2.65/5
136 reviews
Photo by Yaroslav Maltsev via Unsplash

Bishkek

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cheap

good

costs

internet

winter

air

quality

summer

opportunities

parks

english

clean

hiking

almaty

karakol

great

data

beautiful

mountains

Bishkek is widely appreciated for its affordability. Rent, food, and transportation cost much less than in many comparable cities. Taxis via Yandex are particularly cheap and make up for the city's weak public transportation. Internet quality is reported as generally good, with stable connections and affordable, unlimited data plans. The city is green with lots of parks, especially pleasant during summer. It's also surrounded by mountains offering great hiking and skiing options nearby.

Locals are regarded as friendly, though cultural differences in personal space can be noticeable. English is not commonly spoken, which might be challenging for some. While summer provides a comfortable living environment, winter brings serious air quality issues. Bishkek is among the most polluted cities globally during colder months. Traffic is another concern, with congestion and frequent accidents.

The city is better suited for short-term stays, especially in summer. It offers good leisure for those interested in nature and outdoor activities, but it's less ideal for remote workers long-term due to spotty internet in some areas and limited coworking spaces. Overall, Bishkek provides an affordable base with trade-offs, particularly around infrastructure and wintertime conditions.

AI-generated summary of reviews
2 months ago

Bishkek as a base: traffic is chaotic with frequent accidents, internet is often slow/unstable, and in winter the air quality can be terrible (sometimes among the worst worldwide). Summer is much nicer - leafy streets and lots of parks. English is rarely spoken. Rent is affordable, but there isn’t much to do and there are few solid coworking options. People are generally kind, but personal space isn’t really a thing and kids are often unruly. Good for a cheap summer stay if you’re low-maintenance; rough for remote work and health in winter.

2 months ago

Green, clean, organized, cheap, good food.
Very easy and cheap to go around with Yandex.
Amazing hiking opportunities nearby.
Bus to Almaty costs ~5€ and runs several times a day.
Bus to Karakol costs also ~5€.
Internet was great. Did several video calls without any issues. Data plans are super cheap (5€ for unlimited data, 1 month).

2 years ago

Pros:
Wonderful and friendly people
Cheap
Green and clean - many parks with big trees in the city center
Several modern and nice cafes and bars, especially around Erkindik boulevard
Enormous opportunities for hiking - huge and beautiful mountains right near the city. For instance, Ala-Archa national park is just 30 km from center
Good opportunities for skiing in winter, especially for freeride, but it might be better to travel to Karakol for this activity
Close to Almaty (Kazakhstan), so you can combine your travel with another beautiful country. The bus costs around USD 5
Several good hostels and hotels in the city and good coworkings also
Cons:
Bad public transportation, but taxi is cheap
Sometimes bad air quality, especially in winter

3 years ago

Bishkek is very cheap. However, I do not agree with several points mentioned in scoring:
1. Bishkek certainly has more English speakers than, for example, in Budapest
2. The air quality is not great - Bishkek is one of the most polluted cities in the world
3. Internet - depends, you can find internet faster than in the UK
Other points - it is difficult finding a job here, I am glad I am working on a project in the UK. The costs of living are very low, average person will earn about $100-200 in the city, so money for food goes really far (though Cambodia is cheaper, Brazil is more expensive). You can find a good flat in the city centre 80 m2 for around $350/month, but you can find a room for around $120/month too. Travelling around is cheap - taxi is around $0.7 for 4 miles trip. City is quite small when comparing to London
Recreation - skiing, swimming (in Issyk-Kul, though summer costs are higher than in Spain, I find this ridiculous), thermal waters, "Dead Sea" (highly salted lakes), mountains

5 years ago

✅ Very affordable

✅ Good hiking and outdoor activities

✅ Friendly people

✅ Clean and green city

✅ Fast internet

✅ Affordable to live

✅ Pretty safe

✅ 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 do business

✅ High quality of education

✅ Freedom of speech

✅ Not many people smoke tobacco

✅ Not a lot of alcohol abuse

❌ Poor air quality

❌ Bad public transportation

❌ Chaotic traffic

❌ Hard for remote work

❌ Not very democratic

❌ Pretty slow internet

❌ Not much to do

❌ Cold now

❌ Gets very cold in the winter

❌ Not many Nomads.com members right now

❌ Hospitals are bad

❌ Roads can be dangerous

❌ People don't speak English well

❌ Not safe for women

❌ Not family friendly

❌ Hostile towards LGBTQ+

❌ Marijuana is illegal

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

-5°C / 23°F freezing

1°C / 34°F cold

3°C / 37°F cold

11°C / 52°F cool

16°C / 61°F cool

19°C / 66°F mild

23°C / 73°F mild

19°C / 66°F mild

17°C / 63°F cool

6°C / 43°F cold

0°C / 0°F freezing

-1°C / 30°F freezing

Real (median)

-5°C / 23°F
freezing

1°C / 34°F
very cold

3°C / 37°F
very cold

11°C / 52°F
cool

16°C / 61°F
cool

19°C / 66°F
mild

23°C / 73°F
mild

19°C / 65°F
mild

17°C / 63°F
cool

6°C / 42°F
very cold

0°C / 32°F
freezing

-1°C / 30°F
freezing

Humidity

nice
49%

nice
59%

nice
64%

nice
54%

nice
49%

nice
35%

nice
31%

nice
30%

too dry
26%

nice
47%

nice
51%

nice
50%

Most common

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

Rain

dry
26mm

dry
47mm

rainy
116mm

rainy
72mm

rainy
52mm

dry
15mm

dry
16mm

dry
30mm

dry
45mm

rainy
61mm

dry
43mm

dry
25mm

Cloud

pockets
32%

pockets
49%

pockets
47%

pockets
35%

pockets
43%

pockets
35%

pockets
37%

pockets
34%

pockets
19%

pockets
38%

pockets
24%

pockets
44%

Air quality

bad
136 US AQI

bad
111 US AQI

bad
104 US AQI

okay
69 US AQI

okay
66 US AQI

okay
62 US AQI

okay
76 US AQI

okay
73 US AQI

okay
72 US AQI

okay
78 US AQI

bad
142 US AQI

bad
107 US AQI

Sun

safe
2 UVI

seek shade
3 UVI

seek shade
5 UVI

avoid sun
7 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

200 people

320 people

250 people

500 people

560 people

425 people

467 people

709 people

511 people

320 people

300 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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Almaty

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⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

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👍 Liked good

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🌥 Feels 13° 55° 13° 55° AQI 9

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Tashkent

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⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😝 Cheap

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🌧 Feels 15° 59° 15° 58° AQI 53 😷

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Dushanbe

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💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety mediocre

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🌧 Feels 17° 63° 17° 62° AQI 191 😷

✈️55min

$2,164 / mo

3 Mbps

Astana

Kazakhstan

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety mediocre

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✈️1h

$1,389 / mo

18 Mbps

Srinagar

India

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety mediocre

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☀️ Feels 17° 63° 17° 63°

✈️1h

$1,488 / mo

11 Mbps

Islamabad

Pakistan

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety mediocre

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☀️ Feels 25° 77° 25° 77°

✈️1h

$1,378 / mo

4 Mbps

Peshawar

Pakistan

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety bad

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☀️ Feels 23° 73° 23° 73° AQI 144 😷

✈️1h

$1,383 / mo

3 Mbps

Kabul

Afghanistan

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 15° 59° 15° 60° AQI 144 😷

✈️1h

$1,315 / mo

1 Mbps

Rawalpindi

Pakistan

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😝 Cheap

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 25° 77° 26° 79° AQI 144 😷

✈️1h

$841 / mo

4 Mbps

Urumqi

China

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety good

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☀️ Feels 11° 52° 11° 53°

✈️1h

$1,630 / mo

12 Mbps

Sialkot

Pakistan

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety mediocre

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☀️ Feels 26° 79° 27° 81°

✈️2h

$1,235 / mo

2 Mbps

McLeod Ganj

India

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 19° 66° 18° 64°

✈️2h

$1,151 / mo

34 Mbps

Lisbon

Portugal

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 20° 68° 19° 66° AQI 29

✈️9h

$3,816 / mo

34 Mbps

Bangkok

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 38° 100° 30° 86° 🥵 AQI 38

✈️5h

$1,577 / mo

24 Mbps

Almaty

Kazakhstan

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 13° 55° 13° 55° AQI 9

✈️15min

$1,582 / mo

12 Mbps

Tbilisi

Georgia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 13° 55° 13° 55° AQI 55 😷

✈️3h

$2,174 / mo

15 Mbps

Detroit, MI

United States

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

🌫 Feels 11° 52° 11° 52°

✈️14h

$4,894 / mo

37 Mbps

Istanbul

Turkey

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 20° 68° 19° 66° AQI 92 😷

✈️5h

$1,728 / mo

10 Mbps

Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 34° 93° 29° 84° AQI 69 😷

✈️7h

$1,545 / mo

16 Mbps

San Juan

Puerto Rico

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 34° 93° 29° 84°

✈️16h

$4,230 / mo

14 Mbps

Moscow

Russia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 7° 45° 8° 46° AQI 50

✈️4h

$2,385 / mo

15 Mbps

London

United Kingdom

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 16° 61° 16° 60° AQI 38

✈️7h

$5,723 / mo

23 Mbps

Dubai

United Arab Emirates

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 29° 84° 28° 83° AQI 137 😷

✈️4h

$4,024 / mo

11 Mbps

Chiang Mai

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 25° 77° 25° 76° AQI 30

✈️5h

$1,270 / mo

19 Mbps

Almaty

Kazakhstan

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 13° 55° 13° 55° AQI 9

✈️15min

$1,582 / mo

🌇 Also went here69 people

Tbilisi

Georgia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 13° 55° 13° 55° AQI 55 😷

✈️3h

$2,174 / mo

🌇 Also went here73 people

Dubai

United Arab Emirates

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 29° 84° 28° 83° AQI 137 😷

✈️4h

$4,024 / mo

🌇 Also went here66 people

Moscow

Russia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 7° 45° 8° 46° AQI 50

✈️4h

$2,385 / mo

🌇 Also went here53 people

Istanbul

Turkey

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 20° 68° 19° 66° AQI 92 😷

✈️5h

$1,728 / mo

🌇 Also went here90 people

Bangkok

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 38° 100° 30° 86° 🥵 AQI 38

✈️5h

$1,577 / mo

🌇 Also went here79 people

Budapest

Hungary

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🙂 Okay

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 10° 50° 11° 51° AQI 70 😷

✈️6h

$2,679 / mo

🌇 Also went here63 people

Vienna

Austria

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 10° 50° 11° 52° AQI 9

✈️6h

$4,065 / mo

🌇 Also went here53 people

Prague

Czechia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 7° 45° 9° 49° AQI 42

✈️6h

$4,796 / mo

🌇 Also went here56 people

Berlin

Germany

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 10° 50° 11° 53° AQI 63 😷

✈️6h

$4,039 / mo

🌇 Also went here54 people

Amsterdam

Netherlands

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 12° 54° 13° 56° AQI 23

✈️7h

$5,555 / mo

🌇 Also went here56 people

Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 34° 93° 29° 84° AQI 69 😷

✈️7h

$1,545 / mo

🌇 Also went here60 people

Singapore

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 33° 91° 29° 84°

✈️7h

$4,366 / mo

🌇 Also went here55 people

Tokyo

Japan

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 18° 64° 18° 64° AQI 61 😷

✈️7h

$3,297 / mo

🌇 Also went here54 people

Barcelona

Spain

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 18° 64° 18° 64° AQI 42

✈️8h

$4,490 / mo

🌇 Also went here55 people

400 remote workers in Bishkek now, of which 2+ 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.

⭐️ Total score	2.65/5 (Rank #308) 136 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍4 liked it 👎1 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Okay
👶 Family score	Okay
🎒 Community score	Okay
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $1,514 / mo
📡 Internet	🤬 Unusably slow: 5 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Okay
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥶 Too cold: 8°C46°F (feels 7°C45°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	😊 Comfy: 39%
💨 Air quality (now)	🌱 Great: 9 US AQI
💨 Air quality (annual)	🌱 Good: 72 US AQI
👌 Safety	Good
👩 Safe for women	Bad
🌈 Safe for LGBTQ+	Bad
🤮 Food safety*	Good
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Good
🎓 Education level*	Mediocre
⚡️ Power grid	Great
💰 Income level*	Very low: $92 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Bad
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Bad
✈️ Airline scores*	Great
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
😄 Happiness*	Bad
🍸 Nightlife	Okay
📶 Free WiFi in city	Great
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Okay
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Great
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Good
🎅 Startup Score	Bad

🌍 Continent	Asia
🚩 Country	Kyrgyzstan
🗓️ Average trip length	9 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	5 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌥 8°C 46°F + 😊 Comfy (39%) = feels 7°C 45°F
💨 Air quality (now)	👍 9 US AQI 🍃 OK
💨 Air quality (annual avg)	👎😷 72 US AQI
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 100 KGS in USD	USD 1.14
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	KGS 10,000 = USD 114
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
♻️ Return rate	👍15% of visitors return
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	960,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$1,100 / year
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 43% 👱‍♀️ 57%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 51% 👱‍♀️ 49%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 85% 👱‍♀️ 15%
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
🏠 Apartment listings	Airbnb
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Turkish
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Turkish

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$1,514 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$1,015 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$2,074 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$593 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$948 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$1,386 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$455 / month
🏠 Median home price	$800
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$44 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$45 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$54 / month
🍛 Dinner	$6
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$1
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$2
👩‍🏫 International school	$6,966 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$3 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$1 / trip