Aktau

Aktau was founded in the 1960s as Shevchenko, a closed city built to serve uranium mining and a fast-breeder reactor that also desalinated Caspian water for the population, since there is no fresh water in the region; the streets have no names, only numbered microdistricts, which visitors find confusing. Oil and gas replaced uranium as the economy. The city has a long seafront promenade along the Caspian with beaches, a lighthouse mounted on top of an apartment block, and Soviet-era monuments and mosaics. For most travellers it is the arrival point and base for Mangystau: the underground mosques, Bozzhira, Sherkala and the salt flats are all organised from here.

What you actually see

• The seafront - the promenade and beaches along the Caspian.
• The rooftop lighthouse - the navigation light set on an apartment block.
• Numbered microdistricts - the streetless Soviet planning grid.
• Soviet monuments - the mosaics and memorials of the founding period.

When to go

April to June and September to October; summer is hot and dusty and winter windy and cold. The city works as a base rather than a destination, so timing usually follows the desert trips.

Honest expectations

The city itself has few sights and a functional Soviet layout. The address system without street names makes navigation difficult. Caspian water quality varies. Desert tours must be arranged and are expensive.

Nearby

Zhygylgan lies north; Karagiye depression is southeast.