Novosibirsk and Tomsk Tour6 Days | Novosibirsk, Akademgorodok, Tomsk

Arrive in Novosibirsk, meet your driver and transfer to the hotel. Free time to begin your Novosibirsk and Tomsk Tour. Overnight at the hotel.

After breakfast, meet your guide for a sightseeing tour of the vibrant Siberian capital, Novosibirsk. The tour starts with a stroll through the city’s historical centre and encompasses Lenin Square, the Opera and Ballet Theatre, the Chapel of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the Philharmonic Hall, the Administration Building, and the Cathedral of Alexander Nevsky. Then visit the Museum of Local Lore (closed on Mondays and Tuesdays and moved to another day or replaced with another museum) before walking along the embankment of the River Ob to the City Beginning Park, where the first railway bridge was built over the river. See the monument to Alexander III, who initiated the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, and the longest covered metro bridge in the world. On the left bank, visit the Monument of Glory dedicated to the Second World War. Free time. Overnight at the hotel.
Duration of sightseeing tour: 5 hours

During your free time, we offer the following optional activities (at additional cost):
Tickets to the Opera and Ballet Theatre or circus;
Visit to the Planetarium;
Visit to the "Russia is my History” interactive exhibition;
Visit to the Novosibirsk State Art Museum;
Visit to the Museum of History and Culture of the Peoples of Siberia and the Far East.

After breakfast, meet your guide and drive to Akademgorodok, one of Russia’s main scientific centres (20 km, 30 min). Learn about Akademgorodok as you walk past various buildings including Novosibirsk State University, the House of Scientists of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, research institutes, and the Technopark. Visit the Museum of Geology (closed on Saturdays and Sundays), which hosts many valuable minerals and semi-precious stones, then take a walk through the Botanical Garden and visit the greenhouse. Continue to the Museum of Railway Technology (closed on Mondays and Tuesdays), an open-air museum with old steam and diesel locomotives and carriages. Return to the city. Free time. Overnight at the hotel.
Duration of sightseeing tour: 4-5 hours

During your free time, we offer the following optional activities (at additional cost):
Guided tour inside the Technopark;
Visit to the Museum of Science and Technology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

After breakfast, drive to Tomsk (270 km, 4 hours). Founded in the early 17th century, Tomsk is one of Siberia’s oldest cities. Today it is a major educational, scientific, and cultural centre that has preserved many historical architectural monuments. Upon arrival in Tomsk, check in to your hotel. After a short break, meet your guide for a guided city tour. Highlights include the site of the founding of the Tomsk prison, houses decorated with distinctive wooden “lace”, the Resurrection Church with its impressive bell, the old Salt Square, Millionnaya Street, merchants’ houses, and the Stone Bridge. Continue the tour with a walk along the Tomi Embankment and visits to the monument to the famous writer, Anton Chekhov; the university quarter; the Elani District, with its examples of beautiful wooden architecture; and the Mother of God-Alexievsky Monastery. Free time. Overnight at the hotel.
Duration of sightseeing tour: 3 hours

After breakfast, meet your guide for a tour of the Museum of Wooden Architecture, where you can discover beautiful wooden buildings and learn how decorative elements such as wooden “lace” were made. Then visit some of Tomsk’s famous churches and learn about the history of churches in Tomsk. Before the revolution, the city skyline was dominated by onion domes. Unfortunately, during the Soviet era, some of Tomsk’s churches were destroyed and others were closed. However, some of the lost churches have recently been revived and are now of interest to tourists. End the day with a visit to the Museum of the Investigative Prison of the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs. This thought-provoking museum, the first of its kind in Russia, is dedicated to the history of political repressions. Free time. Overnight at the hotel.
Duration of sightseeing tour: 4 hours

During your free time, we offer the following optional activities (at additional cost):
Visit to the Museum of Slavic Mythology, with a master class on painting matryoshka (Russian nested dolls);
Visit to the mansion of the gold miner, I.D. Astashev (the Tomsk Regional Museum of Local Lore).

After breakfast, check out of the hotel and transfer to the airport. Departure. End of Novosibirsk and Tomsk Tour.