Anti-crisis guide to winter Yekaterinburg
New Year holidays are not a reason to stay at home. You can pack a backpack and go to the capital of the Urals - Yekaterinburg. It is one of the four most populated cities in Russia and one of the ten cities ideal for life. This is a big beautiful, developing city, where there is something to see even in the winter season, when there is no large influx of tourists.
How do I get there?
Yekaterinburg can be reached in any convenient way by train, plane, bus or car. And from the station to the city center will take a bus or subway. Wealthier tourists can use taxi services by calling it through mobile apps or by phone.
Where to live?
The first issue that concerns all tourists is housing. As in any other city here tourists have three options: hostel, hotel or apartment. You can rent an inexpensive apartment without intermediaries. Websites that help to rent an apartment, a lot. Prices for apartments on the Airbnb website start from 640 rubles excluding resource fees (as of December 5). Also, the site Avito offers rental housing without intermediaries from 650 rubles. But, if your choice fell on this or that housing, and you agreed with the owner - this does not mean that you will settle there. Most owners or companies offering to rent a house, like not to take pipes or force themselves to wait very long. Another favorite “divorce” is to say that the rent of the apartment was extended by previous guests, and offer you other apartments, but they will cost 500 rubles more. This is the problem of all cities. In order not to stay overnight at the station, it is better to book several apartments and already on the spot to choose where you will live.
Unlike apartments, booking a room in a hotel or hostel, you are guaranteed to get a roof over your head. Prices for a bed on the website of hotels and hostels booking.com start from 350 rubles per bed (on December 5).
How do you get around town?
In summer, the capital of the Urals is best to move on foot or by bicycle. On the map you can find bike rental points, and each store or cafe has bicycle parking in the form of a bicycle. In winter, you will not walk far, but the city itself is compact and all the main attractions are within walking distance. Through the city there are trams, trolleybuses, buses and there is a metro line. Transport can be easily tracked using the application "Yandex.Transport" or through, developed by the children of Yekaterinburg, "ETransport".
Where to go?
In unfamiliar cities, it is better to go where your eyes look than to rush from one museum to another. You have a better chance of learning about your culture. In the center is the pedestrian Arbat - Weiner Street, along which the Red Line passes, connecting all the famous sights of the center. You can’t see it under the snow, but this line has a mobile guide, and every building along the route has a sign with a history and description. In addition to theaters, museums, such objects as a monument to the keyboard and the Beatles group were included in the Red Line.
During the New Year holidays, cultural and entertainment events are held in the city. Museums and theaters organize balls for children, thematic master classes and holidays with the participation of Santa Claus.
Fans of street art can stroll through the places decorated by Yekaterinburg artists. All information about street art objects is available in the group of the festival "Stenografiya", which is held annually in the summer or on the page of the agency StreetArt in Vkontakte.
For lovers of modern art, there are at least three places where they will spend time with pleasure.
The first is the Yekaterinburg Gallery of Contemporary Art, which hosts exhibitions of famous contemporary artists and photographers. Well, after visiting the exhibition hall, it is worth going down to the first floor, where the cabinet is located. But not ordinary. This is the door to the Old Fashioned Bar & Cocktails, whose mission is to introduce residents and guests to the cocktail culture. There is a wide variety of drinks and snacks.
The second is the gallery of modern street art “Sweater”, which exhibits the works of local street artists: graffiti, stencils, paintings, installations and much more.
And the third is the Ural branch of the State Center for Contemporary Art. It hosts not only exhibitions of contemporary artists, but also lectures, meetings and master classes.
It is impossible to write about all the museums and theaters of Yekaterinburg. There are so many. It is worth noting that the Yeltsin Center opened in 2015. Every day there are exhibitions, lectures, concerts, festivals and various social events. Well, the main object is the Boris Yeltsin Museum, where visitors will remember and plunge into the era of the 90s.
There is also a planetarium, a zoo and a water park. Guests from the capital are unlikely to be surprised by this, but those who come from small cities can very much like it.
Where to eat?
In Yekaterinburg there are many cafes and restaurants for every taste and purse. Russian, Asian, European, American... For lovers of coffee and desserts, a large number of coffee shops offer coffee with them. But there are quite original copies that deserve attention. For example, the coffee chain Simple coffee. It looks like an ordinary coffee shop, with delicious coffee and desserts. But the first to catch the eye are bright takeaway coffee cups, which depict their fox logo walking around the city center. And then you begin to notice their individuality: author’s drinks, the opportunity to buy coffee beans (at a democratic price, by the way!), complex breakfasts and much more. Coffeehouses often hold various master classes on sketching or English, information about which is published on their page in Vkontakte.
Dense lunch can be in the cafe-bakery "FatCat" on Belinsky, 41. The menu includes soups, pasta, waffles, salads and of course buns, desserts and coffee. And the interior and design of the coffee shop will not leave indifferent cat lovers.
By the way, many coffee shops in the city make big discounts on baking in the evening before closing. And after a walk, you should go to the beautiful loft club "House of Printing".
Yekaterinburg is a big city where every district has its own attractions. We have to go here for a week. In a couple of days to go around all the places, and even more so to find secret, will not work.
Text by Vika Lisitsyna
Photo: Vika Lisitsyna, Timofey Baldin, itsmycity.ru, vk.com/simple coffee, instagram.com, eburg.livejournal.com