A day in Almaty
Summary
Almaty is described by the Lonely Planet as being the highlight of Central Asia – I certainly wouldn’t go that far, mainly because the city itself is just a bit too former-Soviet-concrete and without enough wow factor to justify that, but more than anything there are some great experiences around the rest of Central Asia
That being said though, there are some things that are definitely worth doing and its nice to walk through some of the streets which feel more European in style and vibe than Asian. I’ll only provide a short entry here as, of the two times I’ve been, one was quite some time ago (2008) and the other a bit of a lash / partying blur. I’d suggest though giving yourself a full day and checking out:
- The picture perfect Zenkov’s Cathedral – gorgeous and sits within the pretty Panfilovtsev Park. I visited in summer and autumn, but I’ve seen photos of the cathedral in winter with the snow and looks stunning
- The views from Kok-Tobe Hill are worth taking the cable car up for – and you can often get to the Golden Eagles there which is cool
- The Arasan Bathhouse – a great for experiencing the Russian-style thrashing with the birch branches
- In the evening, if up for a big night, make sure to visit Sky Bar – located on the roof of an old factory, it’s split into various themed sections and is great fun. Might be one of the best clubs I’ve been to
Experiences nearby
The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences
Other City-break Experiences around the World
Score Detail
Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"? That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others. That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score
This overall experience score is calculated by: take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10). Then convert into a score out of 100
Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique". Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides. So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique". But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience). So, both of these scores are standalone