2 Days Tour: Charyn Canyon, Kaindy & Kolsay Lakes
Traveler rating
5.0/5
Based on 12 traveler reviews. Ratings and reviews provided by Viator and Tripadvisor.
Quick answer
Is 2 Days Tour: Charyn Canyon, Kaindy & Kolsay Lakes worth booking?
2 Days Tour: Charyn Canyon, Kaindy & Kolsay Lakes is a 48-hour experience in Almaty, Kazakhstan, from $500 per person. It scores 72 out of 100 on the Outty Ranking, which we label “Strongly Recommended”, based on a 5/5 rating across 12 reviews. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before the start time. Same-day spots are currently showing.
- Outty Ranking
- 72 / 100
- Rating
- 5/5 (12)
- Duration
- 48 hours
- From
- $500 per person
During this tour, you will have a chance to explore beautiful lakes and 2nd biggest canyon in the world Charyn canyon. You will try Kazakh national food and stay in cozy guest house of Kazakh family
What you get
About this experience
During this tour, you will have a chance to explore beautiful lakes and 2nd biggest canyon in the world Charyn canyon. You will try Kazakh national food and stay in cozy guest house of Kazakh family
What's included
Included
- Private transportation
- Daily bottle of water
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Breakfast
- Entrance fees to the national parks
Where it starts and ends
Hotel pickup
Pickup is included for all travelers. Pickup begins about 15 minutes before departure.
Before you book
- Cancellation
- For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
- Languages
- ru, en
- Ticket
- Mobile Only
- Runs on
- Every day
- Group size
- Up to 8 travelers per booking
- Operated by
- Explore Kazakhstan
Know before you go
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Photos
What travelers are saying
Outty’s summary of the themes that recur across 12 traveler reviews. Written by us, not quoted from reviewers.
The guide
8 mentionsTravelers single out the guide as the reason the experience works.
Photo opportunities
5 mentionsThe views and photo stops come up again and again.
Knowledge and storytelling
2 mentionsReviewers describe the commentary as informative rather than scripted.
Organization
2 mentionsPickup, timing, and logistics are described as running smoothly.
Traveler reviews
12 verified traveler reviews for 2 Days Tour: Charyn Canyon, Kaindy & Kolsay Lakes. Ratings and reviews provided by Viator and Tripadvisor.
Amazing!
Extremely satisfied with our trip through them. Madi the owner was a breeze to talk to, and our guide cum driver, Mischa was a fantastic guy. You ask him for anything and his response would be "it's possible"!
via Tripadvisor
Great Experience
Exploring Kazakhstan for 2 days was an incredible journey, thanks to Explore Kazakhstan and our fantastic driver, Chingiz. The landscapes were breathtaking, and the experience was made even better by their well-organized itinerary. Chingiz was a friendly, knowledgeable, and skilled driver who ensured our safety and comfort throughout the trip. We visited stunning places like Charyn Canyon, Kaindy Lake, Kolsay Lake, Black Canyon, City tour and every moment was memorable. We’re so grateful for this wonderful adventure and for anyone looking to explore this beautiful country I highly recommend Explore Kazakhstan Chingiz and Madi for being responsive and helpful. Thank you
via Tripadvisor
Amazing Tour in Kazakhstan
The tour was very fun and unforgettable. The places we visited were on of its kind. We really had a lot of fun. Everything is just amazing. Our tour guide Chingzi is so friendly, so helpful and very accommodating. He took good photos and he took care of all our needs. Highly recommended. Also Ms. Madi of Explore Kazakhstan is very responsive and very helpful. Over all we really enjoyed our trip. :)
via Tripadvisor
The best ever!
Madi, our first point of contact was extremely helpful and responsive. And then for our tour we had Misha/Michael as our guide and driver. By the time the tour ended he had become our friend! Misha was genuinely the nicest, sweetest person ever! You ask him for anything and he'd say in his own inimitable way "It's possible"! He just didn't know how to say no! 10/10! Would totally recommend their services!
via Tripadvisor
Unforgettable 2-day trip or how we discovered the magnificent nature of Kazakhstan with Explore Kazakhstan
It was unforgettable. A month has passed and it all feels like a fairy tale, a mirage, dreaming of a warm and gentle June sun. So far and beautiful... We've never been to Kazakhstan before. But we visited the mountains and admired the mountain scenery, the fast rivers with clear cold water and azure lakes. It's time to change the direction of our travels a little and open up new routes... I chose the tour myself, not on the basis of recommendations of acquaintances, but on the website, photos and reviews on the Internet. She flicked through beautiful photographs at night, read reviews... and saw again something she hadn't seen in years: turquoise lakes drowned in the green of forests and surrounded by majestic mountaintops dissolving somewhere in the clouds. I knew immediately that I wanted to see it again, to breathe that jingling air of purity, to hear the silence of centuries... And it was also immediately clear that the creators of the site know very well how to impress and love in their country people who appreciate the beauty of nature... I read the reviews of usually discerning foreign tourists and made sure we were here again. And I was absolutely right. Everything from the correspondence with Madi, who answered all our questions carefully, promptly and patiently, to the trip itself was at a very high level. At the hotel we were met by a man named Ashat in perhaps the most suitable vehicle for such a journey (the Land Cruiser in the unusual American version for us) and our journey began. We immediately realized that our guide is a very experienced, knowledgeable and genuinely loving professional with a lot to show and tell, and there is a lot of interesting things ahead... The road over 200 km didn't seem long to us thanks to our driver. Despite the time difference and the early rise, none of us fell asleep to the informative accounts of Aschat, who, along the way, told us so much about the places here, their history and sights that the road, once part of the Silk Road, flew almost unnoticed. To our right stood the majestic mountains of the Sairian Alatau and we were eager to get there soon... Our first stop was Charyn Canyon. We have not been to the Grand Canyon in the United States, but we have seen it in photographs and in our favorite cartoon, Prairie Spirit Soul. It was his doppelganger! Everything seemed unreal - so beautiful and fabulous that it was hard to believe it was real! On the sides are yellow rocks of the most bizarre shapes, between which a path, carefully laid out by the magician-nature, stretches for 2.5 kilometers. Virtually no vegetation, but Ashat showed us the famous desert dweller, the Saxaul bush. About halfway through the journey, we saw a natural gate-arch formed by two cliffs piled on top of each other, past which we suddenly found ourselves among completely different, darker rocks... a mystery that we could never solve. Finally, the Charynka oasis-mountain river awaited us, astonished by its beauty, crystal clearness and icy water, in which it was impossible to take even a few steps on a rather hot day... We were driven back by a “taxi”, a slightly overloaded tourist open “loaf”, in which we found the best seats thanks to the foresight of Ashat, who is known everywhere and to whom all doors are open. It was a little scary in the corners, but that's what we needed: the return trip was uphill and the road with the baby in the heat could be complicated. Next, our journey was to the village of Saty, which welcomes tourists like us, where we had a delicious homemade lunch, local flavor, hospitable hosts and a comfortable room with separate shower, toilet and everything. After lunch, our way lay on Lake Nizhny Kolsai - turquoise and magnificent, equal in beauty to the lakes Switzerland and Austria, where we were lucky to visit. We were caught there by rain, which was still on its way out of the canyon, threatening to derail our plans. We had to shorten our boat trip on the lake a little bit, and we got quite wet, because by the middle of the lake we were caught by rain, but still we were very lucky, because to us we saw the lake so different: in the sun and in the clouds of lead and in the rain, and after the rain the sky smiled at us with a rainbow spreading from one mountain to the other - a wonderful sign that we were truly happy with! After a hearty dinner, we fell asleep, reliving the experience of the past day and preparing for new ones. The next day, there was a trip through very rugged terrain, crossing the river to a lake, where the history of Lake Cainda was frozen in the form of tree trunks flooded centuries ago. Another beautiful lake, which we admired both close to, from the shore, drenching our feet in freezing water, and from the height of the nearest mountain, where for a reasonable fee you can climb by horse (by horse we reached the lake itself, which also very decorated our little trip). Everything was magnificent, and with the beauty of the scenery and the purest mountain air, the heart sank again and dizzy... It was time to come back this afternoon. It was a shame to leave here and we were left wanting to come again. Lastly, we stopped at the top of another canyon, the Black Canyon, and it became the cherry on the cake... the beauty of this place is such that I have absolutely no words to describe it. It felt like the earth had opened up before us long ago and a chasm had formed at the bottom of which a river had flowed...Did this water break through such a deep bed for thousands of years? No, there must have been an earthquake here, causing the Earth's surface to break, and then water found its way into it... We stood on the edge of a cliff, holding our breath, afraid to move with height, delight and awe at the beauty of nature... And a few more words about Ashat, whom we remember with warmth and gratitude. This is a man who has something to show and tell. Who knows that the summit of Huntegre is at an altitude of 7011, not 7010 meters as is generally believed, since he personally conquered it 4 times... Who thought carefully and envisaged everything to the minutiae. Known and respected by all around him, with all roads and gates to national parks open. Who is a teacher and an example to all young guides, some of whom have set up competing firms. But we are sure Explore Kazakhstan (formerly-Askhat-Traveller named after its founder) is the best company to discover the natural beauty of Kazakhstan, because Askhat is genuinely passionate about its business, loves its work, the unique nature of its country and leaves guests a piece of its wide soul and the most wonderful memories for life!
via Tripadvisor (translated)
Good to know
- Duration
- 48 hours
- Free cancellation
- Up to 24h before
- Minimum age to book
- All ages
- Availability
- Bookable today
- Runs on
- Every day
- Price range
- $500 to $875
- Hotel pickup
- Included for all travelers
- Booked in 30 days
- 4
- Verdict
- Strongly Recommended
Who runs this experience
Operated by Explore Kazakhstan, who run 12 experiences we rank across 1 city, with an average Outty Ranking of 52.6.
See everything Explore Kazakhstan runsWhy this scores 72
The Outty Ranking is a weighted composite. Here is how this experience performed on each component.
2 Days Tour: Charyn Canyon, Kaindy & Kolsay Lakes: questions travelers ask
Practical detail on this experience, plus the wider planning questions for Almaty.
How much does 2 Days Tour: Charyn Canyon, Kaindy & Kolsay Lakes cost?
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Prices start at $500 per person. The final price depends on the date, the time slot and the number of travelers, and peak weekends in Almaty usually price higher than midweek mornings. Live pricing and remaining availability are confirmed on the booking screen before you pay.
How long does 2 Days Tour: Charyn Canyon, Kaindy & Kolsay Lakes take?
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Plan for about 48 hours from start to finish, not counting travel to the meeting point. Most travelers leave another 30 minutes on either side so the rest of the day in Almaty is not rushed.
Is 2 Days Tour: Charyn Canyon, Kaindy & Kolsay Lakes worth it?
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It holds an Outty Ranking of 72 out of 100, which we label "Strongly Recommended". That score blends traveler sentiment (5/5 across 12 reviews), the depth of that review evidence, recent booking momentum, value for money against comparable last minute in Almaty, and how flexible the cancellation terms are.
Can I cancel or reschedule 2 Days Tour: Charyn Canyon, Kaindy & Kolsay Lakes?
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Yes. Cancel free up to 24 hours before the start time for a full refund. Inside that window the booking is non-refundable, and no-shows are not refunded.
Is 2 Days Tour: Charyn Canyon, Kaindy & Kolsay Lakes suitable for kids and families?
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Yes, all ages are welcome. Families should still weigh the 48-hour running time, and strollers are easier on the earlier, quieter departures.
How far in advance should I book 2 Days Tour: Charyn Canyon, Kaindy & Kolsay Lakes?
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Around 4 people booked this in the last 30 days, so popular slots go early. Two to three weeks ahead is comfortable in shoulder season, while summer weekends and holidays in Almaty can sell out a month out. Same-day spots do open up when other travelers cancel, so it is worth checking if you are already in town.
What should I bring or wear?
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Bring photo ID, your booking confirmation on your phone, a refillable water bottle and comfortable shoes. Dress for the weather in Almaty and add a light layer if any part of the 48-hour experience runs outdoors or after sunset.
Where does 2 Days Tour: Charyn Canyon, Kaindy & Kolsay Lakes start and how do I get there?
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The exact meeting point and directions are on your voucher once you book, and they sit in central Almaty within reach of public transport. Arrive 15 minutes early: late arrivals are treated as no-shows by most operators.
What are the best things to do in Almaty?
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On Outty we rank every Almaty experience on the same 0 to 100 scale, and alongside this one the highest scorers right now include Kolsai, Kaindy Lakes and Charyn Canyon Small Group Tour, Kolsai Kaindy Lakes with Charyn Canyons 2-day tour, Kolsai, Kaindy lakes & Charyn canyon with Yurt stay and Campfire. The city page groups everything into most popular, highest reviewed, last minute and family-friendly so you can build a day around what actually delivers.
When is the best time to visit Almaty?
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Booking patterns follow the same curve: prices and queues climb in peak weeks, while shoulder season gives you better availability on the top-ranked experiences and more room to change plans.
How many days do you need in Almaty?
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Three full days covers the headline sights without sprinting. A workable rhythm is one anchor experience each morning, such as this one, an unhurried afternoon in a single neighborhood, then a food or nightlife booking in the evening. Five days lets you add a day trip outside the city.
Do I book through Outty or through the operator?
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Outty ranks and explains the experiences, then hands you to Viator to complete the booking with the operator directly. The price is the same as booking on Viator yourself, and Outty earns an affiliate commission on the referral, which is how the rankings stay free to read.
What is included in 2 Days Tour: Charyn Canyon, Kaindy & Kolsay Lakes?
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Included: Private transportation; Daily bottle of water; Lunch; Dinner; and Breakfast. Always check the voucher for the final list before you travel.
Does 2 Days Tour: Charyn Canyon, Kaindy & Kolsay Lakes include hotel pickup?
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Yes, pickup is offered for every traveler from 80 listed pickup locations in and around Almaty. Be ready about 15 minutes before the start time.
What languages is 2 Days Tour: Charyn Canyon, Kaindy & Kolsay Lakes offered in?
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It is offered in Russian and English. Pick your language when choosing a date and time, as not every departure runs in every language.
Will I get instant confirmation and a mobile ticket for 2 Days Tour: Charyn Canyon, Kaindy & Kolsay Lakes?
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Confirmation is sent by the operator after booking, usually within 48 hours; if it is not confirmed you are not charged. Mobile tickets are accepted, so you can show the voucher on your phone.
Is 2 Days Tour: Charyn Canyon, Kaindy & Kolsay Lakes wheelchair or stroller accessible?
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The operator notes: Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller; and Specialized infant seats are available. If accessibility is critical, contact the operator after booking to confirm arrangements for your date.
What happens to 2 Days Tour: Charyn Canyon, Kaindy & Kolsay Lakes if the weather is bad?
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It generally runs rain or shine, so dress for the forecast in Almaty. Standard cancellation terms apply: free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start.
What do travelers say about 2 Days Tour: Charyn Canyon, Kaindy & Kolsay Lakes?
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Across 12 reviews averaging 5.0 out of 5, recurring themes include the guide, photo opportunities, knowledge and storytelling. Travelers single out the guide as the reason the experience works.
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