Barnaul

Barnaul (Russian: Барнау́л buhr-nuh-OOL) is the capital of Altai Krai.

Understand

The Building with spire, one of the city's landmarks

The city was founded in the XVIII century as a center of silver and copper mining, and has a population of over 600,000.

History

The house of merchants Yakovlev and Polyakov

The foundation year of the city is unknown and is either 1730 or 1739. The name of founding father is Akinfey Demidov, a Russian mine-owner who started copper extraction and melting in the region. Later on his business spread to the gold and silver and the family reached all-Russian scale. The city became a fort and built a dam. This activity was major for centuries to come. Except that, nature and geography explorers never abandoned this Siberian place. Pyotr Petrovich Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky and Alexander von Humboldt lead their expeditions across the city.

Get in

By train

Barnaul Railway Station

The travel from Moscow takes 2.5 days and covers 3500 km.

• №036В/№036Н Barnaul — Moscow — Barnaul — firmenniy train «Altai»
• №509/№510 Barnaul — Omsk — Adler - Barnaul — from 16 June to 1 September.
• №613/№614 Barnaul — Karasuk — Barnaul.

By plane

German Titov airport is located 17 km west from the city center and serves flights from Krasnodar, Moscow, Irkutsk, Anapa, Rostov-on-Don, Vladivostok, Saint Petersburg.

Get around

Inside the city there are routes of public buses (about 150), marshrutkas, taxis, trams (11) and trolleys (5). The thoroughfares interconnecting Barnaul with other cities, towns and suburbs are Pavlovsky Highway (Павловский тракт) leading to Novosibirsk, Zmeinogorsky Highway (Змеиногорский тракт) leading to Kazakhstan, Pravoberezhny Highway (Правобережный тракт) to Novosibirsk and Biysk.

The river port may be useful in getting to suburbs or closest villages like Bobrovka that offers country tourism activities.

See

Museums

Zero kilometer

• Altai museum of regional studies offers expositions of ethnographical artefacts.
• Museum of literature, art and culture of Altai .
• Altai Museum of Art. Malevich, Kandinsky, Rembrandt.
• 'World of Stones' museum. Address: 5b, Kalinina st.
• Museum of military history. Address: 73, Komsomolsky Pr. Hours: 9.30-17.30 Tu-Sa.
• Museum of Time. Address: 12, Matrosova st. Private collection of 'curiosities' from a mammoth tooth to 300mln years old corrals and Soviet symbols, the visitors can touch with their hands.

Parks

• Izumrudny Park (Парк "Изумрудный"), for families with kids.
• Solnechny Veter (Парк "Солнечный ветер").
• Barnaulskaya Krepost (Парк "Барнаульская крепость").
• Lesnaya Skazka (Парк "Лесная сказка").

Do

• House Club (Клуб Хаус), 15, Solnechnaya Polyana. Restaurant, sauna, hooka-lounge, disco floor and bowling. 

Buy

Eat

• Manhattan Pizza (Манхэттен-Пицца), Trade-centers 'Holiday classic' (Холидей классик) or 'City center' (Сити-Центр). A chain of pretty good fast-food restaurants. 
• Zapravka (Заправка, гриль-бар), 51a, Kirova st, ☎ [phone]. 12:00-2:00. It's a grill bar. 
• Pozharka (Пожарка), 49, Chkalova st, ☎ [phone]. Anti-fire grill-bar with a fire-truck inside. 

Drink

Locally brewed beer: Ворсин (Vorsin), Golfsteiner, Барнаульское (Barnaulskoye), Чешское (Cheshskoye), Жигулёвское (Zhigulyovskoye) .

• English Pub, 57a Chkalova st, e-mail: [e-mail]. 13.00-3.00. Wooden tables and chairs, British music, darts and flags 
• Il Patio, 20 Lenina st. 12:00–24:00. Italian cuisine 
• Kefir (Кефир), 39 Lenina Prospekt, ☎ [phone]. 6PM-8AM. A trendy restaurant with calm atmosphere; an array of sushi choices, pasta entrees & desserts. ca. RUB800 for meals without drinks. 

Sleep

• Alexander House (Александр Хаус), 4,Profinterna st, ☎ [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. 26 rooms ranging from luxurious to economy classes 
• Hotel Altai (Гостиница Алтай), 24, Prospekt Lenina, ☎ [phone]. 
• Hotel Barnaul (Гостиница Барнаул), 135,Krasnoarmeiskiy Prospekt, ☎ [phone]. 
• Hotel Berezka (Березка), 260, Pavlovsky trakt, e-mail: [e-mail]. Located 26km off the city, the hotel has 7 rooms, a swimming pool and a sauna 
• Hotel Kolos (Колос), 25, Molodezhnaya st, ☎ [phone]. 
• Hotel Tsentralnaya (Гостиница Центральная), ☎ [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. 
• Hotel Sibir (Гостиница Сибирь), 116, Sotsialistichesky Prospekt, ☎ [phone], [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. 
• Hotel Ulitka (бизнес-отель Улитка), 60, Korolenko st, e-mail: [e-mail]. 
• Hotel Laletin (Гостиница Лалетин), 34,Malo-Tobolskaya st, ☎ [phone], [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. 

Hostels

• Yellow submarine, 72, Krasnoarmeisky pereoulok (above Hotel Tourist on the top floor). Kitchen included. Well-kept showers and toilets in the corridor. RUB400. 

Itineraries

Start walking along Sotstialistichesky Prospekt and pay attention to the Drama Theater and further on to the Pedagogical Academy, in a small square of which there is a monument to Unhappy Lover waiting on the bench. When arriving to the Victory square (Ploschad Pobedy) find the sculpture Movie is filmed. Go on to Stroiteley Prospekt. Here at the Library sits a bronze cat. Going ahead you'll come to the October sq. (Ploschad Oktyabrya), the site for the Building with spire. Turn to Prospekt Lenina ascending to the River Port with a number of nice houses alongside. The port plaza musters monuments to renown citizens and white Hollywood-styled letters on the bank.

Go next

The road to Mongolia aka Chuysky Highway starts from Novosibirsk and goes south to Biysk and Altai Republic.

Routes through Barnaul

Omsk ← Novosibirsk ←

W  E

→ Biysk → Novokuznetsk