Destinations > Volga River District

Samara

The city is located on the bank of the Volga River and breaks records in beautiful landscapes. They inspired an outstanding Russian artist Ilya Repin to create his masterpieces. Here you will have the opportunity to visit the most powerful bunker of the currently declassified ones. And it’s not all the interesting places, which Samara offers you

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A City of Various Opportunities

Samara is a city, combining the energy of a modern business centre, old-world charm, and resort relaxation. This city is considered to be a major economic, transport, scientific-educational and cultural centre of Russia. Moreover, it is the national centre for space and aviation industries. Located on the bank of the greatest Volga river, Samara in its spirit is a rather southern city due to a special resort atmosphere, so it is often called the «northernmost southern city in Russia».

short city information

LOCAL TIME	UTC+4
CLIMATE	Humid continental
POPULATION	About 1,1 million people
HOW TO GET	Almost 2 hours by plane from Moscow
HIGHLIGHT	Volga Embankment, Space Museum, Art Museum, Stalin’s Bunker, Zhiguli Reserve

types of tourism

Nature

Excursion

Theme

Eco

Wellness

Industry

THROUGH THE CENTURIES

The Architecture of the City

The official history of Samara began in 1586. To feel the atmosphere and extensive history of the city, you can walk through Samara courtyards and look at amazing wooden houses of ordinary citizens. Besides, the city is rich with beautiful and multicoloured examples of Art Nouveau, Constructivist, and other architectural styles, which can leave nobody indifferent. We also cannot but mention various religious buildings and centres, which you can visit in Samara, the list is impressive: Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant churches, Armenian Apostolic Church, Mosques, Synagogue, and others.

FOR SPACE LOVERS

Samara Space Museum

The exhibitions of the museum show the history of the development of the Russian space industry and acquaint with the details of astronauts` life onboard the ship. You can see real products for missiles, mock-ups of rocket engines. Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, made his journey on the Samara’s rocket. A monument to the legendary rocket family «Soyuz» is located at the museum building, which represents its copy in real size, 55 meters
high.

FOR ART LOVERS

Samara Art Museum

This amazing museum is considered to be the most prestigious exhibition platform of the region and one of the largest museums in the Russian province. It is located in an incredibly beautiful historical building, constructed in Palace style. The museum includes the best collection of works of Russian avant-garde artists: about 35 thousand exhibits from the 16th till the 21st centuries. The main treasures are the pictures of Aivazovsky, Repin, Malevich, Levitan, Serov, Shishkin, and others.

Excursions are held in a very interesting way. At first, you`re told about artists and their works inside the museum and then you go out and learn in what places the pictures were painted, where the artists used to live, etc. If you have more time you can go by speed boat to Shiryaevo village and learn how Repin drew his famous picture “Boatmen on the Volga”.

STUNNING VIEWS WITH MYSTIC

Samara Squares, Parks and Reserves

Samara is an amazing place for those, who are fond of walking and admiring views. The main sights of the city are the Square of Samara and the Square of Glory, built in honor of the people who defended their motherland. From this place, you can enjoy a beautiful panoramic view of the Volga. The Kuibyshev Square is considered to be the largest one in Europe, it occupies more than 17 hectares, about 7 hectares of which are allocated for flower beds.

On the other Volga shore, you can enjoy amazing nature views of the Samarskaya Luka National Park and the Zhiguli Nature Reserve. Their landscapes are rather different: from taiga to alpine. It’s said that the Zhiguli Mountains is a place of numerous UFO sightings and people perceive a loss of time there, for example, a person can return 2 years after leaving and feel that he was away just 2 hours, etc.

FASCINATING SUNSETS

Volga Embankment

Samara is famous for its 5-km-long, clean, and beautiful embankment with an amazing sandy beach. It is one of the main recreational places of residents and guests of the city. It is divided into four sectors for different groups of campers – families with children, noisy companies, sportsmen, and lovers of privacy.

What picturesque sunsets you can see during your Samara trip! The view of the sun, setting beyond the Volga, is breathtaking, especially when it goes into the Zhiguli Mountains and lights up the water and the clouds. This charming performance can be seen every day from the high points on the beaches.

Without bridges

A City of River Tourism

Samara is the only major city on the Volga without a car bridge. You can get to the other shore or islands by ship or water taxi. The islands are like small individual states. They are formally part of the city but with no police or other services. A long and unusual tradition of camping exists till nowadays on the islands: people live there in tents all summer and enjoy the nature around, and go to work or for shopping by boat. Moreover, from the wharf of the Samara River Station, you can start cruises to the cities along the river – Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Volgograd, Tolyatti.

DISCOVER MORE

Samara Places Worthy to Visit

Samara is a very extensive city to explore. You will not be bored for sure while visiting this city. There are a lot of places, which are worthy of your attention, for example, Stalin’s Bunker, Samara exclusive. It’s considered to be the whole underground town, which was built to protect the Russian government in case of atomic danger. Moreover, it is in working condition nowadays.

Among other interesting sights of the city is the museum of famous cinema director Eldar Ryazanov, one of the first breweries of Russia Zhigulevskiy, interactive science park Galileo Wonders, beautiful stadium Samara Arena, etc. So come to Samara and see it by yourself.