedral
The Green Bazar
Evening in Almaty
Shymbulak ski resort
Where to stay in Almaty
Where to eat out in Almaty
This post may contain affiliate links. If you book or buy something through them, I earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. It's one of the ways I keep Places of Charm going. Thank you for your support.
A walking tour of central Almaty
If you have ever been to any of the capitals of the former Soviet republics, some parts of Almaty will look familiar to you. Although Almaty has been settled for many centuries, it was during the Soviet period that the city grew to become one of Central Asia’s largest cities and that it got most of the landmarks I visited during this tour.
What is interesting about Almaty’s architecture, though, is that, interspersed with the classical Soviet-era styles (like the Opera palace depicted above), there are many elements that draw from local Kazakh culture.
As an example, these intricate motifs (right side picture), inspired in traditional Kazakh art, which decorate the facade of quite a few buildings in central Almaty. Judging by the type of construction, I’d say these are from around the 1970s.
Also remarkable is that most of central Almaty is laid out in a grid-like pattern, with rather wide streets intersecting at right angles. There is also quite a lot of greenery, since the city is not very densely built and there is ample space between buildings.
Our tour took place on a rainy Autumn day, which made for a nice walk in the cool (but not too cold!) air. I hope these pictures capture a little bit of the city atmosphere, like here below, at the head of Panfilov Street, one of the main pedestrianised avenues in Almaty.
A ride in the Almaty metro
Let’s start by saying that the metro (subway) in Almaty is rather limited, in fact it is not, properly speaking, a transport network, because, as of 2024, it has just one line.
What’s interesting here is that, while it was inaugurated in 2011 and part of it has been built even later, the style is unmistakably Soviet. This is not because its engineers suffered from some sort of nostalgia, but because the design and construction of the Almaty metro project actually started in the 1980s.
Apparently, every Soviet city qualified to get a metro system from the moment it reached a population of 1M. Almaty got to that magical figure (after some gerrymandering with the city limits, we were told during the excursion) only as the Soviet Union was starting to crumble. Plans were laid out, but the Soviet collapse and the chaotic years that ensued meant that the project was put on a very slow track, until it was restarted in the early 2000s. So, when it was time to get back to work on the metro, the same blueprints were used (why not?).
It is well worth taking a ride on the Almaty metro just to have a peek at the different mosaics and decor elements you find at several points.
But let’s first have a look at the metro map to get an idea of the extension of the system and, one thing of note: see the line of mountains on a blue background at the top of the map? This shows the Tian Shan mountain range, which Almaty citizens use always as a reference point when navigating their city. The mountains here help with orientation, the same way that the sea or rivers play in other cities as an geographical anchor element.
The other interesting element are the mosaics and mural art that you find all over the metro. These depict mostly Kazakh themes. Here above you can see a glass mural dedicated to Aport apple, which is a local apple variety which has become a source of local pride and a sort of symbol of Almaty.
But what I found most interesting are the many mosaics throughout the metro system that allude to local Kazakh culture (again those tile patterns!) as well as the history of Central Asia and the Silk Road.
See for example these depictions of ancient cities at Zhibek Zholy (Жібек Жолы) station. How many monuments and places are you able to recongize in this map of the Silk Road?
The city baths
Bath houses play an important role in Turkic culture (Kazakhs are a people of Turkic origin), so it’s not a surprise that another building of reference in Almaty is the Arasan public bath (today known as the “Arasan Wellness & SPA”).
It was built in the 1980s in response to Tashkent, in neighbouring Uzbekistan (and a rival for urban primacy in Central Asia) having built earlier its own bath complex.
It’s a rather modern interpretation of the traditional public bath concept with plenty of interesting decorative details built in.
Panfilov Park, Ascension Cathedral and Memorial of Glory
This is sort of Almaty’s “central park”. Although it is not huge, it has several of the city’s landmarks in it, such as the Orthodox cathedral of the Ascension, which was built in wood and using a rather innovative (for the time) earthquake-resistant approach that has allowed to survive undamaged several episodes of seismic activity.
The park is named after Panfilov’s “28 Guardsmen”, a mostly-Kazakh unit in the Soviet army that suffered very high losses while defending Moscow in 1941.
Like every city in the former Soviet Union, Almaty has here, as well, its WW2 memorial with its eternal flame. There is also a military history museum next to the park, although there was no time to visit it.
The Green Bazaar
The Green Bazaar is located less than five minutes walk away from Panfilov Park and it is one of the must-see places in Almaty, if only to relish in the broad diversity of flavours and smells here. It is also a good spot to taste and buy traditional Kazakh produce, such as the famous Aport apples or Irimshik, a sort of brownish soft cheese.
The bazaar is very well organized by product category (dried fruit, pickled food, dairy, meat…) and by ethnicity. So, it seems that every national group specializes in one type of produce. For example, we were told dried food vendors are mostly Uzbek, while the dairy section is mostly taken care of by Turkish women.
There is also a Korean section (see below). Many ethnic Koreans were deported to Kazakhstan from the Far Eastern territories of Russia on Stalin’s orders around the time of WW2 and they are now a sizeable minority in Kazakhstan. Because of the lack of the original ingredients in their new homeland, Koreans adapted some of their dishes to the local produce and tastes.
Aport apples
Irimshik cheese
An evening walk through Almaty
Days are short in Autumn, so part of the walking tour took place in the evening, which is something that has its own appeal.
Here is a view of two landmarks of 1970s brutalist architecture in Kazakhstan. On the right is the building that used to house the Ministry of Geology, a pretty important institution in a country that derives much of its wealth from natural resources!
The building with the crown-like top to the left is the Kazakhstan Hotel. Arguably the top hotel in town for many years and, still today, one of the city’s main hospitality establishments.
At just over 100m high, the Kazakhstan Hotel was also, at the time of its construction, the tallest building in the country. It was also built with seismic activity in mind and its structure is said to be able to stand earthquakes of up to 9.0 in the Richter scale. In fact, the structure was successfully tested during its construction with a special machine that shook it up simulating a strong earthquake, with the chief architect and engineers on top (skin in the game!).
During our walk we were also able to see several of the statues scattered around central Almaty, with very different themes. For example, here on top you can see a fountain that represents the Kazakh horoscope (similar to the Chinese one) and, below, a statue dedicated to Soviet-era rock star Victor Tsoi.
Another iconic hotel in town is the Almaty Hotel, which was has a surprisingly modern-looking design despite having been built in the 1960s (the interior has been renovated but the structure remains the same).
Curious historical fact: the first director of the hotel, Rakhimzhan Koshkarbayev, was the Soviet soldier that hoisted the red flag over the Reichstag during the Battle of Berlin, in 1945 (the iconic photo was a later reenactment, though).
The entrance of the Almaty Hotel is also decorated with these beautiful mosaic depicting scenes from Kazakh traditional tales.
More street art, here in an underground passage. Note, again, the Aport apple theme!
And, here, with this picture of the Kazakh Academy of Sciences, that we conclude our tour of the city centre. Before turning to the outdoor experience in the mountains, though, a word about the excellent tour guide, provided by Walking Almaty.
Shymbulak ski resort
Almaty is surrounded by great outdoors, including some world-class natural parks. You don’t even need to go as far as Altyn-Emel or Charyn Canyon (two truly unique national parks which are within driving range of Almaty, but which are, perhaps, best visited with an overnight stay), truly Alpine nature is a short taxi and cable-car ride away from the city center!
Shymbulak, is a suburban ski resort. The base station of the Shymbulak cable car is barely a 15min drive from Almaty city center (provided there is no traffic!).
The cable car will take you in a few minutes to a height of more than 2,200 meters of altitude. In Winter this is where the skiing area starts, but you can visit year round for the mountain sights, trekking (it was rainy and cloudy when we visited though) or to enjoy the restaurants and services (more on this in the food section further down).
These mountains are very popular with Almaty residents, who come here for a bit of outdoors sports and to breathe the fresh mountain air.
It is in this valley, half way up the mountain, that you find the Medeu skating ring, the highest in the world of its type. This sports facility became famous during Soviet times, because local conditions of altitude and prevailing low winds enabled many ice skating world records to be set here!
We arrived just in time to experience the first snow of the season!
Where to stay in Almaty
Intercontinental Almaty by IHG
This is a nice, modern hotel located in a high rise building.
Its rooms are modern, perhaps not up to the very latest contemporary design trends, but solidly comfortable, clean and big.
The members of staff were also very friendly and helpful throughout.
By the way, on the culinary front, I enjoyed room service, which offers an eclectic mix of international and Asian food options.
Breakfast and lunch buffet are also worth mentioning, since they include a broad variety of sweet and salty foods as well as international and Kazakh specialities, including different types of local cheese as well as camel and horse milk and dairy. Local Kazakh specialities are presented in a cute yurt-like arrangement!
Where to eat in Almaty
Here are some nice options to eat out in Almaty and Shymbulak. It is mostly international cuisine (Italian and Turkish mostly), so don’t expect super typical Kazakh dishes here (you will have to wait to my upcoming post about Astana for this!), but all of them were pretty good and you can’t go wrong with them.
Monte Bambini, Shymbulak
This is a cozy mountain restaurant next to the base station of the Shymbulak cable car. Here you can find a mix of European and Central Asian specialities.
Big Chefs, Shymbulak
Big Chefs is also in Shymbulak but at the other end of the cable car, up in the mountain.
Turkish cuisine is the main focus here. The mezze, for example, were really good and the portions quite generous. There is also a nice dessert selection.
Aurora Café, Almaty
This is an upmarket Italian restaurant in central Almaty (with a nice aeronautical touch by the entrance!).
It’s got a pretty good selection of dishes, which include also some Central Asian shashlik, of course, besides more international fare.
And last, but not least, big thanks to the team at Air Astana, the main airline of Kazakhstan, which worked hard to make sure we experienced the best of Almaty during our short but intense stay!
Café Karlygash (“Кафе Карлыгаш”)
Karlygash, which means “swallow” in Kazakh language, is an iconic place in central Almaty with a history dating back to the Soviet era.
It opened in 1967 as an ice-cream shop and, in 2025, it was relaunched as a high-end restaurant.
The new owners preserved the outside of the building and totally refurbished the interior to reflect this new market positioning with a decor that looks modern and refreshed, but with a touch of classical elegance throughout.
On the culinary front, Karlygash offers a broad range of local and international specialities, from pizza to Beshbarmak, the traditional Kazakh dish which consist of horse meat round slices served over sheets of boiled dough accompanied of onion broth (see below).
