Burabay (Borovoe): Kazakhstan’s Lake Resort – Complete Guide

Burabay – still widely known by its Russian name, Borovoe – is Kazakhstan’s classic lake resort: granite rocks rising out of clear water, pine forest, and a compact resort village, all inside a 129,000-hectare national park in the north of the country. It is the one destination Kazakhstanis from every city agree on, and it is nothing like the Tien Shan – no glaciers, no altitude, just rock, water and pines. If your trip covers both capitals, Burabay is the natural nature-break from Astana.

📹 Video from Burabay

Getting there

From Astana – the sensible way in. It is about 250 km north:

• Burabay Express train (Astana – Kurort-Borovoe): 2.5-2.75 hours, five days a week, from ~3,000 ₸ in third class to ~5,800 ₸ in first. The station is 20-22 km from the village; a taxi or minibus covers it for 1,500-2,000 ₸.
• Car or taxi on the A1: 2.5-3 hours; the road is tolled (a few hundred tenge per section).
• Bus or shared minibus from Astana’s bus stations – the cheapest option, 4-5 hours.

In winter the train wins: blizzards occasionally close the highway, and the train just runs.

From Almaty: almost nobody goes overland – the train takes 18-20 hours and driving means 13-15 hours over ~1,450 km. Fly to Astana instead (1.5-2 hours, typically 15,000-40,000+ ₸ one way) and continue from there. All in, Almaty to Burabay runs roughly 25,000-60,000 ₸ per person each way depending on how early you book.

The big three – all within walking distance

Burabay’s headline sights stand close together near the village, which is why the park feels compact despite its size. Nowhere else in Kazakhstan packs this many named, legend-bearing rocks into one small area.

Zhumbaktas – the sphinx rock

The reason people come. A rock rising straight out of the water in the Blue Bay of Lake Borovoe, and it looks different from every angle – a sphinx, a woman’s profile, an old crone – hence the name, “riddle stone”. See it from the shore or, better, from a pedal boat. In July-August the shoreline around it is crowded and commercial; the rock is worth it in any season.

Okzhetpes

The park’s second symbol: a granite massif with trails and viewpoints over the lakes and pine forest. The climb is easy, the views are genuinely strong, and a whole cycle of legends hangs on it – the name means “the arrow won’t reach”. Not a tourist trap; actually worth the walk.

Blue Bay

The bay around Zhumbaktas: beaches, swimming, boat and pedal-boat hire, and a view of both rocks at once. In high season it is a full resort beach – loungers, food, music. Come early in the morning or out of season and you get the same place in silence.

Park entry fees (2026)

The fee is charged per vehicle per day, not per person, and is pegged to the MRP index (4,325 ₸ in 2026 – fees reset every January):

• Weekdays, 1 May – 30 September: passenger car 1,298 ₸/day.
• Weekends and holidays, same period: 1,730 ₸/day.
• October-April: lower tariff. Minibuses and buses pay more.

Arrive by train and move on foot or by taxi, and there is no separate per-person charge under the current system. Payment at the checkpoint is cashless – Kaspi or Halyk QR – so have a card or a local app ready.

Where to stay and what it costs

Accommodation clusters in Burabay village itself – closest to the rocks and Blue Bay – and around Lake Shchuchye near Shchuchinsk, which is quieter and heavier on sanatoriums.

• Guesthouses, rooms, simple cabins: 20,000-50,000 ₸/night.
• Mid-range hotels and small resorts: 50,000-100,000 ₸.
• Top end – Rixos on Shchuchye, the Okzhetpes complex, glamping: 100,000-200,000+ ₸.

Sanatoriums – with treatments and full board – are a local tradition of their own and often the best value for what you get. Book ahead for summer; off-season there is plenty of space and prices drop noticeably.

How many days?

• 2 full days cover the essentials: Okzhetpes, Zhumbaktas and Blue Bay, a swim or short walk, and the village.
• 3 days is the sweet spot – add a second lake (Big or Small Chebachye, or Shchuchye), a longer trail, and time to do nothing.
• More if you are here for fishing, serious hiking or a sanatorium stay.

A same-day round trip from Astana is possible but it is a race – you get a couple of hours at the rocks.

When to go

• Late May – June and September – early October: the best windows. Mild weather, few people, lower prices, and swimming and walking still work.
• July – August: warmest water, fullest beaches, highest prices.
• November – March: a different place entirely – frozen lakes, snow-laden pines, silence. Local ski slopes, snowmobiles, skating, tubing, banyas and spas. Expect -10 to -18 °C, sometimes colder – pack properly and keep outdoor stints short. Crowds thin to almost nothing.

Worth knowing before you go

Burabay is smaller than the numbers suggest: the headline sights sit in one tight, walkable cluster, and most day visitors never leave the postcard zone – the park’s remoter corners are far less trodden if you want them. Off-season it is quiet and smells of pine; in July the same spots run to beach corn and karaoke. And the squirrels are everywhere, entirely unafraid of people.

Doing both ends of Kazakhstan? Burabay is the north’s answer to a mountain day – for the south’s, start with our guide to things to do in Almaty and the day hikes we run in the Tien Shan.