Digital Nomad Guide for Almaty, Kazakhstan

Almaty is in the south east corner of the vastness of Kazakhstan. And whilst it isn’t a popular digital nomad destination in the same breath as Chiang Mai, Bali or Medellin, it is a popular place for travellers to venture to if they like the off the beaten track places (as I do) and that means that there are digital nomads there.

Almaty is a modern city with all the amenities you may wish to have in a city as well as good transport links to other cities in the region and having plenty to see and do in the city itself.

Because of all of this, I believe that Almaty will be a great destination for digital nomads in the future for travellers who want to get away from the traditional nomad hubs and go for a exploration! This Almaty digital nomad guide will give you all the information you need to work from this bustling Kazakh city.

Where is Almaty

Almaty is in the south east of Kazakhstan. Although not the capital, it is one of the largest and most modern cities in Kazakhstan. The city has a young and western looking population despite being less than a few hours drive from a border with China.

How to get to Almaty

Almaty is well connected to the rest of Kazakhstan and Central Asia with a good train and bus network. It is very easy to take a bus to and from Bishkek as well.

To get to Almaty from outside Kazakhstan, your best option is to fly. The airport has good transport links to Qatar, Istanbul, Astana and Moscow. There are also seasonal flights to Bangkok and Phuket.

Pegasus Airlines or Turkish Airlines are your best options if coming from Europe. Air Astana has flights all over Central Asia, South East Asia and some European destinations.

How to get around Almaty

The best option to get around Almaty is just to walk. The streets are wide and the crossing junctions are well observed by drivers who will wait whilst you follow the green man.

The city is also well connected with a bus and train network.

The metro is only one line but is easy to use and has trains running every 6-10 minutes (depending on time of day) along the line from 6am to midnight.

There is also a bus network that criss crosses all over the city. You can find routes here and here.

The best way to use the bus or metro is download the Onay app and deposit some cash on it. From the app, you can then just scan the QR code on your phone to get around the city. Each journey costs just ₸120 (£0.16/$0.22) when paying with Onay.

You can also use taxis to get around. Download the Yandex app or if that doesn’t work (which it didn’t with me!) then you can download InDrive which is a similar app. Journeys around the city start from just over ₸1000 (£1.30/$1.80).

Visas and getting in

Most nationalities can travel to Kazakhstan visa free for up to 30 days but no more than 90 days in a 180 day period. If you aren’t from one of the countries that has visa free access, you can apply for an evisa.

There is a digital nomad visa for Kazakhstan which offers residency for up to 10 years depending on which route you choose. More information on that can be found here.

Where to work in Almaty as a digital nomad

There are a number of Coworking spaces in Almaty to work from as the city looks to attract young, tech friendly talent to boost their economy.

Here are some of the Coworking spaces that I looked at:

I worked at SmArt.Point Coworking as it was close to where I was staying. I have to say it is one of the best coworking spaces I’ve been to. Set in Almaty towers, it was an amazing place to work with lots of different types of seating, and was just a really nice place to hang out and work. Included in your weekly pass is access to their on site gym, a large kitchen area and some cafe style areas as well that serve good snacks and coffees. There’s a variety of hot desk and open plan seating available and I found the prices reasonable. I’d happily go back there again.

The internet is also very fast with speeds of over 100mbps

If working from a coffee shop is more your vibe, there are hundreds all over the city and I regularly saw people with their laptops working from inside. I saw a lot of people working from their laptops in coffee shops close to Abay metro station or any of the coffee shops close to some of the university buildings around the city seemed to have the most laptops on show.

What’s the internet like in Almaty

I never had any trouble with the internet in Almaty.

I got an eSIM from Airalo which worked well when I arrived and then got an actual sim card at the airport so that I had a local phone number. Each of these had speeds in excess of 40mbps and sometimes up to 200mbps with 5G.

As for the wifi, it slowed down slightly in my AirBnB a couple of times but never anything to worry about. I normally worked from a coworking space which had excellent internet speeds.

Coffee shops always had good wifi from when I did connect to them although I do prefer a coworking space for the guaranteed good speeds.

Where to stay

I stayed close to the Atakent area of Almaty, which is close to Alatau Metro Station. I chose this as it was close to SmArt.Point coworking, was close to the botanical gardens, and within walking distance to many other major sites in the city as well as having good links via bus and metro.

If I were to stay again, I would consider staying in the Zhibek Zholy neighbourhood as its a very modern neighbourhood with plenty of coffee shops and is close to the City Hub Coworking space.

If you really like being in the centre of the action, then Abay might be the best place for you as this is very close to all of the major tourist sites in Almaty.

What to do in Almaty

Almaty actually surprised me with all the amazing things to see and do in Almaty.

As a first thought, Almaty is just amazing to just walk around and experience the mix of cultures there are in the city. If you’ve never been to central Asia before, exploring the markets that are a mix of European and Asian will blow your mind. The wide open streets and boulevards that make walking around the city easy were one of the first things I noticed when I arrived in Almaty.

I have a complete guide on what to see and do in Almaty but I’ll summarise it in a quick list:

Or somethings to see around the city:

Cost of living for digital nomads in Almaty

I found the cost of living in Almaty to be quite low. It is an affordable destination I would put into the same category as other places in Eastern Europe such as Tirana or Sofia. It isn’t quite as cheap as somewhere like Thailand though.

Some example prices:

Rent will depend on where you’re staying and how long for. A nice AirBnB in the centre can start at £400 for a week or a bit further out it can be £500 for a month for a basic studio apartment. I didn’t look but I’ve heard that small apartment can be as low as $350 if you were to sign a yearly contract.

Pros and cons of Almaty for a digital nomad

Pros of Almaty

Cons of Almaty

My experience as a digital nomad in Almaty

I loved my time in Almaty and it shocked me how much I enjoyed it.

I found the city had a very European vibe with a strong coffee culture, lots of museums and it being very walkable. I often walked home from my coworking space at night and I never once felt unsafe as there were always people around and the streets were well lit.

There is plenty to do around Almaty and the nature is amazing. I actually can’t wait to go back and explore more of the city and more of Kazakhstan as well!

Dan

Dan is an avid traveller from London. His first big adventure was in 2010 living in Malaysia for 3 months. He has been on the road almost constantly since 2015 travelling to destinations that aren’t on the mainstream tourist trail and working full time and travelling since 2021.