Flights to Almaty most commonly transit through Istanbul (Turkey), Vienna (Austria), Frankfurt (Germany) and Moscow (Russia). However, from December 2008 Etihad Airways will operate a two-class Airbus A319 configured to carry 104 passengers with 20 seats in business class and 84 in economy class from Abu Dhabi to Almaty.
The climate in the city is markedly continental, with considerable fluctuations in temperature not only between different seasons but also between day and night. As summers are ferociously hot and winters bitterly cold, spring (April to June) and autumn (September to October) are the best seasons to visit Kazakhstan. In April, the desert blooms briefly and the monotonous ochre landscapes explode in reds, oranges and yellows. Autumn is harvest time, when market tables heave with freshly picked fruit. Snow starts to fall around November and the mountain passes fill with snow until April, sometimes even May.
Kazakhstan has various tourists’ attractions with relevance to nature and architecture. Along with lush and snowy mountains, Almaty also has several historical centres. The city has long, straight avenues and low-rise architecture.
The Central State Museum provides an introduction to Kazakhstan’s history and includes a miniature replica of the country’s chief archaeological treasure, the Golden Man — a warrior’s costume made from 4,000 gold pieces, many finely decorated with animal motifs.

Zenkov Cathedral is surrounded by Panfilov Park, a pleasant rectangle of greenery. The Park was named after the heroes of World War II. The Cathedral is one of the few tzarist-era buildings to survive the 1911 earthquake, despite the fact it is built entirely of wood and constructed without nails. It is also one of the eight most unique wooden buildings in the world.
Museum of National Musical Instruments is on the edge of Panfilov Park close to the Cathedral, and is located in the building, called the House of Officers, which, in the last century, was used by military officers for their meetings.
Besides beautiful nature there are some other attractions to see, one of which is the world’s largest speed skating rink know as Medea. The other one is a dike, which is a fine piece of engineering, and was created to protect the city from mud floods. The dike’s collector has an impressive capacity of 6,000,000 m of water. And finally, at the end of the gorge there is a ski resort Chimbulak, situated at an altitude of 2,200 m above sea level. It is one of Central Asia’s top skiing spots. The ski season lasts from November to April.
The Zailijski Alatau Mountains rise like a wall along Almaty’s southern fringe and form a superb backdrop. There are lots of parks, space and greenery. The city occupies an area of over 170 square kilometres. It stands on old and young deposit driftovers from the rivers
On the outskirts of the city, there are constructed mountains scientific stations designed to study the Sun and cosmic rays at Bolshoi Almaty Lake and the Zhusaly-Kezen Pass, astrophysical observatories at the Kamenski Plateau and the Assy Pass, sports complexes at the skating stadium Medeu and the mountain-skiing station Shymbulak, mountaineering and tourist camps, health resorts, holiday homes, and campings.