Almaty

Almaty's main market, the Kok Bazar, fills a large Soviet-era hall and the streets around it a few blocks north of Panfilov Park. Inside, traders build careful pyramids of dried apricots, raisins, walnuts and Kazakh sweets, and the dairy section sells kurt, hard balls of dried salty cheese, alongside kumys, fermented mare's milk, and shubat, fermented camel's milk. The meat hall is not for the squeamish, with horse sausage (kazy) and cuts of every kind on display. Upstairs and outside, stalls sell spices, Korean salads brought by the Koryo-saram community deported here in the 1930s, and fresh bread.

TipTraders will happily offer tastes. Go in the morning, when it is busiest and freshest.

The city's favourite park is named after the 28 Panfilov Guardsmen, soldiers of a division raised in Almaty who were celebrated for defending Moscow in 1941. A huge bronze war memorial and an eternal flame stand at its eastern end. At its heart is the Ascension Cathedral, usually called Zenkov Cathedral after its architect, Andrei Zenkov: a tall Russian Orthodox church finished in 1907, built almost entirely of wood and painted in sweet-shop pinks, yellows and blues. It survived the earthquake of 1911 that flattened much of the town, and was later used as a museum and concert hall before returning to the church after independence.

On the same grounds, the Museum of Kazakh Folk Musical Instruments occupies another of Zenkov's wooden buildings and displays dombras, kobyz fiddles and other instruments, sometimes with live demonstrations.

TipCover shoulders and knees inside the cathedral; women may want a headscarf. Weekend afternoons, when families stroll the park, are the liveliest time.

The pedestrian stretch of Zhibek Zholy, the "Silk Way" avenue, is known to everyone as the Arbat, after the famous street in Moscow. It runs west from near Panfilov Park past the TsUM department store, with buskers, portrait artists, souvenir sellers and cafés under the trees. It's a good place to get your bearings and to people-watch in the evening, and it links neatly with the market to the north and the old shopping streets around it.

Kazakhstan's main history museum, in a large blue-domed building near Republic Square, is the best introduction to the country you'll be travelling through. Its galleries trace the region from Stone Age finds and bronze-age petroglyph art through the Saka nomads and their gold-adorned warrior burials, the Silk Road cities and the Kazakh khanates, to the Soviet period and independence. The ethnography rooms are a highlight, with a fully furnished yurt, saddles, jewellery and embroidered felt.

Republic Square itself, with its Independence Monument, is a short walk away and was the scene of the 1986 Zheltoqsan protests, an early crack in Soviet rule.

TipEnglish labelling is patchy in places; an audio guide or a local guide adds a lot.

The "Green Hill" rises on the south-eastern edge of the centre, crowned by the city's television tower. A cable car climbs up from a station on Abay Avenue, beside the Palace of the Republic, in a few minutes, and there's also a road for buses and taxis. At the top are viewing terraces looking over the grid of the city and up to the mountains, a small amusement park, cafés and a statue of the Beatles, a long-standing local curiosity.

TipGo for sunset and stay as the city lights come on. On hazy days, especially in winter when smog settles over the basin, the views are best in the morning after rain or wind.

At around 1,700 metres in the Malaya Almatinka valley, Medeu is a vast outdoor speed-skating rink built in 1972, where dozens of world records were set in its heyday thanks to the thin air and mountain water used for the ice. In winter it is open to the public for skating, with skate hire and music, and it is one of the most atmospheric things to do in Almaty on a cold clear evening. Above it rises the huge mudflow dam, built after floods threatened the city; climbing its long staircase gives a fine view down the valley.

TipCity buses run from the centre to Medeu in about half an hour. In summer the rink hosts events rather than skating.

Central Asia's best-known ski resort sits above Medeu, reached by a long gondola that starts beside the skating rink. From the resort base at around 2,200 metres, further chairlifts and gondolas continue to the Talgar Pass, over 3,000 metres up, with sweeping views of glaciers and jagged peaks. In winter there are pistes for all levels, ski schools and equipment hire; from late spring to autumn the lifts carry walkers and sightseers, and the cafés at the top terraces are busy all year.

TipTickets are sold for each stage or as combined passes, and prices rise in the New Year holiday period; check the resort's website before you go. Bring warm layers even in summer, as the top station can be near freezing.

High in the Ile-Alatau National Park at around 2,500 metres, this reservoir is held back by a natural moraine and a dam, and its water changes colour through the day from milky green to deep turquoise, with the triple-peaked Sovetov mountains behind. It is one of the most photographed views in Kazakhstan and lies only about 30 kilometres from the city centre.

Access rules matter here. The lake is part of Almaty's drinking-water supply and lies close to the Kyrgyz border, so swimming, fishing, camping and fires are forbidden, and the shoreline is fenced in places. The road up passes a national park checkpoint, where an eco-fee is charged and passports may be checked. In recent seasons the authorities have restricted private vehicles on the upper road, and rules can change at short notice; check the national park's current guidance, or go with a licensed tour or registered taxi.

TipCarry your passport. Beyond the lake, a road climbs to the Tien Shan Astronomical Observatory and a pass on the border; going further requires a border permit.

About 170 kilometres north-west of Almaty, in a quiet gorge of dark rocks in the Chu-Ili hills, some 5,000 images were pecked into the stone over three thousand years, from the Bronze Age to the medieval period. The most famous show "sun-headed" figures, deities with rayed haloes, along with dancers, hunters, bulls, horses and chariots. UNESCO listed the site in 2004 as the Petroglyphs within the Archaeological Landscape of Tamgaly (now officially Tanbaly), which also includes ancient settlements, burial mounds and altars.

TipThere is little shade and no food at the site. Allow a full day by car and stick to the marked paths so you don't scuff the carvings.

Altyn-Emel National Park covers a huge stretch of semi-desert between the Ili river and the Dzungarian Alatau, now within the Zhetisu Region. Its best-known sight is the Singing Dune, a pale ridge of sand roughly 150 metres high and three kilometres long, set in a flat valley and, when the sand is dry and slides, giving off a deep hum like a distant aircraft. Further east are the Aktau mountains, chalky hills banded in white, ochre, red and green, and the darker Katutau volcanic outcrops. The park is also home to herds of goitered gazelles and reintroduced kulans, the Asiatic wild ass.

TipPermits are bought at the park office in Basshi village or online in advance. Distances inside the park are long and tracks are rough, so many visitors hire a 4x4 with driver in Basshi; carry plenty of water.

About 200 kilometres east of Almaty, the Charyn river has cut a deep canyon into soft red sediment. The most visited stretch, the Valley of Castles, is a walk of a couple of kilometres down a dry side gorge between towers, buttresses and fins of rock that glow orange in low sun, ending at the riverbank where there are basic eco-camps and cafés. The national park also protects a rare grove of Sogdian ash, a relict tree from before the last ice age.

TipAn eco-fee is charged at the entrance. The walk is easy going down but hot coming back up in summer; start early, wear a hat and bring water.

Three lakes step up a forested valley in the Kungey Alatau, close to the Kyrgyz border, surrounded by Tien Shan spruce and alpine meadows. The lower lake, reached by road, is the easy one, with a lakeside path, rowing boats and guesthouses in the nearby village of Saty. A marked trail, or a horse hired locally, leads up through the forest to the second lake, the largest, in a few hours; the upper lake lies higher still near the border and needs more time and, in places, permission.

TipIt's worth staying overnight in Saty, which makes the lakes and Kaindy a relaxed two days instead of a punishing return drive.

The strangest lake in the region formed after the earthquake of 1911, when a landslide dammed a narrow gorge and the rising water drowned a stand of spruce trees. Their bleached trunks still stand upright out of the cold blue-green water, the branches long gone beneath the surface. The last stretch of the track from Saty is very rough; visitors usually switch to local 4x4s or walk the final section, then descend a short steep path to the shore.

TipLight is best in the morning, when the water is calm and the trunks reflect clearly.