From Almaty: 3-Day Issyk Lake, Kaindy & Big Almaty Lake Tour

Begin in the town of Esik at the Museum of the Golden Man, home to a replica of a Saka warrior of the 4th century BCE, whose ceremonial costume carried some 4000 gold plaques. The original was found in a burial mound nearby, and the figure has become a key symbol of modern Kazakhstan. Then drive up to Issyk Lake (1756 m), with conifer-covered slopes and clear water, for a relaxed afternoon by the shore. This is the lightest day of the trip. Return to Almaty by evening.

Leave Almaty very early (around 06:00) for Charyn Canyon and walk the Valley of Castles, a 2–3 km section of the 154-km canyon, where the river runs between towers of red sandstone that glow copper at midday. Next comes Moon Canyon, a neighboring valley of gray and bluish rock with bare, sculpted slopes, and then Black Canyon, with dark volcanic walls and narrow passages that contrast with Charyn’s red. In the afternoon, walk around the first Kolsai Lake (1818 m), turquoise water ringed by centuries-old Tien Shan spruces, with trout in the shallows. Finish at Kaindy Lake, formed by the 1911 earthquake, where spruce trunks rise from the water like the masts of a sunken fleet and make a scene Kazakhstan is known for. Return to Almaty late in the evening; the day takes about 15 hours, much of it on the road.

Walk through Alma-Arasan Gorge, with its mineral thermal spring, mountain river and trails along cascades beneath a conifer canopy. Then stop at the Ayusai eco-park, with wooden boardwalks, alpine flowers and a waterfall. Closer to lunch, drive up to Big Almaty Lake (2511 m), a turquoise reservoir roughly 25–30 km from the city center by road. The water shifts from aquamarine to deep turquoise with the clouds, and the best photo spots are on both shores and at the high viewpoint. Return to Almaty by evening.