About Bishkek

Bishkek (Бишкек), the capital and largest city in Kyrgyzstan, sits at the foothills of the Tien Shan mountain range in the Chui Valley. It is a relatively new city and has few historical sites, but it makes a great place to start your trips to the mountains and alpine lakes of the Tien Shan mountains. Bishkek is an interesting example of a Soviet planned city; laid on a grid with wide boulevards flanked by irrigation canals and large trees, buildings with marble façades, and Soviet apartment complexes. Bishkek has a delightful nightlife, and the people are friendly and very hospitable. Bishkek is a city of many young people that hang out in clubs and small cafes. Kyrgyzstan has the most liberal tourist visa regime in Central Asia, so Bishkek can be a great place to start a tour of the Silk Road and collect your visas to neighbouring countries. Its population was approximately 1,075,000 in 2021.

Source: Wikipedia

Essential Information

Currency

Kyrgyzstani som (KGS)

Symbol: с

Language

Kyrgyz

Also: Russian

Phone Code

+996

International dialing code for Kyrgyzstan

Driving

Drive on the right

Standard for Kyrgyzstan

Region

Asia

Central Asia

Connectivity

Free Wi-Fi is widespread. Most "foreinercafes" have free Wi-Fi (Coffee, Foyer, Obama, Cyclone, Pirogoff-Vodkin, Vostok Zapad, Tubeteika, Movie City Bar, Buddha Bar, etc.) There is also free Wi-Fi at the Vefa shopping centre on the corner of Gorkiy and Soviet.

How to Get to Bishkek

Transportation options and arrival information

Getting there & away:

Getting Around Bishkek

Local transportation and navigation tips

Checkout the2GISappandwebsite, which is great for finding the right marshrutka or bus number in Bishkek and all over Kyrgyzstan. The service is used extensively by the locals.