What‘s Included

Meeting and Pickup

What To Expect

Reviews

• Best Four Day Private Tour in Almaty!

  BackPacker561403,

  Nov 11, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  My husband and I visited Kazakhstan in early October, 2025. I fly for the airlines so everything we do is usually booked last minute since we fly standby. We wanted to visit Kazakhstan for our 10 year anniversary trip and ended up flying into Almaty early in the morning on a Wednesday. Once we got settled in our hotel we looked up tour companies online and reached out to a few, including Kolsai Tour. Their tour encompassed many of the things we wanted to see so I reached out on WhatsApp to see if they had availability for their four day tour that same Friday ( in two days). Andrey responded very quickly that he did have availability, sent a link to his company website. After some inquiries about pricing we ended up booking the four day tour. Two of the main deciding factors were how friendly and communicative Andrey was (He answered my extensive questions and was extremely knowledgeable and kind) and that he allowed us to use PayPal to book the tour vs the other companies that required cash payment. We didn’t come with that much cash in hand and would not have been able to withdraw the required amount through atm in two days and none of the other companies accepted credit cards. He sent us the name of our driver who also communicated through WhatsApp. I reached out to the driver, who introduced himself as Baha and reached an agreed upon time for that Friday morning. Baha picked us up at the confirmed time in his SUV and we started our adventure! During the four days we visited: Day 1: Altyn Emel National park and hiked the mountains and stayed in a quaint guest house. Dinner and breakfast were hearty and filling. Day2: Hiked up the singing sand dunes, hiked tiger mountain, and visited a gorgeous Chinese mosque. We had lunch at a cute restaurant and Baha did a great job ordering for the table! We very much enjoyed getting a taste of Kazakhstan here. We stayed at a hot springs hotel which was much needed after two big days of hiking. Dinner and breakfast here were also very good! Day 3: Visited and hiked the backside of Charyn Canyon, and hiked along the moon canyon. Baha prepared a delicious picnic for us alongside a river which was very peaceful and we had dinner at the A-frame cabin we stayed at that evening. The family that owns them prepared it and again, everything was home cooked and so good! Day 4: We started our day with a horseback ride to Lake Kaindy, then headed to Kolsai Lake, the black canyon, and finally the front side of Charyn Canyon before being driven back to Almaty to our hotel. We had breakfast and lunch at the A-frame cabin guest house. I cannot say enough good things about our guide Baha. He was extremely knowledgeable about every site we visited and was very easy to communicate with. It was so fun getting to know about him and the culture of Kazakhstan. He was a phenomenal driver and even offered to use his personal drone for pictures and video for a small extra fee. We agreed and the pictures and videos were well worth the money. He even put together and edited a compilation of our time together a few days after our tour ended which was beautiful. All in all we loved our time on the tour and would highly recommend it to all my friends and family. It was money well spent and I feel like we got to see everything the area had to offer in a private setting. We walked a ton so we would definitely recommend some good hiking shoes vs regular tennis shoes. It was nice to be able to spend as little or as much time at each site as we wanted and despite hiking miles every day we were never hungry. We were so well fed during the trip and felt so welcomed by everyone we encountered. If you’re thinking about booking a tour in Almaty definitely choose Kolsai Tour with Andrey and ask for Baha as your tour guide and driver!

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• Excellent trip through Almaty region

  Netochka,

  Dec 24, 2024

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  At the end of October 2024 we decided to go on a little vacation with our husband! Chose Almaty as a destination, and since it was a whole week, we decided to look for a multi-day individual tour and found on the reviews of Kolsai Tour! At first I read with suspicion many praises, but now I will say firsthand: it is true! 🥳 we chose a five-day journey in an individual format! Our guide was Andrew. Thank you very much to Andrew for the incredible route, everything was safe, competently prepared taking into account the weather and short daylight in late October! We had time to see everything, while we took our time and enjoyed the incredible nature of Kazakhstan! All overnight stays have been thought out and all places selected with the highest possible level of comfort! The food was delicious everywhere, separate love - picnics, which Andrew carefully organized for us in top locations! And barbecue in the Uighur village we will never forget 🥰 We have been greatly impressed by both the places of alien natural beauty and the level of travel organization! Andrei and his team are huge professionals who have already thought things out for you and your job is to enjoy and relax ♥️ thank you very much and hope that it will be possible to come back for another season 🎉

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• Life changing experience

  connormL9129CV,

  Oct 14, 2024

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  Phenomenal trip from start to finish. Everything taken care of thanks to our amazing guide Hakim. Can't recommend this tour enough! Great attention to detail and value for money.

  

  

  

  

• Unforgettable experience ! GOLDEN RING OF ZHETSU - 5 days tour

  Petr146,

  Oct 1, 2024

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  Originally, the idea was to rent a car and drive around Almaty for a few days – but that would be a mistake ! Bad roads – many are gravel, difficult to communicate outside Almaty, no trail markings in national parks, no internet in many places! We would be lost! Luckily, we finally chose the company Kolsai Tour Almaty - and their offer on the website - GOLDEN RING OF ZHETSU with all-inclusive services (driver, accommodation, with all entrances, meal, etc.). It´s a 5 days tour, but it can show you all (different) beauties between Almaty and the Chinese border. The tour was quite expensive, but it definitely was worth such price! We have seen so many nice places! Our guide Natalia was very experienced, easy to communicate in English, keen to show us as much as possible! Professional attitude, active, really excellent driver on bad roads and even in narrow canyon (I have more than 50 years driving licence and have driven in many continents). We tried different types of accommodation – from local guesthouses with friendly owners (with local home-made cooking) to Hot Spring Resort (near Chinees border). Don´t expect 3* or 4* hotel with all the services, but on the contrary, this trip was something special, giving us the possibility to see inside the local life. Incredible trip - several nice lakes (Kindly, Kolsay), beautiful mountains, several canyons (Charyn, Moon, Bestmak), Sand Dunes, Mineral Hot Spring Resort with relaxing pools, different churches, various local meals, from small villages to bigger city of Zharkent (Jarkent) – this all compressed to 5 days! Thank you Natalia for all your hospitality, professionality and efforts – it was an fantastic and unforgettable experience, how beautiful the eastern part of Kazachstan is!

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• A perfect tour - with a perfect guide!

  michaelhN5770AA,

  Jul 18, 2024

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  Simply incredible! Andrey provides a first class service from start to end. His knowledge of the area, driving skills, as well as just being an all-round great person - you won't have a dull moment throughout your trip. From hiking down canyons, climbing sand dunes, to having a picnic in the Kazazh alps - you'll spend most of your trip with your jaw open wondering how this can all be in the one place. Pro's - Well organised, excellent driver + large 4wd car, takes care of the little things so you don't have to worry. A fantasic itinerary seeing the major + lesser know areas. Neg's - I regret not booking & seeing this area sooner. 10/10 - perfect for solo's (me), iternational visitors, or bigger groups (Andrey will sort it out!). Will be back.

• Top Guide

  CaetanoN1,

  Jan 2, 2024

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  We had a great experience in Almaty (December 2023) with the support of guide Andrey. Myself and my family (with 3 kids) were well received by Andrey. He has a great knowledge of Almaty and has helped us in all possible ways to have a great experience. From the montains and snow/winter activities and the wonderful local food/restaurants indication, plus his support with translation and transport. Andrey is a very nice person and I definitely recommend his work for everyone that wants to enjoy Almaty and Kazakhstan.

• Amazing experience with Hakim of Kolsai Tours

  amandafH3955VJ,

  Nov 21, 2023

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  In 4 days and 3 nights our family of 5 (2 adults, 3 kids from 5yr old - 9yr old) saw Singing Dunes, Aktai Mountains, multiple beautiful view points of Cheryn canyons, Kolsai lake, and Kaindy lake (apologies for any spelling errors). A lot of spots to hit, but it was perfect. Our guide, Hakim, never rushed us and was extremely knowledgeable about the history of each site. He was also very patient with the kids which made me feel more at ease and allowed me to enjoy the trip as well. Sure we could have seen some of these places without hiring Kolsai but it would have been much more stressful and I am sure we would have missed out because Hakim took us to beautiful spots off the beaten path where there was no one else around. He also brought all the gear and food. All we had to do was show up with clothes and enjoy!

  

  

  

  

  

  

• Unforgettable experience 👍👍👍

  O9660DS ,

  Oct 26, 2023

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  We thank Andrey for our wonderful trip 🙏 5 days flew by in one breath. It’s great that your head is free from all worries about organizing meals, lodging and travel plans - all this is thought out to the smallest detail for you, all that remains is to enjoy your vacation and absorb the impressions, noticing pictures as a souvenir. P.S.: special respect for the coffee breaks and meat delicacy according to the chef’s recipe 😉 best regards, Nastya and Andrey

  

• 5 unforgettable days

  vsantu2002,

  Sep 16, 2023

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  We had five amazing days tour with Kolsai tours. This is the best ever tour we had and our host and guide Andrey was amazing. I would give 10 out of 5 if it was possible. Few highlights as below. a) Andrey’s only goal throughout the tour was to serve an excellent tour to us and his hospitality was amazing b) His details to attention was meticulous - he had packed raincoats for us and gave us when it started raining in the middle of a tour. There was nuts n snacks when we were hungry c) he made sure that we were fed sumptuously three times a day strictly based on our difficult diet preferences d) the overnight stays were of good quality in remote places e) he himself cooked delicious food for us couple of times in picturesque environments f) we got a driver + tour guide + chef + accommodation host + excellent photographer and most of all a great friend in Andrey g) he was very sensitive, flexible and attentive all the time. When he sensed that we liked another place better , he immediately changed plans for the day and took us to places we liked h) there were lot of secret superb view points that only Andrey knew which was far away from regular tourist spots I) he knew our limits and kept us pushing to create amazing memories in the places where we were initially bit hesitant This was an unforgettable life time experience for us. I am writing this after visiting 35+ countries including most of Europe , North America and Asia Pacific. These were unforgettable five days for us which we won’t forget.

• An amazing off-road trip in the Kazak outback

  barbarahS1885BA,

  Jul 7, 2023

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  Our family truly enjoyed the 4days SUV trip from Almaty. Our guide, Dimitrij has shared so much information during the entire trip about culture, food, topography that we were eager to soak in! We visited Assy Plateau, the Observatory, Charyn Canyon, Kaindy Lake, and Kolsai Lake. Our favorite place was Assy Plateau as we rode through heard of sheep, wild roaming horses and cows, having picnic lunch on the riverbed and hitting up our tents for the night in the outback! Truly an experience that we will cherish! Thank you!

  

  

  

  

  

  
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