Visiting Kok Tobe: What to expect and how to have a great time

Visitors to Almaty will want to visit the iconic hilltop fairground with fabulous city views

Kok Tobe, which is Kazakh for “Green Hill”, is a forested fairground near the communications tower overlooking Almaty. My family loves it as it caters to us all and – on a clear day – comes with a stunning view of the city and surrounding mountains. If you’re familiar with local cityscape photography, you’ll probably recognise it by the large ferris wheel beside the communications tower.

If you’re wondering about what to do up at Kok Tobe, then read on. The fairground has many things to offer such as rides, games, amusements, a mini zoo, an array of restaurants, and a tree tops ropes course. I’ll take you through whats there, and what we, as a family with small children, enjoy most.

Planning Your Day

Two small children lead their father through a forested fairground — Our children always know what they want to do at Kok Tobe, and we just try and keep up

You’ll want to give yourself enough time to enjoy the park. This will depend on who you’re with – do you have children and what age are they? Our kids are young but very mobile so there is a lot of dashing around. They usually insist on 3-4 rides/amusements. We usually spend 2-3 hours there comfortably, including getting a meal.

Tourists will start their Kok Tobe adventure in the main square of the grounds as this is where the main road up the hill and the gondola both finish. This area has had a recent face lift. To the right of the stage the existing kiosk has now been given a covered seating area. Beside the kiosk there is a kids’ electric car hire and tourist photography spot (eagle photo anyone?). The tourist shops that used to stand here have been moved on. There are still tourist shops operating in the road leading towards the communications tower, perhaps 20 metres away.

Amusements

A small child looks at a replica bull statue from the famous one at Wall St, on Kok Tobe overlooking Almaty — One of the areas perfect for photos of the city also has a statue of a bull, a replica of the one on Wall Street.

For those of you who simply want to wander around there are lots of things to check out. To the left of the gondola is the upside down house and small pedal karts for kids to hire. Keep going left and you’ll see a great photography spot with city views. In this space there is also, a little randomly, a statue of a bull like the one from Wall St, complete with the defiant little girl. If you head back towards the communications tower you’ll find little remote-control cars (and tractors, tanks etc) for hire as well as the photography station for anyone wanting to dress up and get their portrait with an eagle. Up the stairs towards the communication tower you’ll find fun houses and tree top rope park. Keep going and you’ll see a rock climbing wall opposite the castle-themed kiosk. Further along is some great stuff for smaller kids such as a large soft play area and blow up bouncy castle.

Rides

a man watches the c hair swing ride at Kok Tobe, with the upside down house and the ferris wheel in the background — One of our daughter’s regular rides at Kok Tobe, the chair swing, with the upside down house and the ferris wheel in the background. One thing I love is that they will run the ride even if only one person buys a ticket. Pretty sure my daughter was the only one on this ride at the time!

There are plenty of the usual rides here. For adults and bigger kids there is a traditional rollercoaster, chair swings (my daughter particularly likes this one), harness and trampoline, and a “fast coaster” (like a gentler version of a roller coaster going down the hill), as well as bumper cars. I shouldn’t forget the iconic ferris wheel either, which stands next to the upside down house. Rides can cost up to about 3,000KZT (~6 USD) but most are less (these are 2024 prices; you can check the current prices here).

For the little ones there are kids rides like helicopters and cars that go around in gentle circles etc. You can find these rides on the path to the left of the stairs near the bus stop. Some days there is also a little train which drives around this main area and goes up the path towards the rollercoaster.

Games

There are several areas with games in Kok Tobe. The first of them is to the left of the gondola exit, next to the chair swing. You can also find some of them along the path heading towards the rollercoaster. There are some more serious target shooting games as well as gentler go fish style games for kids.

VR experiences

Our daughter is super keen on the VR experiences. You sit in a moving seat and usually watch some form of a rollercoaster video. The seats with straps indicate the experiences with more movement. She usually opts for a fairly gentle experience on a seat has no straps. My little son, on the other hand, recently chose a very vigorous VR experience, one that came with a 5 point harness. Unsurprisingly, he chose to get off early. My daughter looked on enviously and will probably want to try that particular experience next time we’re up there.

Beatles Bench

Up past the stairs in a small clearing is a sculpture of the Fab Four sitting on a bench. Beatles music plays in the background. It’s kind of a surreal element to the park. I assume the sculptor really liked the Beatles. I don’t think they ever came to Kazakhstan. But go check it out and get a photo, its pretty random but cool.

Zoo

The zoo they have at Kok Tobe is small in scale and there are no especially big animals, mostly poultry. I would suggest it’s targeted more at families with smaller children. Like ours! You can purchase a cup of vegetables from one of the vendors to feed the animals. Our kids enjoy saying hi to the animals and giving them some veggies. From the gondola, walk past the stage and bus stop, walk up the stairs and then take the ride hand path after the Beatles Bench.

Where to Eat

There is a selection of eateries on Kok Tobe, from high end (I might even say fine dining options!) to kiosk food. None of it is especially cheap but this shouldn’t be surprising given the location. If you have arrived via gondola, you will find several restaurants to your right as you exit the barriers. You will find several more as you move through the park in the direction of the communications tower.

High End

There are several restaurants I’d count as high end at Kok Tobe. The newest is Lumiere Terrace, which is super close to the communciations tower, and furthest from the gondola. A massive hall with multiple levels and ball rooms, it also boasts a huge outdoor terrace. This one I suspect is meant to be a wedding venue (weddings tend to be large here!). The menu is good and they usually have English ones (on our most recent visit they had just changed their menu and so only had Russian ones). It is on the pricier side, but you are paying for the magnificent view. And it is indeed something to behold.

Closer to the gondola is Abay Restaurant and Inzhu Restaurant. Abay is on the same level as you are when you exit the gondola, and can be found if you keep walking past the kiosk restaurant. The terrace is glorious and you should take a table out there if you can, but the restaurant inside is also very prettily decorated. I have not eaten at Inzhu, which is on the level below Abay. However, if you sit at Abay Restaurant then you are given the menu to both Abay and Inzhu – it seems like they share a kitchen. I have eaten food from the Inzhu menu and it is very good.

a woman carries a child while walking towards a restaurant with mountains in the background — Turn right after exiting the gondola and you find your way to Abay Restaurant with its fabulous terrace overlooking the mountains and the city

Kiosk fare

There are several kiosk restaurants, the first as you exit the gondola, to your right. It has a small terrace if you wish to sit outside to enjoy the view. The next kiosk is about 50m away across the main square, next to the stage. The third is further towards the communications tower. To get there, pass under the tree top ropes course, and just before the rollercoaster, opposite the rock climbing wall, is a kiosk decorated like a castle.

How to get there

Gondola

The gondola is, in my opinion, the best and most iconic way to get up to Kok Tobe. The base station is behind Novotel Almaty City. It was 6,000T to get a return ticket as of October 2024 (do check their website for up-to-date prices) and takes 5-6 minutes to get to the top from the base station. Kids 5 and under travel free, while kids 6-12 get a discounted rate.

Walk

You can also walk up the hill, from the car park near the Al Hamid Mosque. It’s a long walk up, so I’d recommend you choose a cooler day and only attempt this if you’re fairly physically fit. If you have little kids you can assume you’ll be carrying them for at least part of the way. This is the cheapest option (obviously!) to get up and down from Kok Tobe.

Car or Taxi

There are car parks up on Kok Tobe if you are willing to pay the steep parking costs (10,000 KZT, or 20 USD, in 2024, but check the website). We have never done this. What we have done is catch a Yandex taxi back down after dining at Abay Restaurant. To avoid the driver having to pay a fee to exit the barrier at the bottom of the hill, you can ask a member of staff to print an exit ticket for you. Just give this to your driver and you’ll get through the barrier no worries. This option is great if the weather turns, or it’s late, or the kids are super tired. I suspect only the high end restaurants are able to print off these exit tickets.

Bus

There is a bus now that takes pedestrians up from the carpark next to the barrier, for 1,500 one way, or 2,000T return (as of October 2024). The ticket is 700T one way for a child 6-12 years old and 1,000T for a round trip. Children 5 and under travel free. Please check the website for up to date prices. If the gondola isn’t running then the bus will also do trips to Dostyk Avenue (for a slightly higher price). You can pay with your bank or credit card for all transport modes.

How expensive is Kok Tobe?

As an urban amusement park with good dining options and one of the best views of the city, this is likely not the cheapest place to visit in Almaty. However, there are budget options for enjoying your day. Firstly consider how you will get to the fairground, what you will eat while there, and how many rides and amusements you will go on.

For us, with small kids who can’t walk that far, we like to take the gondola. The free ride for children under 6, and the reduced prices for 6-12 year olds make this option fine for us. We also enjoy the views from the terrace at Abay Restaurant, so our meals are often not the cheapest of the dining options! However, we do also sometimes eat at the kiosks. And of course we would not dream of coming to a fairground without going on a couple of rides!

What do I know about Kazakhstan?

I’ve been living here since mid 2021 with my family. Visit my About Me page to understand more about my perspective. And check out my Kazakhstan page to find out more about why I think why you should travel to Kazakhstan! Also, I have the following blog posts on Kazakhstan!