City Tour

Baiterek Tower is one example of the futuristic architecture in the newborn city. Nicknamed " Chupa Chups" by the locals due to its similarity to a giant lollipop, this 97m high building offers a great view of the city as well as an art gallery, an aquarium and a restaurant. In the centre of the top sphere, the ever so humble President Nazarbayev has made a golden palm print where visitors may put their own hands. Be warned at busier times the queue for the palm can be very long. 500T for Adults, 150T for 5-15 (with documentation), under 5s are free

Khan Shatyr is a giant transparent tent big enough to hold 10, 000 people. The 150 m high tent has a 200 m elliptical base covering an area larger than 10 football stadiums, and contains a park, a shopping and entertainment area with squares and cobbled streets, a boating river, minigolf and an indoor beach resort. It even contains its own monorail with several stops. While Astana is one of the world's coldest capitals with temperatures down to -40°C in the cold season, the transparent material lets sunshine in and helps to keep temperatures comfortable all year.

The President's Museum of Kazakhstan, Barayev 3, is built like a yurt with a dome resembling a mosque. It contains exhibitions about the history of the country. The main attraction is a replica of the Golden Man costume, a warrior's suit that was found in a tomb east of Almaty. It contains more than 4000 gold pieces, and the original was considered too fragile to be put on display (it is now kept safe in the national bank).

Atameken Map of Kazakhstan is an outdoor museum giving you an overview of the entire country in a miniature version. This 1.7-hectare exhibit features more than 200 mock-up pieces, creating Kazakh cities and historical memorials.

Palace of Peace and Reconciliation. The pyramid portion of the building is 62 m high and sits on a 15 m high earth-covered block. All of this construction is above ground level. The building holds a summit of all religions of the world every 2-3 years. Though the landscaping of the park rises up to cover the lower levels, these are not in fact basements. This building offers a great view of the city as well as two art galleries, a archeological and ethnographic museum, opera hall, and a cafe.

Kazakh Eli monument. Kazakh Eli (literally, " Land of Kazakhs") is situated next to Pyramid (Palace of Peace) and has a small statue of the first president of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It is about 100 metres tall and has a mythical golden bird Samryk on the top. Monument is made from white marble and surrounded by very beautiful fountains.

Shabyt Palace. Shabyt is a palace of arts situated to the right of Kazakh Eli monument. It is a dish like building made from glass.

Palace of Independence. Palace of Independence is situated to the left of Kazakh Eli monument.

Museum of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. This is situated north of the river on the junction of Abai Street and Bebeishelik Street. This magnificent building was the seat of power before the new presidential palace was built. history of Nazabayev. There is a small gift shop on the ground floor with the normal tourist paraphernalia.

New National Museum of Kazakhstan. next to the Palace of independence, opened in July 2014. Huge (and partly empty) National Museum with modern flashy effects (wait for the eagle show at the entrance). Exhibition on three levels including an Astana hall (constantly praising the president), gold hall, ethnographic exhibition with comparison of native americans to kazakh, contemporary arts hall, iron age hall and much more. entry is free, only to be entered within a guided tour (russian/kazakh) every 45 min.

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