In 2024, our ride-hailing app celebrated ten years of service in Kazakhstan. We asked inDrive team member (and well-traveled gastronome) Kanat for an insider’s take on Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, where he’s lived for the past three years. So if you’re spending some time there soon, go check them out!

Kanat on Almaty:

What do you like most about the city? Entertainment! There are a lot of activities going on: live concerts, bars, cafes, restaurants, places where you can eat interesting food, good places where you can go with your friends. It’s a non-stop city!

What do you like least? Traffic. Even if you use public transport, it’s hard to get somewhere during rush hour (5-7pm), especially if you’re going up into the mountains. If you go that way, you’ll definitely be stuck in traffic for 2 hours or more, so I don’t like to go anywhere during that time.

What are some of your favorite places to eat? I like national restaurants with contemporary cuisine - so national food, but in a modern style, restaurants like Ayul and Qaimaq. I also like the Georgian cuisine here, it’s really good, especially Chachapuri: It’s a Georgian restaurant that only the people who live here know. It’s been going for 30 years and they always do it well. When people who have left come back to Almaty, they definitely go there. It’s not so fancy, but really good.

What food should every visitor try at least once?

Sandyq - a modern Kazakh cuisine here.

If you want something special, at the crossroad of Baribayeva Street and Gogolya street you can eat good Chinese hogo (where you cook the food yourself) and Lagman (a dish of meat, vegetables and pulled noodles from Uyghur cuisine).

Best natural spots: Panfilov Park has a beautiful cathedral which was built by the Russians in 1907. It’s made out of wood. You can walk around there and feed the pigeons, if you like. But be careful, they can bite! And the Main Botanical Gardens are a good place to go, they have interesting features, like a Japanese garden.

It’s also easy to go to the mountains, to Medeu (a kind of national park) – it’s just 20-30 minutes by car. You can even go by bus. In summer, some people go to Medeu at 6 in the morning to climb the “Health Staircase” (842 steps!). You go up and eat breakfast and then you’re back by 9 or 10 for work. And you can also go skating in Medeu, in the world’s highest altitude ice rink - or use the cable car and go to a ski resort, Shymbulak. And you can easily book a hotel at 3200meters.

If you visit the city in summer, definitely visit Tau-Spa thermal springs near the mountains. It has amazing views.

Favorite cultural spots: I like concerts in summer. A lot of artists come to Almaty then, like 50cent or Akon last year, and you can chill with a picnic. Every weekend there’s something happening, parties or festivals. I also recommend going to the Abai Kazakh National Opera and Ballet Theatre (it’s named after the Kazakh writer). It’s really cool, you can enjoy the architecture and they have special programs. Or if you prefer experimental theatre, visit famous urban theatre Artishok.

And one place where I like to go any evening with my friends is Kinobar for drinks and then live music from 9-11pm. Some of the artists who performed there 5 years ago have become famous musicians. So it’s the kind of place that spotlights future stars.

Getting around: Public transport, and especially the metro is very easy to use. I live near it, so I use it to get to work. I’m originally from another city four hours away from Almaty, so I use inDrive Intercity to go to my parents and friends, because I don’t have to go to a station or wait for a train. I just order a ride and go directly to my home.

What should you do if you have only one or two days free in Almaty?

I always do these tours for my friends who come for 2 - 3 days: We definitely go to Medeu, and I also recommend going to Kok Tobe – it’s a cable car from the city centre to the mountains. It’s great to go for the sunset; they have attractions and entertainment at the top.

And Terrenkur is really amazing: It's a park by the river. There’s a beautiful view, especially during autumn when the leaves are yellow. It’s a good place for walking or jogging, and during summer you can escape from the heat.

And then if you want to take something from Almaty, you definitely should go to Green Bazaar, it’s a traditional bazaar that has a lot of fruit, Central Asian cuisines, meat – especially horse meat. You can buy everything there! It’s an historical place, and there’s a great coffee place there with a view of the bazaar. And near the bazaar you can find a chocolate shop with very well known Kazakhstan chocolate produced by local company Rakhat.

Tips for first time visitors: It’s a safe city! Definitely use 2GIS as a navigator, it helps me a lot. Wi-fi is available, you can find it at any coffee place.