big almaty lake

Anaanya

This lake is at a very high altitude. It has such scenic beauty! It's water is ice-cold! There is no crowd there; infact, when we went there with family, we were the only ones there. It was a long way up the tricky mountainous tracks with scenic beauty with yurts all the way up to the lake. Enchanting scenery!

sugabba

For a person born in a tropical country, I can not seem to describe the charm of Almaty Lake. We went there on springtime which was perfect because the mountains on the opposite side were snow-capped yet the mountains we were standing on were so green and teeming with flowers. The view was just idyllic. It is definitely a place highly-recommended for tourists especially because it is just 30 minutes away from Almaty center. Bring food and water though as there are no shops in the area. Kudos to the government for protecting the area. There are no buses going to the area but you can flag a taxi and ask to bring you there. Get about four friends to split the charge which is about 7000-9000 tengue depending on how well you haggle and how long you intend to stay there. Better if you can manage some conversational Kazakh. You have to ask the driver to wait for you. Believe me, the sights can keep you enchanted for hours.

Azamat_nomad

If you want to get full sense from Almaty, you must visit this amazing lake. Fresh air, far away from megapolis bustle. I've been there 3 times in 3 different seasons. I'm confident you won't be disappointed whenever you will decide to take full Mountain City experience.

Nickersg

Worth the effort to get to the lake for the amazing views. NX entry fee not so bad a price but beware checkpoints where official guards won't let you through without an extra payment. Go with a local guide. Carlagash is good!

AleToff

We took a random deiver in the street and proposed him7000tg to get us up and back. The lake is in a national park, this is why you pay a fee, 450tg/person. The road up to the lake is really nice, although quite scary, since boulders can fall off straight on the road as there is no protection, we actually saw some big boulders roll down behind us. Pretty impressive and little stressfull experience, it just adds that extra spice to the trip. Once you arrive at the lake, its just splendid, the color of the water,the mountains around, wow ! And yes up the road is the border to Kyrgistan but you can still drive a little further up to get a nicer shot! I don't understand the comments about the military fuss, no pic nic area, you can walk down to the lake and sit on the shores without bribing military officers, we even flew a photo drone around the lake with no problem. On the way back our driver took us to a little shashlik place in the city, tasty and cheap, probably not mentioned in any guide book, but what a tasty bunch of shashlik it was. All in All, an Amazing day !

marrrrrrrina

Very beautiful mountains and a fantastic lake! Nice hike on the pipe :) Very beautiful in autumn because of the different colours. Highly recommended as a day trip from Almaty (if you have money but do not have time, you may hire a taxi to the lake)If you have money, it is better to take taxi from the bus station to the beginning of the pipe at "GES" and then walk along or on the pipe, it is the nice experience. Bear in mind that this is near-the-border region, and the lake is strategic object as it supplies Almaty with water, so it is not possible to come close to the lake, it is gusrder by a soldier, and as it is near the border, he may want to check your ID.Very nice views to the lake from the hills on the right side

dtracy99

This place is 2hr distance from Almaty downtownon the way to go there are some collapsed hill.but it is worth to visit water in this lake is using for Almaty tab water and it is administrated KGB on USSR age color of water is beautiful due to melted snow and end of the road there is a boarder to Kyrgizstan

OpSujak

Amazing view. My taxi driver offer a trip here with reasonable price. The air is very fresh. You can ask to taste the freshness of this lake water.

LogCabinNFireplace

We took a taxi we hired for the day up to the lake. Before getting up to the lake, there were 2 check points. The taxi driver paid the first check point fee, around 800 tenge, and then the second checkpoint was a bit sketchy. The guy demanded 5000 tenge to drive up to the lake or we could not pass. So we paid, and parked right at the base of the lake. As we walked to the edge of the lake several military personnel approached us with guns and demanded passports and visas. After several minutes we were asked to leave and they escorted us back to the taxi.I can't tell you why we had an issue but do not try to approach the lake. Stay back and take you pictures from a distance.Otherwise, the lake is beautiful and a must see

KTKaty

Took a taxi there and had to walk the last hour because vehicles weren't being allowed up there..and when we got there there's signs (in Russian) saying you're not allowed to go close to the shore and you can't picnic there. The journey up was pretty and it was good to get out of the city but we literally only spent a about 15 minutes there as it wasn't a place to sit, relax and enjoy the views.

BethO963

Our fearless interpeter managed to get our group to the lookout. Air was smoggy from the brushfire smoke and car exhaust. How many cars on a tight mountain road can turn around at once? Flashbacks to Boston Mass in gridlock.FYI: The lake is on the Kyrgyzstan border and patrolled by armed guards. One group member encountered such a guard who yelled " no no get back" . Up that steep hill she ran.

tashione

Nothing much to do. Can't get to the lakeshore. You have to pay twice around 2000 kzt to some 'guard' drive up to the lake by car. Foreigner( non Russian or Kazakh speaker ) not allowed to visit the observation station.

ps578

I read the reviews in tripadvisor so I wanted to visit this place. We hired a car and went there but the entry for the car was closed and we have to walk 3 kms each way so it is 6 kms up and down. This is because there was a bush fire. We did not have time to walk so much, we came back. Lake is on the hill so on the way to the lake we saw a beautiful water flow and we enjoyed in the water for some time. We enjoyed the very pleasant water sound and water was very cold. The scenery was very beautiful.

pwau98

Good for leisure walk. Plenty of short foot paths, Nice views. Visited by many locals and do picnics. About 1 hr drive from the city centre,

lucapettini

Lake is amazing, nobody can't agree on this, but to see it far from 200m only is a shame. I understand that they want to have no pollution there, but just close all the street that bring over there is the worst solution. It was a shame to watch it from far and just from the zoom of the photo-camera. Other than take 10 photos there is nothing else to do there... just walk around the lake without getting closer :(