Atmospheric multiroomed Kok-Saray, with carved-wood pillars, murals and an airy front terrace, serves the best Uzbek food in town (and in Kazakhstan, claim aficionados). Don’t miss the perfect plov (tashkentsky with white rice, andizhansky with black) or the superb samsas (samosas), which include a delicious pumpkin (s tykvoe) variety (in autumn only). You can’t miss its bright lights after dark.
Kok-Saray
Top choice in Shymkent
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
Museum of Victims of Political Repression
1.92 MILES
This small museum documents Soviet oppression in Kazakhstan, from the dekulakisation (Soviet campaign of political repression from 1929 to 1932) and…
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Regional Museum of Southern Kazakhstan
4.8 MILES
In its shiny new quarters on the northern outskirts of the city, this regional museum has well-presented, trilingual displays on local geology, Iron Age…
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1.24 MILES
Tauelsizdik sayabagy, accessed by footbridge from the tall, Mother Earth–topped Independence Monument, was inaugurated in 2011 for the 20th anniversary of…
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2.05 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…
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3.71 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…
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6.94 MILES
The occupant of the three-domed Abdul-Aziz Baba Mausoleum is believed to have been a leader of the Arabic forces that brought Islam to the Sayram area in…
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6.89 MILES
The 13th-century Karashash-Ana Mausoleum is where Akhmed Yasaui’s mother lies beneath the central tombstone.
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0.98 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…
Nearby Shymkent attractions
0.98 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…
1.18 MILES
This monument consists of a tall, red granite column topped with the figure of Mother Earth.
1.24 MILES
Tauelsizdik sayabagy, accessed by footbridge from the tall, Mother Earth–topped Independence Monument, was inaugurated in 2011 for the 20th anniversary of…
1.27 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.
6. Museum of Victims of Political Repression
1.92 MILES
This small museum documents Soviet oppression in Kazakhstan, from the dekulakisation (Soviet campaign of political repression from 1929 to 1932) and…
2.05 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…
3.71 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…