Almaty

The centre of Almaty is a grid of broad Soviet-era streets shaded by old trees, with water running in open channels, the aryks, along the pavements. At its heart, Panfilov Park surrounds the Ascension Cathedral, a pastel-painted wooden Orthodox church of the early twentieth century, and the streets around it lead to the cafés and squares where the city spends its evenings.

The Green Bazaar, a covered market a short walk from Panfilov Park, is the city's larder: dried fruit and nuts from the south, mountain honey, horse-meat sausage, balls of dried cheese, and the dairy hall where fermented mare's milk is sold. It is the place to taste what the country eats before ordering it in a restaurant.

The Central State Museum covers the country from the steppe's nomads to the present, and the Kasteev State Museum of Arts holds Kazakh and Russian painting. Between them, the facades of the Soviet decades carry mosaic panels of cosmonauts, horsemen and harvests, one of the pleasures of walking the city with an eye on its buildings.

A cable car climbs from the city centre to Kok-Tobe, the hill on Almaty's south-eastern edge, for the view back over the city to the ridge of the Tian Shan. It is the easiest viewpoint in town and at its best in the evening, as the lights come on below.

A road climbs a mountain valley from the edge of town to Medeu, the high open-air skating rink, and from there a gondola rises to Shymbulak, a ski area in winter and a base for mountain walks in summer. On another road into the Ile-Alatau range south of the city, Big Almaty Lake fills a high basin with turquoise water beneath the peaks. Both make a day above the city, and the air is cooler there in summer.

Almaty's metro runs one line under the centre, buses cover the rest, and ride-hailing apps are the simplest way across town and up to Medeu. The centre itself is best walked, along the shaded streets between the park, the bazaar and the museums.