Wednesday, Nov 29 2023

All Cities

Choose Your City

'There are party places that would surprise many of my European and American colleagues'

dancer Sergei Polunin

What to see

Novosibirsk - the unofficial capital of Siberia - is an excellent stopover for train travellers in search of rest and relaxation as they cross the continent.

Below are a few ideas, both within the city and also on a trip out to the satellite town of Akademgorodok, in the heart of pine forests

In summers - when it can be very hot - or in the extremely cold but sunny winters, the city is good for strolling, with plenty of pubs and cafes to wander into for those in need of a cooling, or warming, drink.

You’ll be pleased to see how many people speak good English.

Lenin Square

As a reminder of its Soviet past, a vast brooding statue of Lenin still glowers over a city centre that has already lost much of its Communist feel.

Good for souvenir photos, as a meeting point and just as beginning of your walk or drive about the city.

You may see just married couples visiting here and sipping champagne. Pleasant gardens around this square and open air exhibitions.

Novosibirsk Railway Station

Reputed to be the largest train station in Russia, it takes an area of almost 30,000 m2, and can simultaneously host 4,000 passengers.

Novosibirsk Glavniy Train Station is designed like a steam engine, heading East, with interiors which one of the visitors described like: ‘Huge and decorated like a concert hall in Vienna...high ceiling, big chandeliers, the architecture - it is unique!’

Railway Locomotive Museum

This exceptional collection of brightly coloured historic engines and carriages, dating from pre-revolutionary times, is fascinating as much for the casual visitor as the railway fanatic.

You can climb into many of the old exhibits, and get a sense of the extraordinary Soviet locomotives that opened up Siberia in the age of steam.

From the city, you can get here by local train, perhaps combining a visit with sightseeing in Akademgorodok and at the Ob Sea.

Beaches

You may be bang smack in the middle of old Imperial Russia, and so about as far from the sea as you can get, but Novosibirsk boasts several notable beaches.

One is in the city, called Nautilus, on the west bank of the Ob River near the Tube Bridge - and gets crowded on hot summer days.

Or venture to the Ob Sea, a vast artificial lake created in 1957, and filled in 1959 near Akademgorodok, where university students chill out between lectures.

Museum of Happiness

Organised in 2009 by a family of Irina and Yuri Dryomin, The Museum of Happiness quickly became popular for ‘the feeling of pure joy it leaves you with’, as visitors say.

The owners of the museum travel the world to gather the items, symbolising happiness to people of different cultures.

There is a collection of ‘German Happiness’, along with the one for France, Russia and Kazakhstan.

Pervomaisky Park

A splash of green in the middle of the bustling city, at least in summer, with fountains and pleasant cafes.

Horse rides at weekends, with live music concerts.

Right opposite Novosibirsk City Hall at Lenin square.

USSR museum

Apparently the only USSR museum in Russia, opened in 2009 and situated in a pretty 1917-built wooden house, nestled between the city centre office and residence blocks.

So far it is more a chaotic collection of all kinds of items from the Soviet times, from iron hair-straightener to an old fashioned TV set, and famous Soviet perfumes, rather than a systemised museum exposition-but it is still worth a visit!

Some of the items are for sale.