Almaty is known for its nature, after all, it is known as the birthplace of apples. Even its name means something akin to “forefather of apple,” referring to this interesting fun fact. Thankfully, it is not only the mountains, which surround the city, that are green, but also the city itself with its numerous wonderful parks. Just read on to find out where to enjoy the nature without leaving the premises of the city.
As it was mentioned already, Almaty is the city of apples. You can find a ton of apple related paraphernalia all around town. This apple filled old car is a perfect example of that. There are also apple shaped sculptures all around, apple looking streetlights here and there, as well as apple like shapes on some walls and buildings to embellish the streets of Almaty even further.
This was the view of the town from our Airbnb, and it should already tell you a thing or two about the city. It is surrounded by beautiful Tian Shan mountains on its southern flank, which are teeming with life though it is a bit hard to see it in this photo. However, you can also see that the ground level of Almaty, so the city itself, is heavily “forested” as well due to its proper city planning.
This mix of mountain view and trees surrounding one on all sides is visible all-around town, perhaps nowhere better than on the campus of the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. There must be something quite magical about seeing these misty peaks every morning as you go to your classes…
If you want, you can find a liminal place to enjoy that is neither in the city nor up there on the mountains, and that place is Kok Tobe! In my view, it is the best place to really appreciate the nature Almaty is surrounded by. You can take the cable car up there, or you can just take a Yandex taxi to its entrance and walk the rest of the way up.
There are a few restaurants and some attractions atop Kok Tobe. Most are geared towards kids, such as this open-air zoo of sorts that is free of charge for all. Though it was cute to see a llama here out of all places, I could not help but wonder how it must have felt so far away from its home… It being all alone did not make things any better.
Though the weather was simply terrible, and the smog was very much present as I wanted to take this photo of Almaty from atop Kok Tobe, it was so clear to me that there were way more trees and parks in this city than buildings and concrete. Everywhere you look, you will see some trees and some greenery. The photo does not do it justice but sometimes we you just have to take one’s word for it…
To go on with the parks of Almaty, one must start by a quick glance at the wonderful Panfilov Park. It is, for all intents and purposes, the central park of town, though there is another one with that exact name elsewhere… This one is truly very central and seems to be the busiest one throughout the day. It has the wonderful Zenkov’s Cathedral in it but that is not all it has!
To me, the highlight of Panfilov Park is its intricate and massive “Memorial of Glory,” a glamorous Soviet monument dedicated to the Great Patriotic War, or the Second World War as is often known as in the West. “Russia is great but there is nowhere to retreat. Moscow is behind!” can be read across the monument’s mantle, with soldiers of many different ethnicities guarding their capital with all they have got portrayed above it. A spectacular display to say the least.
A massive concrete arc with two wings counters this wonderful monument as well as the eternal fire that is placed in front of it. This is where you can find a museum dedicated to the musical instruments of Kazakhstan, as well as yet another one, this one being on the recent military history of the country. There is also this wonderful golden star atop its mid-section, accompanied by ample communist imagery, such as the hammer and sickle on its both sides.
Though Panfilov Park is amazing, it is not the quirkiest park in town. That title belongs to Mahatma Gandhi Park, found somewhat off center. There is nothing special about it beyond the fact that it is dedicated to Gandhi, oh and the “small” detail that people still leave flowers to him to this date. It was a very cheerful and peaceful part of the town, and despite being surrounded by four busy roads, you can practically forget that you are inside a city, thanks to its many trees that isolate the undesired sounds quite perfectly.
Let us move on with The First President Park, which may not be the best park in town, yet, but I can already tell that it is getting there. Since this one is really far away from the city centre, it lacks the hustle and bustle of other parks. This is good in many ways, and bad in some other ways.
Sadly, due to its location, there is not much to do inside or outside of this park. You can walk around, read a book, enjoy the weather, get some fresh air, and most importantly, look at the beautiful Tian Shan mountains. It also has a lot of pathways that are very well kept and organized, and plenty of gardens where you can enjoy colourful flowers.
What it lacks is any support infrastructure to, well, support all of this experience. It is a pain to go there and come back, there is nothing to eat over there, not even some ice cream to enjoy as you walk around, and because the park is very new, not all trees are fully grown, meaning that finding a shadow can be a difficult task. This is not to hate on it or anything, it is just there remains some improvements to make which could eventually turn this place into my favourite park in Almaty.
Speaking of favourite things, my favourite encounter in the city must be this one I had with a squirrel. Almaty is home to a small but lovely botanical garden, and its main attraction is these squirrels that seem to spawn out of nowhere. This particularly cute one actually climbed on me a minute before I took this photo of him, but decided to stop doing that as I wanted to record it… I did not see them climb on anyone else yet so I will just consider myself lucky and live with that memory. I saw around ten of them during a short walk around the garden, and the garden itself was quite pretty to say the least.
As it was aforementioned, there is also the Central Park, which is likely the biggest park in town, or at least the one with most attractions. There are tons of eateries, a lot of attractions for children and adults alike, an amusement park, a zoo, and a few artificial pools like this one. It was also the busiest park I have ever seen in a long time, despite going there in a particularly cold day, so it was not a favourite of mine. I mean, there is a lot to do there, but none of them are particularly enjoyable for me, a lone walker deep in thought about what to eat next… I mean what to study for his dissertation, or whatever.
Last but not least, I cannot help but admire the overall design of Almaty’s many beautiful streets, that are full of hidden treasures like this one. Small parks, green alleyways, tree lined streets are all around, and some have gems like this sculpture of Tsoi with a freshly put cigarette on his hand. It certainly put a smile on my face, and the babushka there who offered to take a picture of me with it made me positively glow with joy. Ultimately, Almaty is not just home to some wonderful mountains, and brilliant Soviet era architecture, but also to a ton of green places to escape from its hustle and bustle even within its most urban center. It is one heck of a city to visit!