In many cities, chilly autumn weather has already settled in, but today I suggest returning to warmth and strolling along the green alleys of the Almaty Botanical Garden. It’s one of the neatest and coziest park areas I’ve visited in recent times.
History of the garden
The Almaty, Zhezkazgan, Ili and Astana botanical gardens are under the jurisdiction of the Institute of Botany and Phytointroduction, an organization that conducts research in the field of botany. The garden in Almaty, like the institute itself, was founded in 1932.
The territory of the botanical garden is divided into several sections. The largest area is occupied by the exhibition and public zones. Visitors can walk along well-maintained paths or, for example, turn into the green thickets to find little-used trails with almost no people.
The sections of the botanical garden feature plants from Kazakhstan, Russia, Europe and North America. The official website also mentions a Japanese garden.
In the southern part of the garden I came across an area called the Arkalan Eurasian Petroglyph Park. Here you can see several objects with images of copies of ancient rock carvings. The historical park opened quite recently, in November 2024.
There are more than 200 000 plants in the botanical garden. Some of them are represented by a single specimen. The territory includes 20 000 trees, 40 000 shrubs and 5 000 roses.
Judging by the information board at the entrance, the botanical garden underwent renovation a few years ago. As I already mentioned above, this park area made an excellent impression on me — it was very clean and cozy.
How to get there
I took a taxi here from the city centre, but you can also reach the garden by metro or bus. The nearest metro station, “Mukhtar Auezov Theatre”, is about a 25-minute walk from the northern entrance. If you’re not a fan of long walks, you can take a bus or trolleybus and get off at the “Botanical Garden” stop, which is just a couple of minutes from the entrance.
As of October 2025, admission to the botanical garden for CIS citizens is 1 080 tenge.
In my next article about Almaty, I’ll tell you about the trip up Kok Tobe Mountain.
Have a nice trip!
