Abai Region · Kazakhstan
Semey travel guide
Semey is a city in Abai Region, Kazakhstan, home to about 350,000 people.
- Best months
- May to September
- Nearest airport
- PLX7 km · Semei International Airport
- Currency
- KZTKazakhstani tenge
- Time zone
- Asia/Almaty
- Language
- Kazakh, Russian
About
About Semey
Semey (; Kazakh: Семей / Semei [sʲɪˈmʲej] (), formerly known as Semipalatinsk until 2007 and as Alash-Qala from 1917 to 1920, is a city in north-eastern Kazakhstan, in the Kazakh part of Siberia. When Abai Region was created in 2022, Semey became its administrative centre.
Semipalatinsk got its start as a fort of the Russian empire in 1718 where a Buddhist monastery had existed along the Irtysh River. But probably what it is most known for is its notoriety for being close to the centre of the Soviet atomic weapons testing program known as the Semipalatinsk Test Site that was active from 1949 to 1989, about 150 miles to the west. This has had long-lasting ill effects on the populace of Semipalatinsk, which was shortened to just Semey to try to disassociate from that disastrous spectacle.
Wikipedia and Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Things to do
What to see and do in Semey
See
- Silnee Smerti
- Semipalatinsk Bridge
- Jamyshevskie Vorota
- Abai Museum
- Dostoyevsky Museum
- East Kazakhstan Regional Museum of Fine Arts
Do
- Enlik-Kebek Cinema
- Victory Park
- Central Park
- Biological Center
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Where to stay
Hotels in Semey
1 hotel within 25 km of the centre, as recorded in Wikidata. Each name links to its encyclopedia article where there is one.
| Hotel | Opened | From centre |
|---|---|---|
| Semey Hotel | 2.3 km |
When to go
The best time to visit Semey
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Semey are May to September. July is the warmest month, with average highs of 28 °C; July is the wettest, with about 43 mm of rain.
Comfortable means average daytime high between 18 °C and 29 °C and under 80 mm of rain in the month. Averages for 1991–2020 over the surrounding area, a grid square about 50 km across, so a coast or a nearby mountain can make the town itself warmer or cooler. Data: CRU TS v4.10, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia (Open Database License).
Getting there
Getting to Semey: airports and arrival
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Semei International Airport (PLX), about 6.7 km from the city centre in a straight line.
PLX · Semei International Airport
Questions
Semey: questions travellers ask
When is the best time to visit Semey?
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Semey are May to September. July is the warmest month, with average highs of 28 °C; July is the wettest, with about 43 mm of rain.
Which airport is closest to Semey?
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Semei International Airport (PLX), about 6.7 km from the city centre in a straight line.
What currency is used in Semey?
Kazakhstani tenge (KZT).
Nearby
Destinations near Semey
Sources: city facts from Wikidata and Wikipedia; airports from OurAirports; climate from CRU TS v4.10 (University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit), 1991–2020 monthly means, 0.5° grid; places to stay, guest scores and amenities from each operator's own public pages. How this guide is made.