Is Astana Worth a Layover? A 6-Hour Guide to Kazakhstan's Futuristic Capital -

Is Astana Worth a Layover? A 6-Hour Guide to Kazakhstan's Futuristic Capital

Max here. According to my dad, I’ve got a bit of a habit of making travel plans… overly complicated. Probably true, but it’s still yet to bite me back (more or less…)!

This time, I was taking my mum, Julia, to Central Asia. The end goal was Almaty, Kazakhstan, but when booking flights, I noticed something. It wasn’t much more expensive to route our Istanbul flight through Astana, the nation’s new capital.

“Why the heck not?” I thought.

And that’s how we found ourselves with a 6-hour layover in quite possibly the weirdest capital city I have ever been to. If you’ve got a short layover in Astana, here is what we recommend!

The "What Is That?" Moment

We flew from Istanbul with Air Astana, and I’ve got to say, I was massively impressed. We were on their brand new A321LRs, and even in economy, it was an awesome product. For reference, I am 6ft5, and had more than enough space 🙂

The weirdness starts before you even land. You fly for hours across the Kazakh steppe, which is just… nothing. Miles and miles of flat, empty land. Then, appearing out of the dust, this crazy, futuristic city just emerges.

Astana (which was renamed Nur-Sultan for a bit and is now back to Astana) only became the capital in 1997, when the president decided to move it from Almaty. It feels like someone was given a blank cheque to build a city from a video game. The result is… weird. But strangely cool!

💡 Sloth Scoop: Astana is the second coldest capital in the world. It’s recorded temperatures as low as -51°C, but summer can also hit a scorching +40°C.

Itinerary

Fly into Astana 🙂
Explore and eat for 6 hours!
Fly to Almaty from Astana 🙂

Layover Logistics 101

Once we landed, we headed straight for immigration. The border guards seemed genuinely confused. “Vacation?” they asked, looking at our tickets and the 6-hour gap. “Yep, vacation,” we said. They shrugged and stamped us in.

With only 6 hours, luggage was a no-go. We found the airport’s luggage storage room (located by the arrivals exit), which cost about £6 per person. It was the best option, and the security for this room was extremely tight (some seriously serious guards), so it felt very safe.

Next: transport. Forget taxis, you need Yandex Go. It’s the local ride-hailing app, and it is dirt cheap. The 25 min taxi to our first stop, the city’s most famous monument, cost something like £2. Insane.

Sloth Suggested Stop 1: The Baiterik Tower

Our Yandex dropped us at the base of the Baiterik Tower, the symbol of the city. It’s a 105-meter-tall tower that’s meant to represent a mythical tree of life and a magic bird’s egg. It’s… relatively cool.

We thought about going up (you can put your hand in a golden print of the president’s palm) but we got there an hour before it opened, and a rather large queue was already forming. We looked at the queue, looked at our watches, and decided to sack it off and go have breakfast.

Sloth Suggested Stop 2: Breakfast in the Ritz!

So, with limited time in a new city in the middle of nowehere, where do you go for breakfast? The world’s cheapest Ritz-Carlton hotel, obviously.

Rooms here start at about £150 a night, which is exceptional value for a Ritz. We, however, were just there for the food. We treated ourselves to a great selection of (not very Kazakh) dishes, like breakfast burritos and granola bowls. It was sort of expensive for Kazakhstan, but a great, slightly surreal experience.

Sloth Suggested Stop 3: The Weird Architecture Tour (via Scooter)

Fueled up, we grabbed some electric scooters to explore. This is the best way to see the main sights, as everything is built along wide, sweeping boulevards that feel… empty.

We zipped around checking out the highlights, which are basically just a collection of strange buildings:

The Khan Shatyr: A giant, transparent glass tent that’s actually a shopping mall, complete with an indoor beach.
Lovers Park: A nice green space where I bought a traditional Kazakh hat from a lovely lady.
Nurzhol Boulevard: The main axis of the city, which leads you past the opera theatre and various government buildings.

The city does feel a bit sterile. It’s all very grand, but you’re left wondering where all the people are. It’s a very weird vibe, but also so cool to see – it’s truly nothing like southern England.

Sloth Suggested Stop 4: Astana Grand Mosque

Time was running away from us, so we made one last dash to the Astana Grand Mosque. We’re glad we did, as it was rather spectacular. It’s one of the largest mosques in Central Asia and is just gleaming, brilliant white with blue minarets. A definite must-see.

After that, it was a quick Yandex back to the airport, through security, and on to our flight to Almaty.

The Verdict?

Astana is an experience. It’s one of the strangest places I’ve ever been, and I’m so glad we did the layover. It was a perfect, weird little 6-hour adventure.

That said, unless you’re really into futuristic architecture, 6 hours is probably enough. No offence to Astana, but Almaty, with its mountains and history, is definitely the city worth multiple nights!

What’s the weirdest city you’ve ever visited on a layover? Let us know in the comments!