Best time to visit Kazakhstan: Almaty, the mountain lakes and Astana

Almaty and Astana, month by month

Almaty’s weather is shaped by the mountains behind it: cold but bright winters, a wet spring, a hot summer and a long, dry autumn. Astana has a continental steppe climate, with summers close to Almaty’s and winters about ten degrees colder. The table gives historical monthly averages supplied by Kazakhstan through the World Meteorological Organization: average daily highs and lows, and rainfall for the month. WMO does not give the averaging period for these figures; use them as historical seasonal guidance, rather than a forecast for your trip.

April and May are Almaty’s wettest months, with rain on about 20 days in each, which keeps the foothills green but can cloud the mountain views. August and September are the driest, with rain on fewer than 7 days each, and October is still mild in the city.

Mountain lakes and canyons: June to September

The Kolsai Lakes are three lakes stepped up a forested gorge in the Northern Tien Shan, and the lower lake stands at about 1,800 m. Charyn Canyon, about 200 km east on the independent charyn.kz guide’s estimate, lies lower and drier, red cliffs cut by the Charyn river. Both are at their easiest from June to September, when the walks are warm and mostly dry; early autumn adds yellow aspens around Lower Kolsai.

Summer is also the busy season. 24KZ reported on 17 August 2026 that Kolsai park received about 2,000 visitors on a weekday and up to 6,000 at weekends, so plan the lakes midweek and the city for the weekend. The published sanitation and maintenance component is KZT 865 per person per day at each park under the 2026 tariffs (0.2 of the monthly calculation index), rather than a quote for every admission charge; Charyn’s shuttle down into the canyon is another KZT 865 per seat one way. The Almaty day-trips guide covers Big Almaty Lake, Charyn, Kolsai and Kaindy in detail.

In the mountains the weather changes fast. Avalanches, landslides and rockfall are real risks, snow can fall at altitude even in summer, and altitude sickness can affect walkers above the lakes; Almaty’s round-the-clock rescue services are based in the Shymbulak gorge and at Big Almaty Lake, and the emergency numbers are 109 and 112. Pack a warm layer and rain jacket for any mountain day, whatever the month.

Winter: skiing at Shymbulak, deep cold in Astana

Shymbulak, the ski resort above Almaty, stands at 2,260 m. Bizmedia reported that its 2025 season opened on 6 December with four runs; additional slopes and night skiing from the Talgar pass were to open once stable frosts set in. The resort’s 30 October 2026 notice says the new ski opening will depend on weather, slope condition and snow depth and will be announced separately. Plan ski weeks from mid-December onwards, with the opening notice guiding the dates.

The Medeu high-altitude ice rink below Shymbulak is closed for a reconstruction that the Almaty city administration plans to complete in the fourth quarter of 2027, so do not plan a skating evening there; Shymbulak opened a rink at its upper station for the 2025-26 season.

Astana in winter is for travellers who want to see the capital under snow and are dressed for it. From December to February average highs stay between -9.7°C and -12.6°C and nights fall below -18°C; Khan Shatyr and the other indoor centres make a short city break workable, but outdoor sightseeing is brief. Almaty’s winter is milder, with January highs just below freezing.

Holidays that fill trains and flights

Nauryz, the spring new year, is the longest public holiday: 21 to 23 March. When a holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the day off moves to the next working day, so Nauryz often becomes four or five days off and trains and flights between Almaty and Astana fill up. In 2027, 21 March is a Sunday. Almaty’s 2026 programme covered its main squares and pedestrian streets; Astana’s 2026 programme spread concerts, fairs and national games across city venues, which is the reason to be in a city then rather than in the mountains.

Early May has three holidays: Unity Day on 1 May, Defender of the Fatherland Day on 7 May and Victory Day on 9 May, and the first day of Kurban ait follows the Muslim calendar (27 May in 2026; 16 May in the Spiritual Administration of Muslims’ 2027 calendar, reported by NewTimes; the date can shift by one day with the new moon). Capital Day on 6 July is Astana’s city holiday. The others are New Year (1-2 January), Orthodox Christmas (7 January), International Women’s Day (8 March), Constitution Day (15 March), Republic Day (25 October) and Independence Day (16 December). The festivals guide has the events around them.

Month by month

• January (hard): Almaty highs just below freezing and skiing at Shymbulak; Astana averages -12.6°C by day.
• February (hard): still deep winter in Astana; good snow months in the mountains.
• March (mixed): Nauryz on 21-23 March brings festivals and extra days off; the mountains are still wintry.
• April (mixed): Almaty warms to about 16°C but has rain on about 20 days; Astana thaws.
• May (good): green foothills and highs about 22°C in Almaty, but still wet; holidays on 1, 7 and 9 May.
• June (best): warm, longer dry spells and the start of the lake season.
• July (good): the warmest month, Almaty highs about 30°C; the mountains are the place to be. Capital Day in Astana on 6 July.
• August (good): hot and the driest month in the city, with rain on about 6 days; busy weekends at the lakes.
• September (best): dry, with rain on about 7 days, highs about 23°C, with autumn colour around the lower lake.
• October (good): mild city days and autumn colour, colder nights; Astana falls below freezing at night. The Medeu–Shymbulak gondolas close for maintenance for about two weeks in autumn (19 October to 1 November in 2026, reopening 2 November), so check the lift dates for a late-October mountain day.
• November (hard): grey and cold, between seasons in the mountains.
• December (mixed): Shymbulak’s ski opening depends on snow and weather; Independence Day on 16 December.

What to book first

Fix the international flight to Almaty, then the long legs. The Talgo to Tashkent goes on sale 45 days ahead at 07:00 Astana time and is popular; trains to Astana fill around Nauryz and the May holidays. Book a mountain tour or driver for a weekday in June to September, and the Shymbulak days for mid-December onwards. Our transport guide covers trains, flights and the airport links, and the entry guide the 30-day visa-free rule.