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Under Soviet rule from 1926 to 1991, Bishkek today feels quite unlike any other capital I can recall visiting. Nestled in the foothills of the Ala-Too mountain range, it's characterised by countless leafy green streets and Stalinist architecture. In 2025 it still feels like it's gently transitioning to the realities of the modern day, carrying the atmosphere of a provincial town rather than a global city.
Should you fly from the other side of the world to visit Bishkek? No. But if you are already in Central Asia, it's well worth a week of your time and perhaps longer if you're looking for a base to explore the rest of what is a beautiful country.
Bishkek was the next natural step on from Almaty, only a five-hour bus drive through the vast, barren and somewhat underwhelming plains of rural Kazakhstan. Everyone I had spoken to suggested Bishkek resembled it's neighbour ten years ago, and not in a way which particularly romanticised recent history.
With a lack of enticing apartments on Airbnb and rather muted expectations on what to find in the city, 10 nights felt like it would be sufficient to get a gauge of the nation's capital.
I'll make several references and comparisons to Almaty throughout this as it's difficult to benchmark it against any more developed cities.
Perhaps not unsurprisingly, the Airbnb market in Bishkek feels distinctly underdeveloped. The availability of quality, modern one-bed options, at least at the time I was booking, appeared incredibly limited. With pleasant but unremarkable apartments priced above the £50 per night mark, considering prices elsewhere in Kyrgyzstan, this felt significantly overpriced. That said, at around £35 a night there are sufficient options adequate enough for a short stint.
If you're only in town for a week, it would be worth exploring hotels, as they are likely to offer better value for money and probably a better location in the city. This availability felt like something that could change in coming years, however, as more modern condo units appear to be springing up across the city.
I stayed in an apartment block named 'Royal', which felt fairly average by standards in the city and was a fine base for a week. I would have no issues returning to it or recommending it again for a short stay.
There's a decent number of coworking spaces spread throughout Bishkek, but without knowing your way around the city, it can be challenging to ascertain where to place yourself simply by searching on Google Maps.
Technopark and Collab Coworking look like two of the best options, but are both significantly away from the city centre with underwhelming accommodation options nearby.
The Ololo chain emerged as the best bet, with several sites dispersed across the city. I opted for their site at Ololo Haus Erkindik, which was as close to a perfect base for a week as I could imagine. With limited public transport options and significant traffic when getting across the city, I'd prioritise locating something relatively close to your accommodation.
Coffee shops are generally open late into the evening and can make for viable options for a few hours' work, with Flask and White Night being particularly popular places for locals to bring their laptops along for a few hours.
Bishkek is unmistakably great value. You can eat out in good quality restaurants for under £5 a meal, a local beer can cost as little as £1.50 in bars, with coffee and bakery items likely to be half the price of what you might expect in the UK. There isn't quite the same range of quality international options that you might expect in Almaty, but there's still a decent selection of Asian and European restaurants.
Taxis are inexpensive and make journeys to both the mountains and the airport affordable. Most journeys within the city are unlikely to cost more than a couple of pounds.
As with Almaty, however, the dramatic difference in local purchasing power means these prices represent a much greater expense for those earning local wages in som.
If you are craving the excitement and buzz of an urban metropolis, you can confidently give Bishkek a wide berth. Even more so than Almaty, it feels like a city which, due to a lack of geographical space constraints, has continued to expand outwards rather than developing any meaningful population density and typical urban core.
But it's worth emphasising that at no point did it feel boring. Rather, it felt distinctly peaceful, with enough continuous activity on the streets to not feel like a ghost town. I found it a much more engaging place than some of the smaller European capitals like Podgorica or Pristina, perhaps due to some of the novelty in the culture.
The whole city is structured in a way which many modern Western urban planners may idealistically long for. Streets are uniformly lined with tall green canopies. Large parks are naturally woven between districts. Pavements are wide and comfortably accommodate pedestrians, cyclists and scooters simultaneously. In the evenings, families walk until late, making the most of the warm summer weather. Aside from the rush hour traffic, it feels rare to see cars driving with much urgency over 20 mph.
Is this somewhere you would want to settle down permanently? Almost certainly not. But for a few relaxed weeks during the height of summer, there are far worse places you could end up spending your time.
Bishkek operates on Kyrgyzstan Time, which is GMT+6 throughout the year, as the country does not observe daylight saving time. This makes visiting during the summer months more beneficial when attempting to maintain alignment with Europe.
Even though it's only an hour ahead of Almaty, this can increasingly eat into your evenings if you need to maintain strict working hours. Whilst not as dramatic as Thailand or elsewhere in Southeast Asia, you will likely need to make some adjustments.
I would generally start between 10:00 and 11:00 and finish at some point in the early evening, with ample time to enjoy the later sunsets that came around 20:30.
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Similar to Almaty, Bishkek feels incredibly dispersed. Everything is fairly spread out with nowhere particularly acting like a traditional urban hub. I've struggled to actually locate meaningful neighbourhoods to refer to, with the two largest districts, 'Lenin' and 'Oktyabr', covering too much space to give any meaningful reference points.
If I had to give any rough guidance it would be to find somewhere south of Jibek Jolu Ave, north of the train station, and then be within commuting distance of wherever you may plan to work from.
Without a great deal of quality accommodation options on the market, you likely won't be able to be too picky with where you opt for. Thankfully, I don't think that level of precision is too required in the city.
The Ololo chain has 5 different outlets spread across Bishkek, with 'Ololo Haus Erkindik' being the closest to what you'd consider the city centre.
The site primarily houses a range of private offices, but it has around 12 hot-desking spaces spread across two areas on the ground floor of the building. Each desk has comfortable proper office chairs and provides adequate space.
There's complimentary coffee in the kitchen with some decent espresso, the air conditioning is powerful throughout the day, and the atmosphere is calm, professional and welcoming. The space was impeccably clean and well-maintained every day I was there and felt comfortably below capacity whilst maintaining enough day-to-day ambience.
The only drawback is there isn't much in the way of local amenities in the immediate area, with the nearest proper commercial area about a ten-minute walk from the property, which you can zip to on a scooter in 2 minutes.
A week cost £30 and gave you access to the space 24/7, with some people working there at weekends. I'd happily recommend it as a work base, and it's worth choosing accommodation within walking distance.
Kyrgyzstan established permanent Digital Nomad status for foreign citizens in 2025, replacing its previous pilot project that ran from 2022-2024. The programme allows citizens from 61 eligible countries to live and work remotely in Kyrgyzstan, with an initial 60-day assignment followed by extensions of up to one year, renewable annually for up to 10 years.
Currently, there are no minimum income requirements for Digital Nomad status in Kyrgyzstan, though future requirements may include proof of self-employment or income above the country's subsistence level. Citizens from visa-free countries (including Kazakhstan, Russia, and Belarus) can stay up to 60 days, whilst those from visa-required countries (such as the USA, Germany, and Japan) must obtain a "DN" type visa.
Applications are processed within seven working days and can be submitted through Kyrgyzstan's official e-visa portal. The status provides significant benefits including exemption from compulsory residence registration, automatic personal identification number (PIN) issuance, the right to conduct business as an individual entrepreneur, and streamlined bank account opening procedures.
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If you are staying in the centre of Bishkek, this is an easily achievable day trip. Slightly less convenient than the equivalent option in Almaty, you are best off reaching the National Park by taxi or driving yourself, which should take around an hour and cost about £10 via Yandex.
I had rather low expectations in terms of what to expect from the park's infrastructure, but this was one of the most impressive and well-organised sites that I've visited.
Upon reaching the park, there is approximately a £2 entrance fee, payable by card at modern terminals with QR code turnstiles. Once inside, a small coach will take you up to the first set of trails and paths, with a further series of small golf buggy-style carts to ferry you further up to additional walking routes, all included as part of the entrance fee. At each of the small bus stops, there are small markets and coffee shops to pick up any goods you may need.
Once you have returned to the main entrance of the park, there are regular buses taking you back to the city centre, which are likely to be just as quick as waiting to call a taxi and cost only 50 som.
For specific route recommendations, take a look at the exercise section below.
Late June in Bishkek was hot. Daytime temperatures reached 37°C with cooler air and much-welcomed light winds characterising the evenings. While I didn't find the heat debilitating, unless you are really craving such temperatures, the shoulder months of May and September are likely to suit most visitors better.
A couple of evenings brought unpleasant mid-summer dust storms, which aren't uncommon at this time of year, along with unexpected periodic downpours that quickly cleared up. Even without gaining much altitude, mountain temperatures drop significantly, so outdoor exploration remains comfortable even when the city is becoming uncomfortable.
How long do you need in Bishkek? It's hard to say. Compared to neighbouring Almaty, I'd feel less comfortable recommending a full month. In general, there's less ambience around the city and not a great deal to really get particularly excited about. But I would have happily extended my one-week stay with better accommodation.
Most visitors appeared to use Bishkek as a springboard to kick-start a wider journey around the country, so allocating additional time to properly see the more rural parts of the country would have been something I'd have explored if time had permitted.
Within my first 24 hours in the city, I picked up on more international accents than throughout the entire month of my time in Almaty. Perhaps due to the nightlife being concentrated across a smaller number of venues, you are more likely to cross paths with fellow foreigners, but even when hiking in the mountains, I encountered a much wider variety of people than at any point in Kazakhstan.
The city's population features a similar split between native Kyrgyz and ethnic Russians, and in general, even though it is still definitely limited, English felt more widely spoken. Whilst its use is likely to be much more limited amongst older generations, I felt a marked improvement in the ability to communicate in restaurants and cafés and within the coworking space.
Perhaps as a result of this, I felt a much warmer reception from the Kyrgyz people. I had several people ask with warm curiosity about where I was from and how long I was intending to stay in the country, which on reflection didn't happen once throughout the preceding month. There was still a little distance from the men, but perhaps without the same level of hostility as you often felt over the border.
With such a nascent remote work reputation, you're more likely to find Western tourists in Bishkek arriving to explore the rest of Kyrgyzstan than remote workers in the coworking spaces. There's a small expat community in the city, mainly working for NGOs based there.
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