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Western Siberia

Heading east from the Urals, the influence and reach of Moscow noticeably begins to wane as one enters Western Siberia (Западная Сибирь). Unforgiving winters and a history of Gulag camps give the region a bad rap. The reality is much different. Western Siberia opens its arms to visitors and has plenty to offer the passing traveller. Expect contrasts and extremes, from glaciated mountains to underground cafes, fine art museums to gentle forest rambles. For the international visitor there's no getting away from the fact that Western Siberia is not the easiest place in which to travel. Visitors need a willingness to rough it, and outside the big cities it helps to be able to speak at least rudimentary Russian. But those who make the effort will be rewarded with an insight into the Siberian way of life and – perhaps more importantly – receive a dose of the locals’ legendary hospitality.

Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Western Siberia.

  • See

    N.K. Rerikh Museum

    This museum is dedicated to the works and life of the painter Nikolai Rerikh (Nicholas Roerick), beloved in these parts because of his life-long passion for Altai. There are both original paintings on display and reproductions, which provide a thorough synopsis of his life's work, and you can buy affordable prints in the excellent gift shop. Rerikh was also a writer, a philosopher, a scientist, an archaeologist, a statesman – and a traveller. An epic five-year expedition around Central Asia (including Altai) and the Himalayas in the 1920s provided fodder for many of his paintings and philosophies. That journey is explored in depth here, making the museum an inspiring spot for modern-day vagabonds. Incredibly, the expedition traversed 35 mountain passes of more than 14,000ft! There is a 15-minute movie in English on the artist's life, and rooms dedicated to the works of his wife and two sons – talented artists, writers and/or thinkers in their own right.

  • See

    Memorial Museum

    The gloomy basement of this former NKVD (proto-KGB) building is now a museum dedicated to the unspeakable horrors that took place here. Look out for the Gulag map, the system of Soviet labour camps depicted as an uncountable mass of red dots across the territory of the former USSR. Prisoners who passed through here included Gulag chronicler Eufrosinia Kersnovskaya and the family of the purged Kazakh writer Akhmet Baytursinuli. Outside the museum are two monuments to victims of Stalinist repression – the larger to local victims, the second to Poles slaughtered by Uncle Joe and his cronies. Tours are recommended, but the English-language ones should be booked in advance. If you go it alone and don't read Russian, you'll miss out on a lot; but, as they say, 'A picture is worth a thousand words', and the pictures on display here are just screaming out.

  • See

    Regional Museum

    Housed in a wonderfully dilapidated 1912 merchant’s house with original art nouveau fittings, this fine museum is home to standing stone idols, petroglyphs and a weathered old shaman's coat that locals consider lucky and so pop coins into the display case. Everything is written in Russian but one member of staff speaks French and will gleefully give French speakers a (very) detailed tour. It's on the east edge of the old town, a five-minute walk north of pl Garkavogo. Oh, and by the way, don't get locked in at night. The building served as the secret police headquarters during the Soviet period and is said to be haunted.

  • See

    Geyser Lake

    One of the more unusual sights along the Chusky Trakt is this sublime turquoise blue sulfur lake and geyser. This is no Yellowstone-style geyser erupting forth in drama; but it's a subtle charmer. Indiscreet bubbles mingle with black silt in the blue lake waters to form slow changing patterns in the lake floor. It's especially colourful and beautiful when the sun shines on it and the waters positively glow. The lake is a few minutes' drive south of Aktash just after km796 (look for the wooden sign). From here it's a five-minute walk along a rickety wooden walkway.

  • See

    A.V. Anokhin National Museum of Altai

    This well-put-together museum offers a good introduction to Altai culture with a range of ethnographic exhibits, wildlife displays and local art and artefacts, including a room dedicated to the Altai landscape painter Grigory Choros-Gurkin. It also houses a stuffed collection of the local wildlife including a snow leopard and an interesting display on prehistoric life in the region (complete with mannequins living in the most sterile looking cave you've ever seen). The signage is all in Russian but it's well worth a visit even or those who don't speak Russian.

  • See

    Novosibirsk State History Museum

    In an elegant mansion, the State History Museum has recently re-opened after renovations and is now by far the best museum in Novosibirsk. The well-thought-out collection traces the history of Siberia and Novosibirsk from birth up to today. The highlights are the displays on nomadic life and shamanism (in the basement). The regular temporary exhibitions are a more hit-and-miss affair and can include anything from collections of posh frocks to delicate-faced dolls and puppets. Unusually most displays are also labelled clearly in English.

  • See

    University & Siberian Botanical Gardens

    The classically colonnaded main buildings of the university lie in resplendently leafy grounds, giving Tomsk the sobriquet ‘Oxford of Siberia’. Most of the buildings themselves are closed to the public, but the grounds are open to all. However, the Siberian Botanical Gardens, at the southern edge of the grounds, are the real highlight of a visit. The exterior gardens contain samples of many Siberian plant species while the enormous greenhouses (guided tour only) get all tropical and steamy.

  • See

    Altai Arts, Literature & Culture Museum

    The impressively eclectic – not to mention good-value – Altai Arts, Literature & Culture Museum occupies a restored, furnished 1850s mansion. There are some fine icons, Rerikh sketches and a collection of Iron Age relics including the re-created tomb of a horseman complete with his trusty (though, at the moment of its sacrifice, probably rather annoyed) steed.

  • See

    Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

    The 1898 Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is a red-brick Byzantine-style building with gilded domes and colourful murals. The cathedral was originally built as a monument in honour of Tsar Alexander III who had initiated the construction of Novosibirsk. It was shut by the Soviet authorities in 1937 and only re-opened in 1989.