During my trip to Almaty, I planned to explore the city’s architecture and see some of Kazakhstan’s natural attractions. I spent the first day walking around the city center, and the next day I decided to head up Kok Tobe Mountain — one of Almaty’s most recognizable landmarks.
Kok Tobe Park
Kok Tobe Mountain (also spelled Koktobe or Kok-Tobe), along with its leisure park and 371-meter TV tower, is located almost in the heart of the city. I took the cable car to reach the summit — the ride took about five minutes. The lower station is close to Abay metro station.
Construction of the first cable car began in 1965. In recent years, the entire system was modernized. The length of today’s cableway is 1,620 meters, and the altitude difference between the stations is 250 meters.
At the top of Kok Tobe (the name translates as “green peak”) is a leisure park where visitors can enjoy panoramic viewpoints, grab a bite to eat, or try some rides. There’s a Ferris wheel here, as well as the Fast Coaster — a high-speed rail sled attraction.
The dominant feature of Kok Tobe is the TV tower of the same name. As mentioned above, its height is 371 meters, but if you include the elevation of the mountain itself, the antenna reaches an impressive 700 meters above sea level. The tower was built between 1975 and 1983. There is an observation deck on the tower, but it turned out that access is restricted because the structure is considered a strategic facility. Guidebooks also note that the observation deck cannot be opened due to the lack of an evacuation system — something the architects never designed.
I’ve come across reports that the observation deck may eventually be opened to the public. Local media wrote that no more than fifteen people could be accommodated there at once — and with today’s tourist numbers, that’s extremely limited.
Ticket prices
The round-trip cable car fare in November 2025 was 8,000 tenge for an adult. Both cash and card payments were accepted.
At the summit, I took a ride on the Fast Coaster — one round cost 5,000 tenge. A ride on the Ferris wheel costs an additional 3,500 tenge. The full price list for all attractions is available on the park’s official website.
You can reach the lower station of the cable car by metro. Online maps are very convenient for planning routes around the city.
With this article, I’m concluding my short series about my trip to Almaty. If you’d like to learn about other city attractions, read about the architectural route through Soviet Modernist landmarks and my visit to the botanical garden.
Have a nice trip!
