Kazakhstan Mountain Resort and City: Oi-Qaragai and Almaty, 6 Nights

You are met at Almaty airport, usually in the afternoon, and instead of heading into the city you are driven up into the foothills to Oi-Qaragai, a mountain resort about 40 kilometres away among spruce forest and high meadows. The transfer takes well under an hour. The evening is yours to settle in and breathe the mountain air; dinner at the resort is paid directly.

A day with no fixed plan. You can walk into the hills straight from the resort, or choose from a long list of activities booked on the spot and paid locally: horse riding, archery, paintball, mountain carts, a rope park, a zipline and a spa. Or do nothing at all beyond a long breakfast, a book on the terrace and a stroll before dinner.

After a relaxed morning you check out around midday and are driven down to Almaty. Once you have settled into your hotel, your guide takes you on a first walk through the centre, along the Panfilov Street promenade and the Arbat, as locals call the car-free stretch of Zhibek Zholy, with its cafes, street musicians and souvenir stalls.

A drive of about an hour and a half east of the city brings you to Issyk Lake, set in a gorge of the Trans-Ili Alatau. A mudflow in 1963 broke its natural dam and emptied most of it, and today’s smaller lake is a quiet place for a walk by the water. In the afternoon, back near Almaty, you watch a show where eagles, falcons and hawks are flown by their handlers.

A day in the heart of Almaty. Panfilov Park honours soldiers of a division raised here who fell defending Moscow in 1941, and at its centre stands the Zenkov Cathedral, a pastel-painted Orthodox church built of wood in 1907 that came through the great earthquake of 1911. Later the cable car climbs Kok Tobe hill, where the city spreads out below and the mountains rise behind.

Up the Medeu valley to Shymbulak, Almaty’s ski resort, where a chain of gondolas lifts you to the third and highest station at over 3,000 metres, with glaciers and peaks on every side. It is cold at the top even in summer, so bring a warm layer. Back in town you browse the Green Bazaar, piled with dried fruit, nuts and cheeses, and the shop of Rakhat, Almaty’s long-established chocolate maker.

Many flights from Almaty leave in the early hours, so the last day often starts before dawn with a packed breakfast and the transfer to the airport, about half an hour from the centre at that time of day. If your flight is later, the morning is free, and we can quote to keep your room beyond the midday check-out.