Search hotels in Karakol

Karakol is a small, charming, village-like town located at the foot of the mountains. The views are spectacular, the air is tasty-fresh, the food is diverse and as organic as it gets; most importantly, people are open, welcoming, a little reserved at first, but ready to help once you approach them. Infrastructure and buildings are decayed, but it only adds to the charm of the town if you are open to go through a little hardship here and there, especially if you are arriving from a megapolis. Karakol offers a few interesting museums and galleries, but the main attraction is that it is an intermediary place to starting your journey exploring peaks, gorges, vallies, hot springs and all the other natural gems that Kyrgyzstan offers its guests. The town itself has very interesting history and a crazy mix of many ethnic groups (Kyrgyz, Ukrainian, Dungan, Russian, Korean, German, Uzbek, Uyghur, Tatar, etc). Find yourself a local friend (easier to do in Kyrgyzstan) and he/she will open up doors to many other amazing sides of Karakol.

You can easily stay one week or longer in this destination. There is everything you may expect from Kyrgyzstan: lake Issyk Kul just a few Km from Karakol, amazing mountains with lost od different treks: one-day or multiple-day. I suggest to definitely climb to Ala Kol lake, visit Teleti valley or go up to the pass, immerse in hot springs in Altyn Arashan, or if you need a modern structure go to Ak-Suu thermal pools. Jeti-Ögüz is a 100% must see, or go to Jargalan valley and admire dozens of semi-wild horses, rent one of them and enjoy the view to the world from horseback. Buy some local hand-made products e.g. shirdak carpets, taste awesome local cuisine (esp. lamb, plov or manty) and don't miss local market in Karakol, wooden Holy Trinity Cathedral, unusual architecture of Dungan mosque or Sunday animal market in the town suburbs.

Karakol has a lot to offer about the beautiful nature,but government should start to develop the infrastructure for this city more.,should install street light in all street,cuz traveler are coming more and more to Kyrgistan.If tourist feel safe enough even during the night the business in town will get more income from tourist .And the street should be upgraded .

We stayed in Karakol for 2 nights - before and after our hike to Ala Kol lake. I would recommend bringing camping gear from your home country as the shops in Karakol aren't great. There are companies though that you can rent tents, cooking gear etc. if you prefer. Karakol has few cafes and restaurants (we tried Cat Cafe and Meeting Point) aimed for overseas travelers but also places to try local culinary (unfortunately the highly recommended place was closed for Eid).

The lovely reception and treatment by the hostess exceeded our expectations. Her hospitality and ever-ready willingness to help us out with any query or arrangement made our stay here the best stay that we had in Kyrgyzstan. Thank you for having us!

The town is very flat and was not what we expected. It had all the things we needed (restaurants, convenience stores, petrol stations) and was easy to get around. The museum was well worth the visit. The cathedral we only saw the garden and outside. It was a lovely unique piece of architecture. The real attractions are the mountain passes and valleys.