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.
University & Siberian Botanical Gardens
Top choice in Tomsk
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
0.47 MILES
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…
1.2 MILES
Central pl Lenina isn’t really a square so much as a jumbled collection of beautifully restored historic buildings interspersed with banal Soviet concrete…
0.54 MILES
Housed in the splendid Atashev Palace, this modest museum has a 2500-year-old bear amulet and an interesting exhibit on the Great Tea Trail. But it's the…
1.41 MILES
This dimple-sized hill was the location of Tomsk’s original fortress, and the replica of its central wooden spasskaya bashnya (savior's tower), which…
1.38 MILES
Up on Resurrection Hill, this museum's moderately interesting collection of old artefacts, clothing and recreations of old homes is well-presented, with…
1.16 MILES
On the riverbank, this cheeky Chekhov statue was sculpted in bronze for the 400th anniversary of the city’s founding. Rubbing its well-polished nose is…
1.09 MILES
A Tomsk landmark, this moving mother-and-son monument is at the very southern end of pr Lenina. The beautiful birch-tree park (Лагерный сад) here is a…
0.93 MILES
Well worth popping into for its wide range of permanent and temporary exhibits. The highlight is the collection of 19th- and early 20th-century Russian…
Nearby Tomsk attractions
0.47 MILES
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…
0.54 MILES
Housed in the splendid Atashev Palace, this modest museum has a 2500-year-old bear amulet and an interesting exhibit on the Great Tea Trail. But it's the…
0.66 MILES
This modest mosque, dating from 1904, was used as a vodka factory by the atheist Soviets, but was reopened to worshippers in 1997.
0.69 MILES
This lovely old house marks the start of a street that's home to a number of attractive wooden buildings.
0.69 MILES
The spired, bright-turquoise Russian-German House (1904) is among several grand wooden mansions along ul Krasnoarmeyskaya.
0.77 MILES
Grand wooden mansions stand along ul Krasnoarmeyskaya including the late-19th-cenury Dragon House which is home to a clinic and a couple of dragons.
0.93 MILES
Well worth popping into for its wide range of permanent and temporary exhibits. The highlight is the collection of 19th- and early 20th-century Russian…