11 Reasons Astana Is the Weirdest Capital City You'll Actually Love
Astana didn't exist as a capital until 1997. Before that, it was Akmola — a small, freezing Soviet railway town on the Kazakh steppe. Then President Nazarbayev decided to move the capital from Almaty, hired some of the world's most ambitious architects, and built a futuristic city from scratch in a place where winter temperatures hit -30°C.
The result is one of the strangest and most photogenic capital cities on earth. Here's why it deserves a spot on your itinerary.
1. Bayterek Tower — The Golden Egg on a Tree
A 97m tower holding a golden orb that represents a mythical bird's egg in a poplar tree. The observation deck (1,500 KZT / ~$3) offers 360-degree steppe views. At the top, you're supposed to place your hand in the gold handprint of President Nazarbayev and make a wish. Yes, this is a real thing that millions of people do. I did it. I wished for warmer weather. It was -15°C.
2. Khan Shatyr — The World's Biggest Tent
A 150m transparent tent designed by Norman Foster. Inside: a shopping mall, food courts, a monorail, and — I'm not making this up — an indoor tropical beach with sand imported from the Maldives. The Skybeach waterpark (5,000 KZT / ~$10) has palm trees and warm sand while it's -30°C outside. Astana refuses to let physics dictate its recreation options.
3. Palace of Peace and Reconciliation — The Glass Pyramid
A 77m glass pyramid, also by Norman Foster, housing an opera hall, a multi-faith center, and a stained-glass apex by Brian Clarke that fills the interior with colored light. Entry: 2,000 KZT (~$4) for a guided tour. The building hosts the triennial Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. A pyramid. On the steppe. Hosting world religious leaders.
4. Hazrat Sultan Mosque — Central Asia's Largest
Capacity: 10,000. Free entry. The white and gold interior is breathtaking — Islamic geometric patterns, a 51m dome, and a sense of space that makes you whisper involuntarily. Particularly beautiful at dusk when illuminated. Women must cover head and arms (scarves provided at entrance).
5. The Nurzhol Boulevard Walk
Astana's central promenade connects Bayterek Tower to the Khan Shatyr. The 2km walk passes government buildings with swooping, curving, leaning facades that look like they're rendered in a video game. Each building seems to be competing for "most structurally impossible." Free to walk. Surreal to experience.
6. The EXPO Sphere — World's Largest Spherical Building
The Nur Alem sphere (80m diameter) from EXPO 2017 houses a science and energy museum. 3,000 KZT (~$6). The architecture is aggressively futuristic even by Astana standards. Inside, floors of interactive exhibits on renewable energy, space, and Kazakh innovation. 15 minutes by taxi from center.
7. National Museum of Kazakhstan — The Golden Man
Four floors covering Kazakh history from paleolithic to space exploration. The centerpiece: the Golden Man (Altyn Adam) — a full suit of golden armor from a Saka warrior's tomb, 4th century BC. Entry: 1,500 KZT (~$3). English audio guide: 500 KZT. The yurt reconstructions and Soviet-era art sections are surprisingly excellent.
8. The Food — Beshbarmak and Horse Meat
Beshbarmak is Kazakhstan's national dish: boiled meat (usually horse or lamb) served on flat noodles. It translates to "five fingers" because you eat it with your hands. A full portion at a local restaurant: 3,000-5,000 KZT (~$6-10). Horse meat sausage (kazy) is a delicacy — rich, slightly gamey, and surprisingly delicious when sliced thin.
For the guest of honor at a traditional meal: the sheep's head. You're expected to distribute parts of it to other guests. The cheek meat is the prized portion.
9. The Cold — It's Real
Astana is the world's second-coldest capital (after Ulaanbaatar). Winter temperatures regularly hit -30°C with wind chill pushing -40°C. The cold is a legitimate experience in itself — stepping outside in January feels like walking into a wall. Your eyelashes freeze. Your phone dies in 3 minutes.
But the city is built for it: underground passages connect buildings, shopping malls are heated to tropical levels, and the indoor beach exists specifically because outside is uninhabitable for 5 months of the year.
10. Visa-Free Entry
Citizens of 76 countries can enter visa-free for 30 days. No e-visa, no registration. Just arrive. Kazakhstan has the most liberal visa regime in Central Asia.
11. The Steppe Itself
Astana sits on the edge of the Kazakh steppe — flat grassland extending to the horizon in every direction. The city's futuristic skyline rising from this emptiness is one of the most dramatic city-to-landscape contrasts in the world. Drive 20 minutes in any direction and you're in a treeless expanse that hasn't changed in millennia.
Astana is what happens when a country with unlimited gas money and unlimited ambition decides to build a capital from scratch on the steppe. It's weird, it's wonderful, and it's completely unlike any other city. The $3 observation deck, the $10 indoor beach, the free-entry mosque — it's all ridiculously affordable. And the golden handprint at the top of Bayterek Tower? Make a wish. In a city this improbable, wishes feel appropriate.
Practical Details
Astana is visa-free for 76 countries (30 days). Fly to Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport (NQZ), 17km south. Cards are widely accepted. Yandex Go for taxis. Best visited June-September (20-30°C). Winter visits (-30°C) are for the adventurous but provide the surreal experience of indoor beaches while blizzards rage outside.
Allow 2-3 days for the city. Combine with Almaty (1.5-hour flight or overnight train) for the full Kazakhstan experience — Almaty has mountains, bazaars, and a vibe that Astana's planned perfection deliberately lacks.
Astana is a city that shouldn't exist — a futuristic capital built in one of the most inhospitable climates on earth, by a country most people couldn't find on a map. But it does exist, and walking through it feels like visiting a vision of the future that someone went ahead and actually built. The golden egg sits atop its tree. The glass pyramid catches the steppe light. And the indoor beach with Maldivian sand reminds you that with enough natural gas money, physics is just a suggestion.
