Digital Nomad Guide for Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Bishkek is the capital city of Kyrgyzstan, a rapidly developing country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is an up and coming tourist destination and one of the most popular countries to visit in the region due to its stunning scenery and welcoming hospitality.

As with any budding tourist destination, digital nomads soon follow, but there is little information on being a digital nomad in Bishkek. It isn’t a popular destination for foreign remote workers yet but as the country becomes more popular, I predict that Bishkek will soon be on the radar of digital nomads who like to venture off the beaten path.

This digital nomad guide to Bishkek will tell you everything from where to work, where to live and what to do with your free time in Kyrgyzstan.

Where is Bishkek

One of the most common questions you may get asked when you say you’re going to be a digital nomad in Bishkek is “where’s that?!”. Bishkek is in the north of Kyrgyzstan not far from the Kazakh border. It has the Ala-Too mountain range to the south and lake Issyk Kul to the east.

Kyrgyzstan borders Kazakhstan to the north, China to the east, Tajikistan to the south and Uzbekistan to the west and is colloquially considered one of the “stan” countries in Central Asia alongside Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

How to get to Bishkek

Bishkek isn’t as well connected to the rest of the world compared to Almaty or Tashkent but there are still a lot of international airlines flying to the city.

There are regular flights from Tashkent, Almaty and Astana to Bishkek if you are already in Central Asia with less regular or sometimes just seasonal flights from Dushanbe or other cities.

If travelling from Europe, the best option would be on Pegasus or Turkish Airlines. There are occasional flights from Dubai on FlyDubai, Seoul, Moscow and Beijing.

It is easy to get to Bishkek from Almaty by taking the bus which I have explained in my guide. There is also an overnight bus from Tashkent to Bishkek (which passes through Kazakhstan).

How to get around Bishkek

Bishkek is very walkable and I spent almost my entire time walking around the city in its grid like pattern.

There is a very good bus network that criss crosses the city but with the grid like nature, you may need to change once or twice if going across the city. For more info on their routes, check out 2gis.kg, a website and app that shows all public transport in Kyrgyzstan, which Google Maps doesn’t do.

Taxis are cheap and plentiful in Bishkek with Yandex being the most popular choice. A ride across the city won’t cost more than a couple of Euros. If the Yandex app doesn’t work for you (as it didn’t for me and a few others I met) then you can use the inDrive app which is similar but slightly more expensive.

You can also hire electric scooters from the Yandex app whenever you see them parked up.

Visas and getting in

Most nationalities can travel to Kyrgyzstan visa free for up to 60 days with no more than 60 days in a 120 day period.

Kyrgyzstan has recently introduced a digital nomad visa which allows an initial stay of 60 days which can be extended for a year and then yearly for a maximum of 10 years. More information can be found here and you can apply for the DN category visa on the official portal.

Where to work in Bishkek as a digital nomad

There are only a few coworking spaces in Bishkek and most of them belong to ololo, a group that has a number of sites across Bishkek and around the country. I originally stayed at ololoFreelander in the south west of the city as it is also a hostel but I personally didn’t like the vibe there. I don’t know what it was and I’m sure it will be a good place for you to work from. They also offer a coliving arrangement.

I ended up working at ololoErkindik (also called ololoCity) as it was slightly closer to my apartment and don’t have any complaints. The wifi was fast, it is open 24/7 and there is an on site coffee shop that does excellent coffee and croissants.

I believe that PeopleHostel also offers coworking if you are staying there. There are a couple of other spaces that claim to be coworking spaces in the city centre but had horrendous Google reviews or hadn’t been updated in years. There are also some spaces in the suburbs that didn’t appeal to me or, I suspect, many other digital nomads.

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

There are a number of decent coffee shops in the centre of the city as well including ANT’s, FLASK COFFEE and Giraffe Coffee. FLASK COFFEE is the only one of these that isn’t a chain but it does have the best coffee I tasted and a good looking menu as well. It is a lot smaller than the others, so usual rules of not spreading out and spending too long there would apply.

What’s the internet like in Bishkek for digital nomads

The internet in Bishkek was mixed.

When I first arrived, I had an eSIM loaded onto my phone which worked pretty well and had ok speeds. But sometimes it dropped out and would take an age for a webpage to load.

I then bought a local sim card from a guy at the end of my street for 500som (about €5/£4.30) which claimed to have unlimited data for one month. The speeds and coverage on this sim card were excellent and even worked when hiking in remote locations. In Bishkek, I never had any problems.

The wifi in my AirBnB was ok, when it worked I could stream and make video calls, however it dropped out often and I had to disconnect the wifi from my laptop and reconnect for it to work again. This happened a few times per day.

The internet in my coworking was excellent though and I never had any issues with it. The speeds were fast, as you can see below, and it never dropped out. If you need some serious work or high speeds, then joining a coworking may be your only option when working as a digital nomad in Bishkek

Coffee shops had good wifi when I visited but I never stayed for long enough to confirm their stability.

Where to stay in Bishkek as a digital nomad

I stayed in the city centre of Bishkek, a short walk from Ala Too square and very close to Bishkek Park shopping centre. I paid just under £600 for a one bedroom apartment for a month through AirBnB which is similar to many other apartments in the city.

I would highly recommend other digital nomads to stay in the city centre and not head out into any of the suburbs. When I stayed close to Osh Bazaar, I didn’t feel the most comfortable walking around at night whereas the city centre is well lit and has wide pavements. There also doesn’t seem to be many amenities like coffee shops the further out of the city you travel and getting into the city will require public transport, which always looked extremely busy when I saw it.

What to do in Bishkek

Digital nomads in Bishkek don’t have an endless list of sights to visit when they finish working but there are a few things to do in the city centre. The main reason to base yourself in Bishkek is to see the amazing nature that is in the rest of the country.

Around Ala Too Square is one of the nicer areas of the city with kids and adults playing in the fountains late into the night in summer. The parks close by to that are also lovely to spend some time in.

Osh bazaar is a great place to get fruit, nuts, veg and an assortment of almost everything else! However I walked close to this area late one night and it didn’t feel as nice as other parts of the city. I’m not saying I felt unsafe or in danger but it had a different vibe.

It is a surprisingly walkable city with most roads having wide pavements (although you’ll be sharing these with electric scooters and bikes zooming past you) and cars obeying traffic laws when crossing the road.

My main tip would be to get out of the city and see some of the stunning nature the country is known for whether that is a short day trip to Ala Archa national park close to the city or spending some days in Karakol for hikes into the Tian Shan mountains.

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

Or some things to see around the city:

Cost of living for digital nomads in Bishkek

I found the cost of living in Bishkek to be quite low and slightly lower than the cost of living in Almaty which I visited previously. It is an affordable destination that is one of the cheapest in the region if living like a local. I would say it is slightly more expensive than Thailand but slightly cheaper than some places in Eastern Europe.

The exchange rate when I visited was basically 100som = €1 so I thought of all the prices in Euros when I was there which made it easy to convert.

Some example prices:

Rent will depend on where you’re staying and how long for. A nice one bedroom AirBnB in the centre can start at £500. There are also a lot of very cheap hostels in the centre for those on a strict budget. I didn’t look but I’ve heard that small apartment can be as low as $350 per month if you were to sign a yearly contract.

Pros and cons of Bishkek for a digital nomad

Pros of Bishkek

Cons of Bishkek

My experience as a digital nomad in Bishkek

I really enjoyed my time in Bishkek and found it a good place to work. The highlights of working in Bishkek would be using it as a base to explore the stunning scenery in the rest of Kyrgyzstan but the city itself is still a good place to be.

Although it doesn’t have a large digital nomad community, there are still plenty of bars, restaurants and coffee shops to enjoy in the centre. The limited attractions, other than some of the parks, museums and Ala Too square, mean that it is a good place to get your head down and focus on work for a short while.

I wouldn’t want to brave Bishkek in the winter but I think it is a great summer destination for digital nomads and I would happily return another year.

Have you been to Bishkek as a digital nomad? Let me know how you found it!

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.