Ust-Kamenogorsk

Getting to Ust-Kamenogorsk

Air Astana and also SCAT airways have several flights to Ust from Almaty every week. SCAT also flies to Semipalatinsk and Bayaan Olgi, Mongolia, once a week. There are daily trains from Almaty and Astana to Ust-Kamenogorsk passing Zashita (защита) station without stop. The trips take around 19-24 hr and tickets range from 1,500 tenge for 3rd class (?) to 13,000-20,000 tenge for sleepers.

1. 01
   Oskemen-1

   There are daily buses to Ust from both Astana and Almaty.

Worth seeing

Стрелка (Strelka) Strelka is the arrow of land where the Irtysh and Ulba rivers meet. It is also the site of the Great Patriotic War Memorial. A nice place to stroll and have a "Limonad" on a warm evening, usually plenty of people hanging around.

1. 01
   Vostochno-Kazakhstanskiy "Museum of Art"

   Ulitsa Tokhtarova 56.

2. 02
   Museum of Local Lore

   Lots of natural history and stone sculptures/monuments.

3. 03
   Ethnography Museum

   Kirov St.

Things to do

Naberezhna (Набережна) is the promenade along the Irtysch river leading up to Strelka. Have a beer, find a spot or stroll, and hang out by the water as the sun goes down. Ice hockey: Kazzinc-Torpedo plays in the Russian 2nd league. This is where NHL-players Nik Antropov and Evgeny Nabokov started their careers. Football: FC Altai were promoted in 2025 and now play soccer in Kazakh Premier League, the top tier.

1. 01
   Zhastar

   Prominent park with gardens and walkways among fairy tale sculptures.

2. 02
   Etno Park

   A semi-kitschy place with replicas of traditional homes and an enormous mosque, collections of former Soviet military equipment like tanks and planes, flowers galore and a zoo.

Where to eat

Pizza Blues (Pizza Dostavka) (They have four locations in Ust-Kamenogorsk: Gorkiy Street 56 and 95, Abay Avenue 5 and Kazakhstan Street 64.). A chain of restaurants with good, reasonably priced pizza and beer. Great place to meet young people. Some hotels also have restaurants.