A week gives you space for one eastern tour, a separate local outing and a full city day after the long return. It does not require a new excursion every morning.
For early January, request rooms, vehicles and any ski lesson for your actual dates before making non-refundable bookings. Shymbulak has announced its 2026–2027 season, but that does not establish the January 2027 holiday timetable or daily lift operation. Check resort notices and weather close to departure; the January 2026 schedule is not a forecast. Keep mountain time in daylight and follow closures. Snow or ice can change the Kaindy approach and shorten the canyon walk; a booked vehicle is not permission to cross a closure. Never assume lake ice is a walking route. Keep a warm indoor city alternative and a buffer before the flight.
Settle into your accommodation, work out luggage arrangements for the eastern block and take a short nearby walk. Compare the group departure calendar before committing to non-refundable city nights. For example, 10–16 January 2027 places the group departure on Tuesday 12 January and return on Thursday 14 January, with Friday kept in the city. Confirm the actual departure before paying for rooms.
Do not rely on a foreign bank card to top up ONAY. The practical route is to buy a physical ONAY card and load it with cash at a supported terminal or top-up point. Check the ONAY map/app for current locations, including any airport points, and check your bus route in 2GIS. If you cannot arrange payment, choose a quoted taxi instead of relying on another passenger to pay.
A private airport transfer to any address in Almaty. The price is for one vehicle, one way; choose the minivan for four adults. Pickups from 23:00 to 06:00 add the night supplement below for each booked vehicle and affected journey, not for each passenger. The planning table assumes daytime pickups.
A Land Cruiser-class transfer for your party. Driver, fuel, parking and the airport meeting are included in the published tariff. Pickups from 23:00 to 06:00 add the night supplement below for each booked vehicle and affected journey, not for each passenger. The planning table assumes daytime pickups.
Budget compares Interhouse, QQ and an individual AQ capsule. Private adds a double room or Uyut Standard and Comfort Deluxe. Premium compares the larger Uyut suites. Choose a base near the city walks and keep your luggage arrangements simple. Private / Premium: 5 city nights and one night in Saty. Budget: 4 city nights, the overnight journey with guesthouse rest on arrival, and the following included night in Saty.
Compare a hostel bed, a private capsule and a double room as different ways to stay.
Interhouse and QQ offer hostel options; AQ miniSUITES is a single capsule, with one capsule for each adult.
Dorm-room nightly reference
Listed nightly reference; check room and occupancy
Single capsule · one adult per capsule per night · breakfast extra
Interhouse has a double room with breakfast. Compare it with the Uyut room examples below.
Double room · per room per night · breakfast included
Single occupancy · one room
Double occupancy · one room
Single occupancy · one room
Double occupancy · one room
Uyut Junior Suite and Two-room Suite offer more space. The single- and double-occupancy nightly rates are shown below.
Single occupancy · one room
Double occupancy · one room
Single occupancy · one room
Double occupancy · one room
Day 2 is the separate Medeu outing. Budget takes the bus for the foothill walk and return. Private uses a Jetour T2 with driver, Premium a Land Rover Discovery with driver; these charters are included in their respective baseline calculations. All three plans keep the local walk as the activity. The MORN horse ride or Shymbulak cable car are paid alternatives. Keep Day 3 for the city, packing and the evening group departure on Tuesday or Friday.
A shared bus tour on fixed departure dates. The price per adult includes a night in Saty, four meals, park fees and the Kaindy ascent. Confirm the meeting point and tour language.
The guesthouse night is included in the shared tour. Do not book a separate Saty room for that night.
Separate Medeu day: a walk, with two one-way bus journeys per adult.
Your Montero and driver are reserved for two days. Agree stop times together; fuel and the driver’s overnight stay are included. Guest rooms are separate.
Reaching Kaindy in the Montero depends on safe weather and road conditions. Agree any route change with the driver before departure. If another transfer is proposed, confirm its price and what it includes first.
Check vehicle entry, visitor charges and parking separately. Ask which charges apply to your party and whether the receipt covers both Kolsai and Kaindy on your travel date. These charges are not included in the subtotal above.
Check official Kolsai park tariffs300,000 ₸ — Selected service only
Arithmetic share per person: 300,000 ₸
300,000 ₸ — Selected service only
Arithmetic share per person: 150,000 ₸
300,000 ₸ — Selected service only
Arithmetic share per person: 100,000 ₸
300,000 ₸ — Selected service only
Arithmetic share per person: 75,000 ₸
Share the vehicle fare with 1–4 confirmed travellers through MORN Co-Sharing. Finding companions is not guaranteed: until they confirm, budget for the whole car. Agree stops, luggage and return time. The trip total also includes rooms and airport transfers.
Find travel companions →A local charter for the Medeu day, separate from the two-day eastern drive.
Take the same Montero Sport route, with a private room at Kolsay Eco House in Saty. Guest rooms and meals are separate from the vehicle price. Kolsay Nomads is an alternative by Lower Kolsai, requiring a different overnight stop.
Reaching Kaindy in the Montero depends on safe weather and road conditions. Agree any route change with the driver before departure. If another transfer is proposed, confirm its price and what it includes first.
Check vehicle entry, visitor charges and parking separately. Ask which charges apply to your party and whether the receipt covers both Kolsai and Kaindy on your travel date. These charges are not included in the subtotal above.
Check official Kolsai park tariffs300,000 ₸ — Selected service only
Arithmetic share per person: 300,000 ₸
300,000 ₸ — Selected service only
Arithmetic share per person: 150,000 ₸
300,000 ₸ — Selected service only
Arithmetic share per person: 100,000 ₸
300,000 ₸ — Selected service only
Arithmetic share per person: 75,000 ₸
Share the vehicle fare with 1–4 confirmed travellers through MORN Co-Sharing. Finding companions is not guaranteed: until they confirm, budget for the whole car. Agree stops, luggage and return time. The trip total also includes rooms and airport transfers.
Find travel companions →A local charter for the Medeu day, separate from the two-day eastern drive.
The MORN three-hour Medeu-area horse ride can be a separate local outing on a free day. Transfer, food and an English-speaking guide are not included. Confirm the meeting point, winter route and rider suitability before booking transport. Do not put it on a day already occupied by the eastern lakes tour or add it to a cable-car day as a supposedly included service.
The shared tour lists Tuesday–Thursday and Friday–Sunday windows: evening gathering at 21:00 and departure at 21:30, followed by the lakes programme and the canyon programme, with a return around 20:00. Match actual dates to this window and reconfirm operation; do not treat an overnight departure as an extra city day.
Budget: Day 4 is the lakes day and Day 5 the canyon day, with the tour return around 20:00. Keep Day 6 for a relaxed city walk, café or indoor visit; it is also useful recovery time if travel is tiring. Day 7 is departure. If the actual group dates differ, slide this block while retaining a city buffer after the return.
Private/Premium: stay in Almaty on the night of Day 3. On Day 4, leave early by Montero for Charyn and spend the night in Saty. Day 5 covers Kolsai and Kaindy before returning to Almaty; agree the return time with your driver.
Budget leaves the previous evening and visits Charyn, Black Canyon, Moon Canyon, Kolsai and Kaindy over two touring days. Private/Premium use Montero for Charyn, Kolsai and Kaindy. Adding Black Canyon or Moon Canyon needs an agreed schedule and quote.
Use a café or short walk only if the flight and baggage arrangements allow. Confirm the airport route and leave a buffer.
The same per-vehicle fare applies from your Almaty address to the airport. Pickups from 23:00 to 06:00 add the night supplement shown below.
A private Land Cruiser-class transfer to the airport. The night supplement applies to pickups from 23:00 to 06:00.
One meal per person, not a daily food budget.
Estimated dinner per person; dishes and drinks change the bill.
Estimated dinner per person; dishes and drinks change the bill.
Budget includes the selected group programme and city dorm beds. Private and Premium below add all guest nights and both airport transfers; park charges remain separate. Airport pickups are daytime, and KZT and USD stay separate. Ordinary meals and personal spending are separate.
Private/Premium use one room for 1–2 adults, two for 3–4, with shared airport transfers. Agree who shares a room and whether you need twin beds. Separate rooms, different flight times or another hotel change the estimate.
Interhouse dorm beds, airport buses, one Medeu return and the selected programme below. Other city visits follow the walking route. Uses an existing ONAY card.
Montero for two days, Interhouse double rooms for 5 city nights and one night at Kolsay Kazakh Village in Saty. Airport sedan for up to three adults, minivan for four. The separate Medeu day uses a Jetour T2 with driver.
Visitor and vehicle entry fees, plus parking, are not included. Check the charges for your route and dates.
Rooms: 1
Rooms: 1
Rooms: 2
Rooms: 2
Montero for two days, Uyut junior suites for 5 city nights, with single/double occupancy, and one night at Kolsay Eco House in Saty. Land Cruiser-class airport transfers. The separate Medeu day uses a Land Rover Discovery with driver.
Visitor and vehicle entry fees, plus parking, are not included. Check the charges for your route and dates.
Rooms: 1
Rooms: 1
Rooms: 2
Rooms: 2
Read prices by their unit: a bed, a room, a meal or the whole vehicle. The table states which transport, stays and activities it includes. Ordinary meals and optional purchases are separate.
Keep the group departure days fixed and move the surrounding city time. If flights or weather do not leave a workable departure and return buffer, replace the whole eastern block with a local outing rather than forcing the lakes into an arrival or departure day. A private journey can offer another timing arrangement only after the operator confirms route, road conditions, seats, lodging and the quote.