Novosibirsk

(phone area code is 3832.

From outside Russia dial +73832)

On the Transsiberian line Novosibirsk is 50 hours from Moscow and around 14 from Krasnoyarsk.

With a population of over 1.4 million people (5^th largest city in Russia), this is the largest city in Siberia and its industrial centre. It’s a relatively young city and has few buildings of historic interest. But it’s a pleasant enough place for a day or two and the huge scale of some parts of the centre is amazing.

Krasny Prospekt, its main street, extends for over 10 kilometres. The mighty River Ob bisects the city, leaving the main hotels, sights and the railway station on the east bank.

You can visit the enormous opera house, the museums and the nearby town of Akademgorodok, the Scientists’ City where hundreds of scientists live in a purpose-built town beside a lake. Winters here are particularly harsh, with temperatures falling as low as -35ºC.

What to see

Lenin Square and the Opera House

This is the centre of the city and the square is dominated by the vast Opera House, one of the largest in the world, with its silver dome. It was completed in 1945, when most of the builders had been sent off to join the war effort. Its completion is seen as all the more heroic in that it was to some extent due to the city’s women and children, who helped the few remaining builders.

In the middle of the square is a statue of Lenin, his coat blowing behind him in the cold Siberian wind, a rather more artistic representation of the man than the many others produced.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, a the south end of Krasny Prospekt near the river, is now fully restored and is well worth a visit. Closer to the centre of town, however, is the tiny Chapel of St Nicholas.

There is a good Art Gallery, pr Krasny 5.

Where to stay

• Hotel Novosibirsk (telf 201 120) is well located right opposite the railway station at Vokzalnaya Magistral 1. It’s a typical Soviet place even down to the offhand receptionists. Single rooms with attached bath cost US$15-25.

• Hotel Tsentralnaya (telf 227 660) is right in the city centre on ul Lenina 3. There are singles for US$25.

• Hotel Ob (telf 667 401) ul Obnaya 49 is about 3km south of the city’s centre on the banks of the Ob River; it’s next to the River Station. Singles start from US$35.

• The most up-market place in the centre is the Hotel Sibir (telf 231 215) ul Lenina 21. Rooms are $80 and higher.

Where to eat

• New York Pizza & Traveler’s Coffee on the corner of ul Lenina and ul Uritskogo.

• Allegro Food is also a chain, with one branch next to Hotel Novosibirsk. It’s always busy and serves OK chicken for US$1. There’s also a branch of Grill Master on Ul Lenina.

• Zolotoye Kolos is a recommended bakery opposite the Hotel Tsentralnaya.

• The canteen at ul Lenina 9 is now the first Irish Pub in Siberia.

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