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TravelTips24 : Europe : Eastern Europe : Russia : Siberia : Western Siberia : Novosibirsk Oblast : Novosibirsk

Novosibirsk

Novosibirsk (Новосибирск) is a city in Novosibirsk Oblast, Siberia, and is the third largest city in Russia.

Travel to Novosibirsk & Visa Requirements

One may get to Novosibirsk by plane without flying through Moscow or Saint-Petersburg. The international airport Tolmachevo is located eighteen kilometers to the west of the city. Nowadays, it is a large comfortable airport which hosts international flights as well as those to some cities of the former USSR. The flights to such European and Asian cities as Frankfurt am Main, Hannover, Varna, Burgas, Antaly, Urumqi, Seoul and Bangkok are regular. The majority of such flights are operated by S7 Airlines. Apart from it, there is a wide choice of charter flights to seaside resorts in summer.

If there are no direct flights to Novosibirsk from your country, then you may get to the capital of Siberia via Moscow. There are two ways you can do it: by train or by air. Take a train from Moscow, the Rossiya trains are generally the best and take about 2 days. You'll arrive at the Trans-Siberian Railway's largest station and the Metro (subway) can take you into the rest of the city. The other way of getting to Novosibirsk via Moscow is by plane. Nine planes a day follow the route Novosibirsk-Moscow. The airlines operating these flights are spread in the following order: S7 Airlines features 4 flights daily, Transaero has two and Aeroflot proposes to its passengers three flights a day.

Tours & Getting around Novosibirsk

Tons (and I mean tons) of public transportation or so called "marshrutkas" where you can pay 10-20 rubles (30-75 cents) to get practically anywhere in the city. Taxis are affordable too. You can also just wave at any passing car and get a ride for 50-100 and up rubles (depending on the distance).

The Metro is cheap but only runs through the city center and just past the Ob River. Still, for the visitor, you can get to many major destinations from its six major stops, including the main square, Lenin Square, on Krasny Prospekt (Red Avenue).

Novosibirsk attractions and sightseeing

See the Lenin's square with huge statute of Lenin left from Soviet times standing right in front of the Opera and Ballet House which, by the way, is beautiful at night. It is also the largest opera house in Russia. There's also the exact geographical center of former Soviet Union just south of Lenin Square, marked by the Chapel of St. Nicholas, originally built in 1915 to commemorate 300 years of Romanov rule, destroyed in 1930 and rebuilt in 1993. In winter residents build an ice town on the Ob River, and in summer you can go to the beach. Near the city center on Krasny Prospekt,you can also see some excellent work in the Novosibirsk Art Museum and Local Studies Museum. You could also consider the Novosibirsk Regional Puppet Theater (over 70 years old in an interesting historic building), Novosibirsk Circus, and several other theaters.

As in every Russian city, there are multiple monuments to heroes of the Great Patriotic War (WWII), including an eternal flame guarded at special ceremonies by youths with replica Kalashnikovs. Those are standard touristic places, but you should definitely make friends with locals to see the "best" parts of the city.

Novosibirsk city tours

Novosibirsk souvenirs & shopping

Novosibirsk Restaurants: cheap, moderate and expensive

Novosibirsk nightlife, bars, clubs & pubs

  • Truba Bar, [1]. Visit if you want to meet Novosibirsk's "underground" culture. Foreigners usually like this place.
  • Peoples Grill & Bar.
  • Pub 501, [2].
  • Old Irish Pub, [3].

Novosibirsk cheap and luxurious hotels, youth hostels & lodging

  • The Ob Hotel, on the bank of the Ob River, is situated close to the Metro just southeast of the city center. After being gutted by fire in the 1990s, it has been refurbished, with reasonably clean rooms, a business center, and a nice Russian restaurant on the first floor. Don't look for English-language television or air conditioners, but there are plenty of rooms with private bathrooms.
  • Centralnaya Hotel, Lenina street 3(As near the center as possible, on the street opposite the opera/ballet house.), ☎ (+7383) 222-72-94, 222-36-38. checkin: anytime(?); checkout: exactly 12h after checkin. TV, fridge, and sink in the room. Won't get any cheaper than this for a private room...From 1200 rubels for shared toilet/shower.  edit

Get out

A visit to Akademgorodok, built in the 1950s as a mecca for academics but suffering from neglect in the post-Soviet years, is still pleasant as a day trip. This formerly elite institution is located about 30 KM south of the city and features several museums and nice, tree-lined streets.

While you're in the area, you might also visit one of several nice beaches on the Ob Sea, the large body of water created by a dam on the Ob River.

Also south of the city, about 2 km north of Akademgorodok, is the open-air West Siberian Rail Museum. There are about 90 historical trains and rail cars there.

Communicate

  • There is free wi-fi in Beerman&Grill opposite the train station
  • The central post office on Lenin Street has an "internet bar", 30 rubels/hour/10MB, not possible to connect notebook

This page was last edited at 10:00, on 31 October 2008 by Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. Based on work by David, Peter Fitzgerald and Steve Daubs, Wikitravel user(s) Morph, Sibiryak and LordAndy and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel.

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