central state museum of kazakhstan

Is this the Louvre? No. The Hermitage? Not quite. Yet in those illustrious museums you won't find an utterly terrified stuffed leopard, an impressive yet unnecessary miniature of a mosque, nor a woven carpet featuring all the Presidents/strongmen of the Stans. Face it: you didn't come to Almaty to find a rare Titian. This museum features plenty of fun exhibits that you can peruse in a couple of hours, and sometimes there lies a gem among the knick-knacks. Some of exhibits are quite absorbing even. I happened to visit when the top floor of the museum featured a temporary(?) and improbable exhibit on the annihilation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that was as devastating as it was unexpected.The only complaint I have is that almost all of the information was in Russian only, with the rare and arbitrary translation into English that only that makes one dumbfounded about the methodology. But on some level this randomness only added to the experience.Go with the same attitude you might use in a curio shop and you'll enjoy yourself.

There's a couple exhibitions that are definately worth seeing (the golden king's armor), but outside of that, there's nothing especially fascinating except maybe the natural history section.

Wonderful exhibit of the Scythian gold. There is a large amount of the find. Think some of it, though, is in the museum in Astana.Worth a visit.

I went to this museum with the promise that it was somewhere I could spend two whole days in. It has, in fact, only two permanent exhibits, one on the history of Kazakstan, and one on the life of the president. The cost seemed very inviting, but you ended up having to pay 5 times as much as the entry fee to get into the temporary exhibits too. I saw the whole place in 2 hours, and that included 1/2 hour wandering around the craft fair in the atrium.

This was my first stop after arriving in Almaty. With almost no knowledge of Kazakh history or culture, this was a great intro to both. Well curated exhibits, particularly enjoyed the post-independence section for a bit of modern context. Food in the cafe downstairs wasn't bad either.

Great display of Kazahk culture and life, with a replica of the Golden Man/Woman? and a great, if restricted, access to the golden treasures in the basement of the museum

It is nice to see the Kazakhstan history there. The museum is not very big, so we did not get tired of watching it :)

This museum is definitely worth a see as long as you get an English speaking guide, since all the signs are in Kazakh and Russian. It does a good job of tracing the history of Kazakhstan from the cavemen up through the modern era, with a special focus on the fascinating clothes and lifestyle of the yurt-dwelling nomads. Sadly and frustratingly, photos are not allowed inside the museum.

A museum well worth visiting although in need of some new investment, as some exhibits are looking a bit tatty. Also, a lot of exhibits are not described in English. Admission costs only 30p or 100tenge.

While there are many exhibits at this museum that detail the culture of Kazakhstan you will need to understand Russian if you hope to get any significant amount of information from the experience.The museum is divided into different parts and not all are on the combo ticket. Museums in the FSU are usually divided into sections with each section having their own entrance fee. There is an art gallery, a main exhibition, a historical, and archeological exhibition. There may be one or two more but I forgot as it was a blur due to my inability to speak or read Russian. I advise you hire an English speaking tour guide if you can find one to really understand the museum. The displays will show everything from Mongol like tribes who were in part Kazakhs and Russian explorers and tradesmen. As Kazakhstan is opening up to the West I am sure the influx of English speaking tourists will no doubt frustrate the museums curators and they will finally succumb to putting up English sign but for now the most prominent sign is "Do Not Touch". There is a small cafe in the bottom but it didn't look so hospitable.This museum would have gotten an above average but for English speakers it is only average at best.

We had a great time visiting this museum. The big plus was that we were followed around by two local teenage girls who were thrilled that we took an interest in their country and its history. There's a lot to look at, but very little written in English. If you are a museum-goer, you'll figure out many of the exhibits. No photos allowed, which is a pity. Although I managed to get a guard to let me take a pic of a tractor—long story as to why I was interested.

There are many things to see but we can't understand since we don't read Russian and Kazakh. There are 2 exhibition halls where additional tickets required on top of the main entrance ticket which sound expensive. Like the food at the restaurant inside.

Outside grounds are a great place for photographs. While we did enjoy the museum portion, our kids had to do the translating for us. Sadly our Russian is really bad! But the kids really enjoyed visiting.

Awkward, Soviet and dark, but worth a visit if not only for the contemporary Kazakhstan exhibition that can tell you a lot about the country's politics and nationa-building

The museum is not that interesting and not much english labelling. The open collection of gold is spectacular however you might not get the english guide (the day we visited the guides were engaged with school groups) so in that case is a bit too much money.