2.62/5
204 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 Cultural norms can feel outdated, especially around gender expectations, which some travelers find uncomfortable.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
5 months 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

7 years ago

✅ Friendly young people

✅ Excellent service

✅ Relaxed pace of life

✅ Close to nature and mountains

✅ Affordable to live

✅ Pretty safe

✅ Fast internet

✅ Perfect humidity now

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Nomads.com members liked going here

✅ Many Nomads.com members have been

✅ 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

❌ Cold now

❌ Gets very cold in the winter

❌ Not many Nomads.com members right now

❌ 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)

-3°C / 27°F freezing

4°C / 39°F cold

14°C / 57°F cool

17°C / 63°F cool

22°C / 72°F mild

19°C / 66°F mild

23°C / 73°F mild

19°C / 66°F mild

7°C / 45°F cold

1°C / 34°F cold

-7°C / 19°F freezing

Real (median)

-3°C / 27°F
freezing

4°C / 39°F
very cold

14°C / 57°F
cool

17°C / 63°F
cool

22°C / 72°F
mild

19°C / 66°F
mild

23°C / 73°F
mild

19°C / 66°F
mild

7°C / 44°F
cold

1°C / 34°F
very cold

-7°C / 19°F
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

450 people

575 people

440 people

711 people

750 people

800 people

636 people

927 people

800 people

636 people

511 people

629 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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Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 32° 90° 29° 83° AQI 88 😷

✈️5h

$1,578 / mo

🌇 Also went here117 people

Seoul

South Korea

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 13° 55° 13° 56° AQI 102 😷

✈️6h

$2,496 / mo

🌇 Also went here74 people

Malaysia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 30° 86° 26° 79° 🥵

✈️7h

$1,550 / mo

🌇 Also went here91 people

Amsterdam

Netherlands

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels -1° 30° 3° 37° AQI 55 😷

✈️7h

$5,687 / mo

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Singapore

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety great

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🌦 Feels 34° 93° 29° 84°

✈️7h

$4,295 / mo

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Paris

France

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 2° 36° 5° 40° AQI 65 😷

✈️7h

$5,455 / mo

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Barcelona

Spain

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety good

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🌤 Feels 15° 59° 15° 59° AQI 34

✈️8h

$4,413 / mo

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Lisbon

Portugal

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety good

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🌤 Feels 15° 59° 15° 59° AQI 34

✈️9h

$3,802 / mo

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200 remote workers in Almaty now, of which 1+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

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.

⭐️ Total score	2.62/5 (Rank #310) 204 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍4 liked it 👎1 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Okay
👶 Family score	Bad
🎒 Community score	Okay
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $1,604 / mo
📡 Internet	😡 Slow: 12 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Okay
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥶 Too cold: 7°C44°F (feels 7°C45°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	😊 Comfy: 53%
💨 Air quality (now)	😐 Moderate: 55 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*	Good
🧳 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)	12 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	☀️ 7°C 44°F + 😊 Comfy (53%) = feels 7°C 45°F
💨 Air quality (now)	👍 55 US AQI 🍃 OK
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	Yandex Taxi
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 1,000 KZT in USD	USD 1.92
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	KZT 100,000 = USD 192
☕️ Best coffee place	Veloyedov
☕️ Best alt. coffee place	Nedelka
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
♻️ Return rate	👍12% 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)	👨 91% 👱‍♀️ 9%
🏞 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	$1,604 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$1,172 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$2,534 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$724 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$726 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$1,514 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$584 / month
🏠 Median home price	$115,331
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$34 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$50 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$108 / month
🍛 Dinner	$6
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$2
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$2
👩‍🏫 International school	$5,809 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$4 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$2 / trip