Kok-Tobe Almaty: How to Get Up, Cable Car Hours and Prices

Kok-Tobe is a hill park inside Almaty, Kazakhstan, with viewing platforms over the city and the mountain ridge behind it. The cable car from Dostyk Avenue reaches the top in about six minutes. Below: every way up and down, prices, hours and closures, each with the date we checked it.

Prices and hours come from the park’s official site, koktobe.com. Closures come from the park’s news page and dated press reports. The walking route comes from our owner’s own walk and a route calculation on OpenStreetMap. Where we found nothing, we say so.

Contents

• Quick answers
• What Kok-Tobe is, and what it is not
• Two points: how to get up
• What it costs
• Hours and closures
• What it is like at the top
• Four ways to do it

Quick answers

These are the short answers. Numbers and dates are in the sections below.

What Kok-Tobe is, and what it is not

Kok-Tobe is a park on a hill inside the city. At the top stand the TV tower and viewing platforms over Almaty and the mountain ridge behind it. Around them are restaurants, a Ferris wheel, the Fast Coaster, a rope park and a few other rides, and a monument to The Beatles.

Almaty and the mountain ridge from the Kok-Tobe viewing platforms in the daytime

It is not the mountains and not a hike. The ridge stays in the distance, and the rest of the city is right below the platforms. If you came to Almaty for the mountains, look at Shymbulak ski resort, which we cover in our Shymbulak guide. Some people search for how to get from Shymbulak to Kok-Tobe. They are separate places. Come back down to the city: the lower cable car station is on Dostyk Avenue, and Two points shows every way up from there.

The zoo that older guides mention has closed. For other places in the city, see things to do in Almaty.

Two points: how to get up

Two points on the hill matter. At the foot, on Omarova Street, there are the park barrier, parking and a city bus stop. At the top are the tower, the platforms and the restaurants. Two ways go straight from the city to the top, both from Dostyk Avenue 104B: the cable car and the park’s minibus. The third way takes two steps: first to the barrier at the foot, then up the hill.

Straight to the top

• Cable car. It leaves from Dostyk Avenue 104B, about 700 m from Abai metro station, an 8-minute walk. Its line is 1,620 m long with 17 cabins, and the ride takes about six minutes.
• The park’s minibus. It leaves from the same place, Dostyk Avenue 104B, next to the lower cable car station, and goes to the top. The park’s site gives the route as “from Dostyk 104b to Zh. Omarova 41”, and Omarova Street 41 is the top, where the rides are. It needs no change and runs later than the cable car.

Step one: to the park barrier at the foot

• Public city bus. Routes 95, 99 and 130 go to the Kok-Tobe Upper stop in the Kok-Tobe-2 neighbourhood, about 1.2 km in a straight line from the top; route 130 also stops at Kok-tobe 1. From the stop, walk to the park barrier on Omarova Street, then take the minibus up. The fare is the ordinary city fare, 120 ₸ with an Onay card; cash is not accepted.
• Taxi. According to press reports, taxis drop you at the barrier at the foot on Omarova Street and do not drive up.
• On foot from the city. Start at the lower cable car station on Dostyk Avenue. A walkway goes uphill from behind the station building, along the Malaya Almatinka River. At the Palace of Schoolchildren it becomes a walking trail, and then reaches Omarova Street. From the lower station to the Kok-Tobe Upper stop it is about 3.0 km, or about 40 minutes, by our route calculation and the owner’s walk. Around 10 minutes of it run beside the road, and that stretch is unpleasant.
• Your own car. Park at the foot. Prices are in What it costs.

Step two: from the foot to the top

• Minibus from the barrier to the top. It leaves from the barrier at the foot on Omarova Street and goes up the hill. It is the same park minibus that runs from Dostyk Avenue.
• On foot. Walkers take the health trail, which starts at the Kok-Tobe Upper stop, Omarova Street 76/2. It is free, lit, with benches and cameras, and steep in places. It takes about 20 minutes. Whether it has reopened after repairs: see Hours and closures.
• Your own car. Driving into the park costs extra; see What it costs.

We found no separate entry fee for walkers on the price list, and the press reports that walking in is free. The park’s discounts page, though, lists free walk-in entry for some groups, such as children 5 and under, so a fee for others may exist. Ask at the foot or call the park.

You can also make the walk a loop: up on foot from the lower station, then down by cable car to the same station.

What it costs

From the park’s price list, checked on October 15, 2026; the page itself carries no date. Prices in search results differ a lot, and many are old. We repeat only the park’s own site.

Cable car

The whole-cabin ticket is sold as Fast Track: you skip the queue at the ticket office and for the ride, and travel in your own cabin.

The park’s minibus

The price list, on its “Passenger bus” tab, gives fares by starting point, “from Omarova Street” and “from Dostyk Avenue”. Both rides go up to the top. The page carries no date, so these are the park’s prices as of October 2026.

Driving up and parking

Checked on September 25, 2026. These prices have applied since February 1, 2026, and the park raises them every year.

Rides at the top

How to pay

The park’s site does not say how to buy a ticket or how to pay. Ask at the ticket office or call +7 727 272 77 77.

Hours and closures

Checked on October 15, 2026, on koktobe.com.

The cable car does not go up before 10:00. On Tuesdays it starts at 13:00, so on a Tuesday morning you can take the park’s minibus from Dostyk Avenue up. The park’s site gives the minibus hours under the route “from Dostyk 104b to Zh. Omarova 41”, and it runs later than the cable car: until midnight, until 00:45 on Tuesdays and until 01:00 on Fridays, Saturdays and holidays. The site gives no separate hours for boarding at the barrier on Omarova Street: if you plan to ride late, ask the driver or call the park at +7 727 272 77 77. Rides at the top work 10:00–22:00, until 23:00 on Fridays, Saturdays and public holidays. Restaurants are open daily 11:00–00:00.

Closures by date

On these dates the park closed the cable car for maintenance:

• September 29 – November 1, 2025
• November 11–20, 2025; the start date is from the park’s announcement
• April 5–12, 2026

On September 25, 2026 the park was closed from 00:00 to 17:00 and the cable car did not run (reported by the Almaty akimat); no reason was given.

In 2025–26 the park closed the cable car for maintenance in autumn and in spring; we found no dates for earlier years, so this is not a schedule. Our autumn guide to Almaty lists what else closes around Almaty in autumn.

As of October 15, 2026, the park had not announced autumn maintenance. Check the news page before you go.

Closures are announced anywhere from the same day to about two weeks ahead. A check a week before your trip is not enough. Look again on the morning you go.

Where to check: the park’s news page, koktobe.com/novosti, or the park’s phone, +7 727 272 77 77.

Health trail

We could not confirm that the trail is open. It was closed for repairs from May 25, 2026, and as of October 15, 2026 the park had not announced a reopening. Call the park before you walk.

Fast Coaster

It was closed on one day in January 2026; the park does not say whether it runs every day.

What it is like at the top

The platforms look over the whole city, with the mountain ridge behind it. Closer to sunset the city lights come on; our things-to-do guide calls the view especially nice at that hour. It is not guaranteed: in haze the mountains can be hidden.

City lights of Almaty from Kok-Tobe after sunset

Restaurants stay open later than the cable car runs; hours are in Hours and closures. The park does not publish queue times. A Fast Track ticket skips the cable car queue; its price and ride prices are in What it costs.

We have no weather data for the hill itself. For the city by season, see our guides to Almaty in autumn and Almaty in winter. For spring, see our spring guide; spring closures: see Hours and closures.

Four ways to do it

Cable car up and down

This is the simplest option: one station near the metro, a short ride each way, and no change at the foot. It does not run on Tuesday mornings. If you want to stay up after the cable car stops, ride down by the park’s minibus to Dostyk Avenue, 3,000 ₸ one way. Up by cable car and down by minibus costs 9,000 ₸ in all.

Park minibus from Dostyk Avenue

Cheaper than the cable car and with no change: 4,000 ₸ round trip, against 10,000 ₸ for the cable car. It runs until midnight, or until 01:00 on Fridays, Saturdays and holidays.

Public bus, then minibus from the barrier

The cheapest way, in two steps each way: public bus 95, 99 or 130 to the Kok-Tobe Upper stop (120 ₸ with an Onay card), a walk to the park barrier on Omarova Street, then the minibus up for 3,000 ₸ round trip.

Up on foot, down by cable car

Start at the lower cable car station, walk up through the city and the health trail, and ride back down to the same station. Do it only if the trail is open, so check before you set off. Get to the top early enough to catch the cable car down before it closes. If you miss it, the park’s minibus takes you down to Dostyk Avenue until midnight.

Kok-Tobe is not part of our city tour; it is easy to add on your own in the evening, by the cable car.