By air. Astana International Airport (NQZ), about 17 kilometres south of the centre, is well connected to Frankfurt, Istanbul, Dubai, Seoul, Beijing, and a wide spread of Russian and Central Asian cities. Air Astana, the national carrier, operates many of the long-haul routes and is rated highly. The airport is modern and recently expanded. Bus 10 runs from the airport to the centre; taxis to most central hotels cost the equivalent of around 5–8 USD if booked through a ride-hailing app.
By train. Astana is on the main north-south Trans-Kazakhstan rail line, with direct sleeper services to Almaty (about 14 hours), Aktobe, Karaganda, Petropavlovsk (the rail gateway to Russia), and onward to Moscow. The train station is on the right bank, with metro-bus connections to the left bank. Train travel is cheap, reliable, and the standard way for Kazakhs to move long distances.
By road. The M36 highway connects Astana to Karaganda and onward south; the M51 runs east to Pavlodar and the Russian border. Driving the steppe is straightforward but long; petrol stations are common along main routes.
There are no useful international land crossings within easy driving distance other than to Russia.