Shymkent is a city for wandering rather than for ticking off monuments. The old centre around Ordabasy Square and the Citadel hill is small enough to cover on foot in an afternoon, and the bazaars at the edges of the centre are where the city's Central Asian character is most visible.
The strongest reasons to come are usually the day trips: the UNESCO mausoleum complex at Turkestan two hours up the road, and the wild mountain landscapes of Aksu-Zhabagly and the Tian Shan foothills to the east.