Grand Tour of Kazakhstan 2026-27

A beautiful journey through the ninth-largest country in the world by area, a landlocked land and one of tourism's last frontiers, long regarded as little more than a great empty space in the middle of Asia, a country where tourists are still very few and are treated as guests deserving an exceptional welcome. And yet for more than 2,000 years the deserts and steppes between the Caspian Sea and China were crossed by nomadic peoples and merchants travelling the Silk Road. Almaty, the old Russian capital and the country's social and cultural centre. The Charyn Canyon, one of the most spectacular canyons in the world. Altyn-Emel Park, with its “singing dune”, its psychedelic coloured mountains, its immense steppes roamed by wild asses and gazelles, and the burial mounds of the royal necropolis of Besshatyr. The UNESCO World Heritage sites: the Tamgaly petroglyphs, with their mysterious sun-headed idols, and the Mausoleum of Yasawi in Turkistan. The ruins of Otrar and Sauran, ancient caravan cities along the Silk Road. The futuristic, imaginative contemporary architecture of the new capital, Astana.

Kazakhstan.

Thanks to its vast oil and mineral deposits, the ninth-largest country in the world is the most economically advanced of the ‘stans’. This translates into better-quality accommodation, restaurants and transport than in the rest of Central Asia. The largest city, Almaty, has an almost European feel, with tree-lined boulevards, the ALZhIR Memorial Museum, gleaming shopping centres and a buzzing nightlife. Set in the northern steppes, Nur-Sultan has by now turned into a 21st-century capital, with a profusion of futuristic buildings. In any case, it is outside the cities that travellers can have their most unforgettable adventures, such as hiking the trails across the high mountains and green valleys of the Tian Shan, wildlife-watching on the lake-studded steppe, the warm welcome of village guest houses, and the discovery of remote underground mosques in the western deserts.

Discovering Astana: eight reasons to visit Kazakhstan's glittering capital.

Amid the endless grasslands of Kazakhstan, on the windswept northern steppes, has risen the modern, futuristic city of Nur-Sultan. With a skyline studded with gleaming new skyscrapers that seem to defy the laws of physics, the capital is a flamboyant showcase of 21st-century international architecture and a glimpse of the city of the future. Community is one of the central themes of Best in Travel 2021, in which we set about, with great enjoyment, profiling the travel trends of the future, such as the hospitality of the local communities of Almaty in Kazakhstan. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the depressed farming town of Tselinograd was completely renewed and renamed Astana when President Nazarbayev unexpectedly designated it the future capital of Kazakhstan in 1994. The transformation from small town to world-famous capital has continued since Astana officially took on the role in 1997 and was renamed from Akmola to Astana in 1998. This ever-growing city – which hosted the Expo 2017 world fair – offers a glimpse of the city of tomorrow. In March 2019 the capital, Astana, changed its name to Nur-Sultan in tribute to former president Nursultan Nazarbayev, the man behind the city's expansion. Nur-Sultan's international profile received a boost when the city hosted Expo 2017. Despite Kazakhstan's oil-based economy, the Expo theme was “Future Energy”, with energy companies, NGOs and the public debating how to secure safe, sustainable access to energy while cutting emissions. The Expo site, well connected to the centre of Nur-Sultan, was designed to be energy self-sufficient and, during the Expo, showcased the 17 best sustainable energy-production projects from around the world. Around 3.8 million people visited the fair, with 101 participating countries. When the event ended, the exhibition grounds and pavilion spaces were turned into premises for education and research organisations, as well as commercial premises used by businesses and start-ups. Stroll along Nurzhol Bulvar to admire Nur-Sultan's most extraordinary contemporary buildings. This showcase avenue of architecture stretches between the impressive Ak Orda – the imposing palace where the president works – and Khan Shatyr, a strange tent-like structure outside the centre and one of Nur-Sultan's most incredible buildings. The centrepiece of Nurzhol Bulvar is the 97 m Bayterek monument, a white latticework tower topped by a golden egg, a tribute to Kazakh legend. A lift carries visitors to the top for unforgettable views of the city and of buildings with witty local nicknames, such as the two conical golden “Beer Cans” near Ak Orda, the wave-shaped blue and green skyscrapers known as the “Northern Lights”, and the gleaming golden “Lighter” that houses the Ministry of Communications and Transport. Across the Ishim River, the bold glass-and-steel pyramid of the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation was designed by Norman Foster as a place of harmony where the leaders of the various faiths could meet for the triennial Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. A guided tour of the building takes in the opera hall in the basement, the magnificent atrium, the lifts that rise diagonally, the hanging gardens and the light-filled apex of the pyramid, with its stained glass decorated with doves donated by the British artist Brian Clarke.

Turkistan, “the old glory”, lies in southern Kazakhstan, between Kyzylorda and Tashkent. This city is incredibly old. The first mention of it dates from the 15th century. Thousands of years ago it was the capital of the khanate and was also considered the pearl of the Great Silk Road. It played a very important role in the country's economy. The city's glory spread throughout the world. Once one of the richest cities, today it has become a small town, but it has not lost its majesty, thanks to its fine medieval architecture and its many relics. Turkistan, the ancient city of ancient glory, is not and never will be forgotten, as long as the city keeps its unique buildings. In the days of the khanate it was an honour to be buried in this city. So the great Kazakhs, too, rest here, such as Asim Khan, Ablai Khan and Abulkhair Khan, to name but a few. The Mausoleum of Khawaja Ahmed Yasawi was commissioned in 1389 by Timur, who ruled the area as part of the vast Timurid Empire, to replace a small 12th-century mausoleum of the famous Turkic poet and Sufi mystic, Khoja Ahmed Yasawi. The religious building continues to draw pilgrims from all over Central Asia and has come to embody Kazakh national identity. It has been protected as a national monument, while UNESCO recognised it as the country's first site, declaring it a World Heritage Site in 2003.

The Tamgaly open-air museum, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004.

The archaeological site of Tamgaly stands out for the historical and cultural wealth of the petroglyphs carved into the rocks of an area covering 900 hectares in the Zhambyl district (south-east Kazakhstan), 170 km north-west of Almaty. The site, which shows the neo-tectonic geological evolution of the Chu-Ili range, was chosen thousands of years ago for its milder climate and became a crossroads of ancient communication routes between Central Asia and the northern Tien Shan range. The roughly 5,000 petroglyphs are divided into groups according to specific criteria: sacred images, altars and places of worship associated with dwellings and burial sites. Together they bear witness to the customs and beliefs of the steppe peoples during the Bronze Age. The most famous area of Tamgaly is called “Semirechye” in Russian, which translates as “Land of the Seven Rivers”; petroglyphs are found at many other sites, including Kulzhabasy, Akkaynar, Anyrakhay, Karakyr and Kogalym. The part of the area open to visitors lies inside a small rocky canyon, unsuited at the time to dwellings but ideal for rock art and collective rites. Alongside the sacred images there are groups of lesser-quality engravings depicting everyday life with ancestral signs (tamga), and groups showing hunting scenes with animals such as deer, horses and buffalo. These petroglyphs are generally found on rocks near water sources, where livestock was probably grazed.