Almaty is Kazakhstan's largest city and cultural and commercial capital, set at 700-900 m on the northern slope of the Trans-Ili Alatau, with snow-capped peaks rising directly behind the city. It combines Soviet-era parks, Orthodox and Muslim landmarks, a thriving cafe and restaurant scene, and the best access in the country to ski slopes, high lakes, canyons and petroglyph sites.
- Public
- Almaty has one metro line (about 11 stations, from Raiymbek Batyr in the southwest to Bauyrzhan Momyshuly in the north), a large network of buses and trolleybuses, and shared minibuses, all paid with the contactless Onay card or the Onay app. A single fare is about 100-120 KZT / approx $0.21-0.26 and coverage of the compact centre is good, but the lines do not reach the mountain suburbs and the app does not always accept foreign bank cards.
- Taxi
- Ride-hailing is cheap and reliable: Yandex Go is the most used app and inDrive lets riders propose a price. Most city rides cost about 1,500-3,500 KZT / approx $3.20-7.45, the airport costs about 2,000-4,000 KZT / approx $4-8.50 in normal conditions and the price is shown before the ride.
- Rental
- Useful only for Charyn Canyon, Kolsai-Kaindy, Altyn-Emel and other trips out of town. Central Almaty has heavy traffic, drivers who rarely yield, and scarce parking, so a car is a burden in the city; taxis with a driver for a day cost less than most visitors expect.
- Walking
- The centre between Panfilov Park, the Arbat (Zhibek Zholy Street) and the Green Bazaar is flat, shaded and walkable, as the city slopes gently north from the mountains. Pavements can be broken, traffic is dense, and the distance from the centre to Medeu (about 13 km) and the lakes means taxis or buses for the mountains.
Transport at a glance
- Public
- 3/5
- Taxi
- 5/5
- Rental
- 2/5
- Walking
- 3/5
Transportation details
Full breakdown of how to get around.
Almaty is a spread-out city of about 2.35 million people stretched from the mountain foothills in the south to the airport in the north-east. The centre can be covered on foot, with a one-line metro, buses on a flat tenge fare, and very cheap ride-hailing taxis. Taxis are the practical way to reach Medeu, Shymbulak and Big Almaty Lake; trains, buses and flights link Almaty to Astana, Shymkent and the rest of Kazakhstan. Prices in this guide use about 470 KZT to 1 USD (October 2026).
Airports
Almaty International Airport
Transport tips
Travel smarter, not harder.
Buy an Onay card (about 500-800 KZT / approx $1.05-1.70 for the plastic card, depending on the seller) at metro stations, airport kiosks and shops showing the Onay sign, load it with 1,000-2,000 KZT, and tap it on the validator when boarding; the ride costs about 100 KZT / approx $0.21 by card versus about 200 KZT / approx $0.43 in cash on a bus.
Foreign bank cards sometimes fail in the Onay app, so a physical card topped up with tenge in cash is the reliable choice; load it at Onay terminals in the metro, in shops marked Onay, or through the Kaspi.kz app if a Kazakh account is available.
Download Yandex Go (App Store and Google Play), inDrive and 2GIS (offline maps with bus routes) before arrival; Yandex Go works with an international SIM and shows the full price, driver and plate before the ride.
Use the Onay app (onay.kz) to see live bus positions and route numbers; the older Avtobys system is used on some routes, so check the sign at the stop.
Metro hours are about 06:20 to 24:00 daily, with trains every 8-13 minutes depending on the time of day. The line is short and runs along Abay and Rayymbek avenues, so it helps for Abay Avenue, Almaly, the Auezov Theatre and Sairan bus station but not for the mountains.
Bus 79 and bus 92 are the usual airport links to the city, and the night bus (number 3) runs about every 45 minutes between 22:00 and 06:00; check the Onay app for the current numbers before leaving.
Agree on a price before you board any ride that is not in an app, and have 1,000 and 2,000 KZT notes ready because drivers often lack change for 10,000 KZT notes.
Peak traffic is 08:00-10:00 and 17:00-20:00 and the Medeu and Shymbulak road jams at weekends; leave early, or use the gondola from Medeu and buses to avoid the queues.
Allow 1.5 to 2 hours for rush-hour taxi journeys across the city and book intercity trains from the official KTZ Express app or railways.kz several days ahead in summer and around holidays.