Orbita Boutique Hotel

Top choice in Shymkent


This little gem 2km west of the centre has just a handful of rooms, all individually and pleasingly designed with features like half-timbering and exposed brick – one even has an African theme – and equipped with tea/coffee makers and well-stocked minibars. Young, attentive receptionists, fluent in English, inhabit the conservatory-like upstairs lobby. Price includes one of the best breakfasts in Kazakhstan.

There's a restaurant downstairs and several others along the leafy street. It offers free airport pickups too.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Shymkent attractions

1. Alleya Slavy

1.57 MILES

In Abay Park, two tall concrete pillars lean on each other above an eternal flame, and the alley is lined with plaques bearing the names of the more than…

3. Independence Monument

2.01 MILES

This monument consists of a tall, red granite column topped with the figure of Mother Earth.

4. Altyn Shanyrak

2.03 MILES

The tall Altyn Shanyrak monument in the middle of Independence Park – a sort of tall, metallic funnel – represents the central roof opening of a yurt.

5. Tauelsizdik sayabagy

2.1 MILES

Tauelsizdik sayabagy, accessed by footbridge from the tall, Mother Earth–topped Independence Monument, was inaugurated in 2011 for the 20th anniversary of…

6. Wedding Palace

2.16 MILES

The squat, blue-domed Wedding Palace is a useful landmark.

7. Central or Upper Bazaar

2.2 MILES

The central bazaar is now somewhat diminished after the conversion of its outlying sprawl into parks and the removal of many traders to markets on the…

8. Bazar Samal

2.22 MILES

Of several new markets around the city fringes, Bazar Samal, next to Samal bus station, is the biggest and most interesting, with a particularly colourful…