The few square kilometres around Ala-Too Square and the Old Square form the natural centre of Bishkek: government buildings, museums, the main restaurants and hotels, the opera and philharmonic, the central post office, and the principal shopping streets along Chuy Avenue and Sovetskaya. Most of what a short-term visitor needs sits within a 20-minute walk of the central square.
The grid layout makes navigation simple. The boulevards are wide, tree-lined, and pleasant in summer but exposed in winter when the wind comes off the mountains.