All trains arrive and depart from the Mangestau Station, about 12 km out of town. There is a regular 24 hour train service to and from Atyrau. There is also the option of a two day long train service from Astana, and a three day long train service from Almaty, passing through Shymkent two days after departing Aktau.
Most people fly to Aktau Airport, 23 km north of the center of the city. Given the taxi situation there, it is best to prearrange ground transport to the city. Taxi should cost no more than 1600 Tenge one way.
The cheapest way to fly to Aktau is with the decrepit airline SCAT or the low quality Azerbaijan Air from Baku or Tbilisi at a little bit less than 200 Dollars one way.
Direct domestic flights include: Atyrau (SCAT and Astana Air several times per day), Almaty (Astana Air or SCAT once a day) and sometimes Aktobe (SCAT).
Direct international flights include: or Moscow (Transaero). Twice weekly, you can fly direct with SCAT to Istanbul or to Tbilisi (both not possible to buy online) between 400 and 450 USD return. Air Astana has recently announced a service to Amsterdam through a partnership with KLM. In addition to these regular flights, there are sporadic flights with SCAT and other local airlines to Makhachkala, Yerevan andAstrakhan. There is a direct charter flight to Urumqi departing on the 15th of every month and returning around the 20th of the same month.
There are occasional ferries to and from Baku, Azerbaijan. Ferries leave every 7-10 days, but nothing about the port is set up for passengers
