1 week in Siberia: Novosibirsk and the Altai Republic

Politics aside, Russia is a diverse and compelling country to visit, shaped by a distinctive mix of modern urban life and traditions. While Moscow and Saint Petersburg are its largest and most internationally known cities, regions such as Novosibirsk and the Republic of Altai offer a very different perspective on the country. Novosibirsk provides insight into life in Siberia’s largest city, while Altai (known as the Russian Alps) is known for its dramatic mountain landscapes. This one-week itinerary outlines what to see and do in Siberia.

Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival in Novosibirsk and visit to the city

After you arrive in Novosibirsk, it’s time to explore it! You can start with the Central Market (Центральный рынок), a traditional Russian market with many different types of foods and flowers being sold. If you prefer something more modern and you were already missing your local Zara store, drop by the Gallery Novosibirsk, which is next to the market.

From there, you can walk towards the Central Park (Центральный парк). The park is pretty cool, it feels like being in the middle of a forest, but there are also small stands with traditional foods and ice creams, fountains and sculptures. From the park you can also visit the theater, a yellow building located in one of the sides of the park.

If you continue in the same direction, you’ll eventually reach the Opera Theater. In front of the building, you can see a sculpture in a very communist style with Lenin in the center, in a square adequately called Lenin’s Square. We did go to the Opera Theater later in the evening. It’s a cool building inside, and the show was well worth it!

If you get out to the main road, the Krasnyy Prospekt, you’ll see a small church, Saint Nicholas Chapel, which you can reach by going through a subterranean tunnel. We couldn’t get inside, but it’s a cute chapel. On the other side of the road, you’ll reach another park, the Pervomayskiy Skver (Первомайский сквер), which has more of a city-park feel than the Central Park.

Day 2: Relax at the Sibiryak (Cибиряк)

One of the activities my friend proposed to me was to go to Cибиряк, a hotel-sanatorium. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this kind of concept in Europe (except for books from the beginning of the last century, I guess?), but it seems to be quite popular in Russia. Basically, you go for a health-based vacation to a fancy hotel in nature, where between hikes, restaurants, and spas you can undergo medical treatment with real doctors. I found it to be a pretty cool concept – you’re doing the whole holistic thing where you treat body and soul in the same place.

The hotel is in the outskirts of Novosibirsk and we reached it by car. It’s in the middle of the forest, next to the river Reka Razdel’naya. They had the typical Russian banya (sauna) and several small toy buildings for kids, based on traditional fairy tales. We spent the day doing medical check-ups, walking around the forest, going to the banya and eating a lot. Very random but cool.

In addition, in the afternoon, we grabbed a boat and went on a short trip on the River Ob, doing a short stop on a sandy island in the middle of the river. It was really exciting! The island was really small, populated by birds, but with a wooden bar and some small storage houses, probably for parties and summer activities.

Day 3: Visit the Train and the USSR Museums

On our way back to the city, we stopped at the Church of the Epiphany (Храм Богоявления Господня), a small wooden church, which you can visit inside. We then headed towards the Museum of Trains (Музей железнодорожной техники на станции Сеятель). It’s really cool! There are many trains from different eras, all very colorful. You could enter inside several of them. Since it’s a bit far from the city, it was not crowded and we were the only ones visiting at the time.

The final stop of the day was the USSR Museum (Музей СССР). The museum is located in an old historic building made of wood. Inside, there were multiple rooms, each filled with artifacts from the soviet era. It’s like a trip to the past.

Day 4: Visit of a Dacha

In a turn of events, we ended up going to another friend’s dacha. Dachas are the outskirts houses of Russians. Thye are used to spend summers outside of the city and to grow some vegetables. Our friends showed us their dacha, the amount of vegetables they managed to grow in the greenhouse, and then we walked around the town where the dachas were located. Our friends were really welcoming, cooking for us, and entertaining us with stories and outings to their banya. Really cool experience!

Day 5: Driving to the Republic of Altai

I know what you’re going to say – 2 days is not enough to do Altai justice. And I agree – I’d love to go back eventually and take the time to actually hike in those mountains. It must be amazing! The truth is that my hiking skills are not good enough for such remote places, and it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Going to Altai requires a lot of driving (forget public transport). It’s a bit like US-style road trip. Just grab the car and drive for many many hours. You’ll be rewarded by amazing and very wild landscapes. The drive from Novosibirsk to our end point was a total of 8 h for one way.

Border crossing to the Republic of Altai

I mean, there’s not really any border crossing because Altai forms part of Russia. However, the province changes and you get a nice photo stop indicating that it has. The monument from the photo is one of the sculptures that you see there, taking inspiration from the traditional houses of the local Altaian people.

Where Katun and Biya form Ob

Ob is an immense river that passes nearby Novosibirsk. When you go to Altai, you get the chance to see where it “forms”, as in, where the rivers Katun and Biya come together to form this ultra-massive river that is Ob. It’s very obvious, as one of the rivers had more sediments than the other, so until they equilibrate, you can see the separation between the waters of both. From this point onwards, we were following the river Katun.

Museum of Shukshin

Along the Katun, you can stop to visit the house of Shukshin. Shukshin was a famous Russian writer and film producer. He was born in the area of Altai, so he has a museum dedicated to him here. It’s located in a small village, where you can also walk around.

Day 6: Visiting the Tavdinskie Caves and reaching the Seminskiy Mountain Pass

Tavdinskie Caves (Тавдинские Пещеры)

The Tavdisnkie Caves are an interesting stop in your trip to Altai. You’ll join a group to go visit these caves for a 1 h trip. A minimum of basic mobility is required to visit them (they’re very easy otherwise), but overall it’s an interesting experience.

The Seminskiy Mountain Pass (Семинский Перевал)

This was our southernmost point in this trip. The views from here were awesome – a deep and wide river crossing high mountains, with dense clouds on the sky. The drive is very scenic too, going parallel to the river most of the time. There’s basically this one road that you can take, so it feels really remote too. I saw some people on their bikes, so sporty activities are definetely a thing around here.

If you drive another 400 km south, you’ll end up in Mongolia. It’s a pity we didn’t have the chance to do this, but it can be a really cool road trip idea.

Day 7: Stop at Manzherok before heading back to Novosibirsk

After our quick visit to the Republic of Altai, we headed back to Novosibirsk, stopping in Manzherok (Манжерок). It’s a tourist town located near the Caves. We took the cable car to the top of the mountain, where we got to enjoy the nice views, as well as the easy walk around. There’s quite a few touristy native decorations, as Altai was historically populated by local indigenous inhabitants, with their own culture and language. You can still hear people speaking their native language in some of the stops you’ll make, although they can also speak Russian. The religion they practice include a type of Shamanism. It’s really interesting learning about these people and their culture when you’re visiting Altai.

Day 8: Academgorodok and Museum of Telecommunications in Novosibirsk

Have you ever heard about the monument to the lab mouse, the one where the mouse is knitting DNA? It’s in Novosibirsk, in their research park called Academgorodok (City of the Academics). It’s a modern area to walk around, with several additional biology-based decorations around. You cannot enter the buildings, but there’s a souvenir store/restaurant.

The last stop of the trip was the Museum of Telecommunications. It’s a small but very interesting place, where you can learn about the history of telecommunications in Novosibirsk, as well as seeing how they worked in the 1960-80’s.

Personal highlights

This trip was a bit different from what I usually do, as my friends did most of the organization and I just followed. They did bring me to really cool places and I got to have really exciting experiences!

• The Sibiryak’s fairy tale zone and the Ob tour. The witch house was awesome. Getting on a boat on the Ob river was awesome. It was just totally different from what I usually experience.
• The Museum of Trains. I never expected to have so much fun in a museum with trains! I felt like a kid.
• The Altai mountains. The only thing I regret about the trip is that I only spent 2 days there. That area has so much potential for exploration, it’s amazing!
• And last but not least, it’s the visit to the dachas. That’s real life and it’s so fun to experience!

Practical tips

Will I manage with English?

Yeah, no, not really. Get yourself a good eSIM for constant translations, because if you don’t speak Russian you’ll be very lost. It helps to have the alphabet memorized as some places are quite self-explanatory if you can read what’s written. Don’t expect museums to be any better, they are focused on local tourism.

How is the public transport?

I’ll preface saying that unless the buses are absolute idiot-proof in foreign countries, I don’t like them. This was one of those places where I would rather not use the bus. It’s just difficult to know how to use it if you haven’t done that before. The metro, however, was really cool, and I really enjoyed seeing the stations inside – they’re beautiful! It was also pretty self-explanatory – you buy the ticket, which is a token, and you just put it in the entrance machine.

Is it safe for a woman solo?

Some of the streets in Novosibirsk are quite run down, and there were a few places I wouldn’t be too comfortable exploring, but overall it seemed fine. Exercise normal precautions, and keep yourself in well-lit and transited streets. Don’t go alone to natural areas and let someone know what your itinerary is, if you decide to go. Nature is ample and wild, and I wouldn’t want to test the emergency services.

How’s the weather there in summer?

Do you like having 4 seasons in a day? You’re in the right place! Somehow, it could be cold and hot at the same time. Fascinating phenomenon, so bring in layers and an umbrella. Because it’s also raining all the time. Including when it’s sunny. I don’t know how that works, but believe me, there’s constantly water falling on you.

What to eat or to taste

Pine honey

Pretty self-describing – there’s honey and there’s pine cones that go in. I found it absolutely disgusting, but hey, the concept is really cool and it’s a great souvenir if you think the other person will like it.

Cakes

Cakes are amazing here! Anyhow, try many cakes as you can. One of the classics is the Medovik, a honey cake, and the cake Napoleon, a layered cake with condensed milk.

Pierogi

Some tasty street food you can get are the pierogi. They are baked or fried big dumplings with different fillings, including meat, mushrooms, or potato. While the quality varied greatly from store to store, they are overall delicious!

Manti

A Mongolia-inspired dish, dumplings with lamb meat. Super good!

The famous pelmeni

If you’ve heard anything about Russian food, that’s probably pelmeni. It’s small dumplings with a meat filling, usually eaten with sour cream. Delicious!

Sea buckthorn drinks

The sea buckthorn or seaberry is very popular in this area of Russia. I loved it as part of drinks, it gives a bitter and sour taste to it.

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