3.43/5
229 reviews
Photo by Alexander Serzhantov via Unsplash

Almaty

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speak

hipster

car

nice

english

center

men

service

hand

small

scene

good

stuff

friendly

wtf

walk

mountain

safe

girls

Almaty offers a relaxed pace of life that many visitors appreciate. You’re not rushed, and you can enjoy simple activities like visiting parks or skating in the mountains, which are just a short drive away. The service culture stands out – staff are attentive and polite, often exceeding European expectations. Young locals who speak English tend to be open and genuinely curious about visitors, often engaging in friendly conversation. The city has a small but present hipster culture with a few cafes, bars, and scenes, but options can feel limited due to the city’s small size in that regard.

However, several issues come up consistently. English is not widely spoken, which can make everyday navigation difficult. City planning is not pedestrian-friendly, with wide roads and car-focused infrastructure even in the center. There's also a noted level of pollution and frequent fog. Visitors mention that while they feel safe, locals often warn otherwise, and encounters with police should be approached with caution. Cultural norms can feel outdated, especially around gender expectations, which some travelers find uncomfortable. Ride-hailing isn't common; instead, hitchhiking-style taxi culture works but requires some Russian. Overall, it's a unique city with charm and challenges, better suited for those ready to adapt.}

AI-generated summary of reviews
1 year ago

The people are open, warm and enthusiastic with travelers. Service is brilliant (generally) - much better then Europe. WIFI is poor, drivers have one hand holding their mobile and the other on the horn. Really nice "pace" and the diverse ethnicity get along beautifully. This is NOT BORAT land - Almaty is 2.7 million people.

6 years ago

+ Very small hipster scene but nice... techno place, hipster cocktail, hipster café, tattoo scene... its not that indie though, like organised hipster. still too small, you always go to same places
+ Really good service, fast, they come and pour you water while drinking cokctail and stuff, cray
+ Young people who can speak english are friendly, come speak to you easily and are all like "wtf are u doing here"
+ Not a busy city, you feel you can take your time here, go to ice rink, walk in park
+ Nature and mountain not too far, its common to take car 30 min to go iceskating in mountain
+/- Everyone with a car is a taxi driver, so u rarely use Uber/YandexTaxi, just go on the road, show your hand and people stop, you tell destination and it costs 1$. Problem you need to speak russian, im not good enough yet
+/- People are mixed friendly. They are very nice and give you stuff and all when you are introduced, but people who dont speak english and dont know you, they are not helpful and a bit rude
+/- city safety idk, I feel safe but every local tells me it's not a safe city
- No one speak english ffs
- city is bullshit communist wide street for car, shitty to walk, everything is far, cars everywhere, city center is not a city center, 4-lane in city center wtf fix this
- Police is corrupt and not your friend. My only encounter with them was ok tho
- People behavior is oldschool, men harrassing girls, men buying big car or iphone has status symbol, men trying to fight, girls expecting guys to be alpha male
- Always fog in city and pollution

8 years ago

✅ Friendly young people

✅ Excellent service

✅ Relaxed pace of life

✅ Close to nature and mountains

✅ Pretty safe

✅ Fast internet

✅ Warm now

✅ Perfect humidity now

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Nomads.com members liked going here

✅ Many Nomads.com members here all year round

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Easy to make friends

✅ Very easy to do business

✅ High quality of education

✅ Safe for women

❌ Poor English proficiency

❌ Pollution and fog

❌ Unsafe or corrupt policing

❌ Difficult city layout with poor walkability

❌ Old-fashioned gender norms and behavior

❌ Freedom of speech is weak

❌ No democracy

❌ Not much to do

❌ Gets very cold in the winter

❌ Roads can be dangerous

❌ People don't speak English well

❌ Not family friendly

❌ Hostile towards LGBTQ+

❌ People smoking tobacco a lot

❌ High alcohol consumption

❌ Marijuana is illegal

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

-327°
freezing

439°
cold

1457°
cool

1763°
cool

2272°
mild

1966°
mild

2373°
mild

1966°
mild

745°
cold

134°
cold

-719°
freezing

Real (median)

-327°
freezing

439°
very cold

1457°
cool

1763°
cool

2272°
mild

1966°
mild

2373°
mild

1966°
mild

744°
cold

134°
very cold

-719°
freezing

Humidity

nice
53%

nice
59%

nice
60%

nice
48%

nice
50%

nice
41%

nice
36%

nice
33%

too dry
28%

nice
49%

nice
50%

nice
52%

Most common

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

Rain

dry
28mm

dry
37mm

rainy
68mm

rainy
76mm

rainy
121mm

rainy
78mm

rainy
61mm

rainy
55mm

dry
20mm

rainy
62mm

dry
43mm

dry
29mm

Cloud

pockets
39%

pockets
46%

cloudy
50%

pockets
39%

pockets
47%

pockets
39%

pockets
38%

pockets
34%

pockets
20%

pockets
42%

pockets
25%

pockets
39%

Sun

safe
1 UVI

safe
2 UVI

seek shade
3 UVI

seek shade
5 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

seek shade
3 UVI

safe
2 UVI

safe
1 UVI

Remote workers

1,650 people

1,800 people

1,418 people

2,040 people

2,600 people

2,400 people

2,050 people

2,836 people

2,486 people

2,018 people

1,473 people

2,025 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

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Bishkek

Kyrgyzstan

⭐️ OverallAll

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☀️ Feels 33° 91° 34° 93° 🥵 AQI 3

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Tashkent

Uzbekistan

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💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

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☀️ Feels 38° 100° 37° 98° 🥵 AQI 79 😷

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Dushanbe

Tajikistan

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

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☀️ Feels 39° 102° 36° 97° 🥵 AQI 89 😷

✈️1h

$2,326 / mo

3 Mbps

Urumqi

China

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety good

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🌧 Feels 27° 81° 28° 82° AQI 46

✈️1h

$1,715 / mo

91 Mbps

Astana

Kazakhstan

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🙂 Okay

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety mediocre

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🌤 Feels 31° 88° 31° 88° 🥵 AQI 3

✈️1h

$2,735 / mo

12 Mbps

Srinagar

India

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety mediocre

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🌤 Feels 27° 81° 26° 80° AQI 46

✈️1h

$1,069 / mo

12 Mbps

Islamabad

Pakistan

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety mediocre

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🌤 Feels 41° 106° 34° 93° 🥵 AQI 57 😷

✈️1h

$1,711 / mo

4 Mbps

Rawalpindi

Pakistan

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😝 Cheap

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety bad

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🌤 Feels 41° 106° 34° 93° 🥵 AQI 99 😷

✈️1h

$833 / mo

4 Mbps

Peshawar

Pakistan

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety bad

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🌦 Feels 32° 90° 32° 89° 🥵 AQI 99 😷

✈️2h

$1,512 / mo

3 Mbps

Kabul

Afghanistan

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 34° 93° 34° 93° 🥵 AQI 89 😷

✈️2h

$1,517 / mo

1 Mbps

Sialkot

Pakistan

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 33° 91° 34° 94° 🥵 AQI 57 😷

✈️2h

$1,423 / mo

2 Mbps

McLeod Ganj

India

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 23° 73° 23° 74° AQI 57 😷

✈️2h

$1,100 / mo

35 Mbps

Bangkok

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 38° 100° 31° 88° 🥵 AQI 56 😷

✈️5h

$1,564 / mo

24 Mbps

Istanbul

Turkey

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 29° 84° 27° 81° AQI 63 😷

✈️5h

$2,024 / mo

10 Mbps

Paris

France

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 30° 86° 30° 85° 🥵 AQI 62 😷

✈️7h

$6,171 / mo

27 Mbps

London

United Kingdom

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 27° 81° 26° 78° AQI 61 😷

✈️7h

$8,257 / mo

22 Mbps

Dubai

United Arab Emirates

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 54° 129° 42° 107° 🥵 AQI 162 😷

✈️4h

$4,684 / mo

11 Mbps

Tbilisi

Georgia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 29° 84° 27° 81° AQI 51 😷

✈️3h

$2,429 / mo

15 Mbps

Budapest

Hungary

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 30° 86° 28° 82° AQI 57 😷

✈️6h

$3,271 / mo

32 Mbps

Moscow

Russia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 21° 70° 21° 70° AQI 53 😷

✈️4h

$2,394 / mo

13 Mbps

Detroit, MI

United States

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 44° 111° 35° 95° 🥵 AQI 44

✈️14h

$4,335 / mo

102 Mbps

Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 41° 106° 32° 89° 🥵 AQI 114 😷

✈️7h

$1,807 / mo

15 Mbps

Lisbon

Portugal

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 25° 77° 25° 77° AQI 30

✈️9h

$4,744 / mo

37 Mbps

New York City, NY

United States

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 33° 91° 30° 87° 🥵 AQI 52 😷

✈️14h

$8,692 / mo

26 Mbps

Tbilisi

Georgia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 29° 84° 27° 81° AQI 51 😷

✈️3h

$2,429 / mo

🌇 Also went here135 people

Dubai

United Arab Emirates

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 54° 129° 42° 107° 🥵 AQI 162 😷

✈️4h

$4,684 / mo

🌇 Also went here98 people

Moscow

Russia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 21° 70° 21° 70° AQI 53 😷

✈️4h

$2,394 / mo

🌇 Also went here84 people

Istanbul

Turkey

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 29° 84° 27° 81° AQI 63 😷

✈️5h

$2,024 / mo

🌇 Also went here142 people

Bangkok

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 38° 100° 31° 88° 🥵 AQI 56 😷

✈️5h

$1,564 / mo

🌇 Also went here139 people

Hong Kong

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🙂 Okay

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 34° 93° 29° 84° 🥵 AQI 9

✈️6h

$2,925 / mo

🌇 Also went here78 people

Seoul

South Korea

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 33° 91° 28° 82° 🥵 AQI 25

✈️6h

$3,069 / mo

🌇 Also went here90 people

Budapest

Hungary

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 30° 86° 28° 82° AQI 57 😷

✈️6h

$3,271 / mo

🌇 Also went here77 people

Vienna

Austria

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 29° 84° 27° 81° AQI 30

✈️6h

$4,019 / mo

🌇 Also went here79 people

Prague

Czechia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 23° 73° 23° 73° AQI 29

✈️6h

$3,850 / mo

🌇 Also went here78 people

Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 41° 106° 32° 89° 🥵 AQI 114 😷

✈️7h

$1,807 / mo

🌇 Also went here105 people

Tokyo

Japan

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 44° 111° 33° 91° 🥵 AQI 50

✈️7h

$3,380 / mo

🌇 Also went here77 people

Singapore

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

🌩 Feels 41° 106° 31° 87° 🥵 AQI 42

✈️7h

$5,295 / mo

🌇 Also went here93 people

Paris

France

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 30° 86° 30° 85° 🥵 AQI 62 😷

✈️7h

$6,171 / mo

🌇 Also went here82 people

Barcelona

Spain

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 38° 100° 32° 90° 🥵 AQI 63 😷

✈️8h

$5,262 / mo

🌇 Also went here80 people

3,600 remote workers in Almaty now, of which 5+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

Members who will be here soon

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

🎒 Nomad Score™	3.43/5 (Rank #120) 229 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍5 liked it 👎1 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Okay
👶 Family score	Okay
🎒 Community score	Okay
🤯 Overcrowding score	0% is nomad here
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $2,024 / mo
📡 Internet	😡 Slow: 19 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Okay
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥵 Too hot: 33°C92°F (feels 33°C91°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	😊 Comfy: 35%
💨 Air quality (now)	🌱 Great: 3 US AQI
👌 Safety	Okay
👩 Safe for women	Okay
🌈 Safe for LGBTQ+	Bad
🤮 Food safety*	Great
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Good
🎓 Education level*	High
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Great
💰 Income level*	Very low: $642 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Bad
🚶 Walkability	Bad
🚦 Traffic safety*	Bad
✈️ Airline scores*	Great
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
🏥 Hospitals	Bad
😄 Happiness*	Bad
🍸 Nightlife	Bad
📶 Free WiFi in city	Okay
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Okay
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Okay
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Okay
🎅 Startup Score	Bad

🌍 Continent	Asia
🚩 Country	Kazakhstan
🗓️ Average trip length	15 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	19 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	☀️ 33°C 92°F + 😊 Comfy (35%) = feels 33°C 91°F
💨 Air quality (now)	👍 3 US AQI 🍃 OK
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	Yandex Taxi
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 1,000 KZT in USD	USD 2.13
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	KZT 100,000 = USD 213
☕️ Best coffee place	Veloyedov
☕️ Best alt. coffee place	Nedelka
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
♻️ Return rate	👍11% of visitors return
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	1,500,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$7,705 / year
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 41% 👱‍♀️ 59%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 52% 👱‍♀️ 48%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 89% 👱‍♀️ 11%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
🏠 Apartment listings	Krisha
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Air Astana
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Air Astana
🏥 Best hospital	IMC

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$2,024 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$1,505 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$2,813 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$804 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$915 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$2,501 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$648 / month
🏠 Median home price	$127,938
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$43 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$82 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$120 / month
🍛 Dinner	$6
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$2
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$2
👩‍🏫 International school	$6,447 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$5 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$2 / trip

Almaty

3,600 remote workers in Almaty now, of which 5+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

Members who will be here soon

Members who have been here

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