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Krasnoyarsk (Russian: Красноя́рск kruhz-nah-YAHRSK) is a city in Eastern Siberia, Russia.

Understand

Krasnoyarsk, view from a paraplane

Krasnoyarsk has a population of over 1 million people. It is known for its nature and has been referred to as the most beautiful city in Siberia. Forested mountains and cliffs are prevalent south of the city.

The Yenisey River flows through the city. The Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric dam, 20km upstream, prevents the river from freezing.

The city was founded in 1628 as a fort on the confluence of 2 rivers. It was originally called Krasny Yar, meaning "Red Steep Bank".

Many political exiles, including 8 Decembrists were banished to Krasnoyarsk. The city was also an administrative center for the gulags.

Krasnoyarsk grew significantly during World War II since industrial facilities were moved eastward to escape the war. After the fall of the Soviet Union, ownership of these facilities were transferred to oligarchs and unemployment rose significantly.

The economy of the city is dependent upon its aluminum production facilities.

Get in

Krasnoyarsk
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By plane

Yemelyanovo (Емельяново) Airport, (KJA  IATA), +7 391 228-61-99, is 27km northwest of the city centre. The airport serves approximately 2 million passengers per year. There are regular flights to many major Russian cities including Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Vladivostok, Irkutsk, Manzhouli, Samara, Novosibirsk, Ulan-Ude, and Yekaterinburg as well as international flights to Dushanbe, Bangkok, Baku, Tashkent, Beijing, Bishkek, and Osh.

Buses operate between the airport and the city centre. The journey takes approximately 1 hour to the train station or 1.5 hours to the intercity bus station. Alternatively, taxis should cost RUB800 if negotiated in advance and the journey to the city centre by taxi takes approximately 40 minutes.

Cheremshanka (Черемшанка) Airport, (CER  IATA), +7 391 252-65-57, is 23km northwest of the city centre. The airport is small and only 2 carriers operate flights to/from this airport: Krasavia, with flights to/from Abakan, Barnaul, Bratsk, Gorno-Altaysk, Kodinsk, Kyzyl, Motygino, Novokuznetsk, Podkamennaya Tunguska River and Turukhan Avia Airlines, with flights to/from Surgut, Svetlogorsk, Tomsk, and Turukhansk.

By train

See also: Trans-Siberian Railway

All Trans-Siberian trains stop at Krasnoyarsk.

Train timetables and fares can be found on the RZD website; enter "KRASNOIARSK, KRASNOYARSKAYA, [2038000]" as the station for Krasnoyarsk. There are several daily trains to Moscow (61 hours, RUB3,300-10,000), Irkutsk (18 hours, RUB1,200-6,400), Omsk (20 hours, RUB1,400-6,600), Novosibirsk (12 hours, RUB1,000-6,000), Ulan-Ude (12 hours, RUB1,500-8,400), Yekaterinburg (34 hours, RUB2,000-5,800), Perm (41 hours, RUB2,400-6,600), and Vladivostok (86 hours, RUB4,000-20,000).

There are left luggage services at the train station, but beware of long "breaks" taken by the operator. The service costs RUB100 per item per day.

There are plenty of buses making the 10 minute ride between the train station and the city centre. The journey costs RUB25. A taxi should cost RUB130 if negotiated in advance.

By bus

Kransoyarsk Avtovokzal is the inter city bus station. Buses operate to/from nearby cities, including those in the Khakassia region. Buses to most nearby cities cost under RUB300.

By car

The road connecting Vladivostok and Moscow, semi-officially called Moskovskyy Trakt (Московский тракт, Russian for the Moscow Way), passes through Krasnoyarsk. However, decent accommodation and eating establishments are hard to find along this road.

Get around

Map
Map of Krasnoyarsk

Google maps can be used to plan trips around the city.

By public transport

There are many public buses and marshrutkas, costing RUB25 per trip. In large buses, the conductor walks among the passengers and asks for money from the new passengers. In a marshrutka/minibus, the conductor sits near the driver and gets paid before passengers exit (because of this the hind door is rarely opened). In a large bus, the conductor walks around with a roll of tickets in a hand, a belt purse and demands payment.

By taxi

Taxis are plentiful but drivers rarely speak English. Negotiate prices in advance.

See

SibTourGuide offers well-priced excursions that enable you to easily see the best sights in the area.

  • Views of Yenisey River and the nearby Sayan Mountains covered by taiga forest are quite picturesque.
  • Divnogorsk Dam, 124 meters tall, 40km southwest of Krasnoyarsk includes a power station and an aluminum smelting plant that benefits from the cheap electricity. The waterfall created by the dam is worth seeing. Reachable by taxi, elektrichka train to Divnogorsk ((Дивногорск means "The Town of Wondrous Mountains") or, in the summer, by jet boat or hydrofoil. Alternatively, Sibtour offers a highly-recommended excursion to the dam.

Museums

Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum is Egypt-style ex-private building
  • Vasily Surikov Museums (Lenina Str. 98 and Karla Marksa Str. 36) are the museums of the one of the greatest Russian painters who was born and lived in Krasnoyarsk until he moved to Moscow to become a member of the National Academy of Arts. The first is a two-story wooden house built in 1830 by the painter's father, Vasiliy Surikov was born and lived for many years in that house, the second is a later-built one-story house holding many of his works.
  • Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum (Dubrovinskogo Str. 84) is a recently restored monumental building in an ancient Egyptian style. It holds a lot of good exhibitions on the history of the Krasnoyarsk Krai as well as many archeological artifacts.
  • The Culture and History Center (former Lenin Museum) constantly presents various local and international exhibitions and events, all open to the public and sometimes free: fine art and photography by modern artists, art-house and independent movie festivals, museum nights with performances by young local artists, wax figure exhibitions, moving exhibitions from other cities, etc. The very building of the center itself is an incredibly interesting place to visit due to its original and atmospheric inside architecture.

Religious Buildings

  • Karaulnaya Gora (Караульная гора, Russian for 'The Watch Hill'), 1307 New Hampshire Ave NW (Bus #32, #64, #74 and #88 to Ploschad Pobyedy (Площадь Победы, Russian for The Victory Plaza), from there walk the Stepana Razina Str. until you see the chapel). A large hill with the Paraskeva Pyatnitsa Chapel (Часовня Параскевы Пятницы) on its top is a symbol of the city depicted on the RUB10 banknote. 

Monuments

  • Andrey Dubensky Monument (near Partizana Zheleznyaka Str. 1) located at the top of the Krasnyy Yar hill after which the city was named is a monument to the Cossack leader Andrey Dubensky who has founded the stockaded fort of Krasnyy Yar in 1628 by the order of Michael I. The monument was erected in 2003 to honour the 375th anniversary of the city.
  • Flower monuments are located all over the city. Large figures (2–5m) made of flowers can be seen only in summer. The first figure is a Bear, it stands near the mayoralty building known for its modernist Big Ben-like clock, a family of Giraffes on the Lenina str. behind the Regional Government building knows as the Grey House (Серый дом), a Rooster near the Theater of Musical Comedy (Театр Музыкальной Комедии), a family of Elephants on the Kopylova (Копылова) str.

Do

Krasnoyarsk Hydroelectric Power Station
Krasnoyarsk, Forest Reserve Stolby

There are many hiking opportunities in the nearby forests, many of which offer nice viewpoints. It is recommended to have a guide for such an excursion as the trails are not well laid-out and there are plenty of dangers, including animals.

  • Stolby Nature Reserve (Заповедник Столбы (literally: Pillar)) (It is best to go here with a guided excursion; SibTourGuide is known to offer the best; alternatively take a bus to Hotel Snezhnaya Dolina (15km southwest of the city centre) and then walk up the 7km trail or take the chairlift of the ski-resort (Фуникулёр; R250)), ☏ +7 391 261-51-61. Stolby covers 470km² in area, with many extraordinarily-shaped volcanic rock formations up to 100m high. 
  • Roev Ruchey Zoo (Роев ручей, Russian for Royev's Brook) (1 bus stop west from the entrance to the Stolby Nature Reserve). Russian for Royev's Brook. Large animal collection, where animals live in a good environment. The most famous inhabitant is a polar bear called Sedov. 

Festivals and events

  • The City Day is celebrated every year in June, it is a spectacular show with a street carnival of different topics each year and evening fireworks.
  • Lawnmower Racing Festival occurs in July and features races on lawnmowers, motorcycles, ATVs, jet skis, gliders, hang gliders, and helicopters. Also includes music concerts.
  • APFest (Krasnoyarsk International Music Festival of the Asia-Pacific region). Last week of June. Theatre, ballet, concerts, street art, and other unique events. 
  • The Night of Ad Eaters, Opera and Ballet Theater (Perensona Str. 2). Annually in June. A collection of advertisement trailers by Jean Marie Boursicot is presented to the local elite starting at midnight. Over US$100. 
  • Krasnoyarsk Jazz-bike festival, 5 to 8 August . The first two days of this Program is jazz. Third day Program includes a lot of contests and music groups. Prepared interesting prizes. Special guest DJ "Elephant". Competitive program 7 August starting at 11PM Walking rechargeable, Arm-wrestling, fight on Balance beam, Enduro, Swim on Rubber Women. Music program on August 7, launching in 19: 00. columns of bikers will Collect at the sports complex on the island of 16.00 on 6 August.

Learn

Krasnoyarsk, Communalnyi bridge (Коммунальный мост) is the main bridge over the Yenisey river

After Novosibirsk and Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk is the most prominent scientific and educational center of Siberia with more than 30 higher education facilities, many of which are the branches of the Russian Academy of Science, and about 200 high schools. The most notable higher education institutes are:

  • Siberian Federal University (Russian abbreviation is SibFU), founded on November 4, 2006. The institution integrated four large higher education institutions (Krasnoyarsk State University, Krasnoyarsk State Academy of Architecture and Civil Construction, Krasnoyarsk State Technical University, State University of Non-Ferrous Metals and Gold)
  • Krasnoyarsk State University of Education (Russian abbreviation is KGPU), founded in 1932
  • Siberian State Technological University (Russian abbreviation is SibGTU), the oldest in the city, founded in 1930 as the Siberian Institute of the Forest
  • Siberian State Aerospace University (Russian abbreviation is SibGAU), founded in 1960
  • Krasnoyarsk State Medical Academy (Russian abbreviation is KrasGMA), founded in 1942

Similarly to Novosibirsk and Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk has a special city district called Akademgorodok (Academic Town in Russian) where many of the institutes are located. There, in the Institute of Biophysics, the experiment on ecological isolation of human beings called "Bios", similar to the US experiment Biosphere 2, has been successfully held in 1973-1985.

Work

Like any industrial center, Krasnoyarsk has a large number of employment opportunities. However, salaries are low (up to 500 USD/month is 'good', 1000+USD/month is 'very good'; higher salaries are available for top-managers or business owners only). Salaries net of taxes.

Buy

If you want to buy Siberian souvenirs or paintings of the Krasnoyarsk artists you can visit the Diana (Диана) art salon at Mira St. (ул. Мира) 51. You may try to speak English with merchants here. Another place to look for paintings of the local artists is the Khingan (Хинган) galleries at Mira St. (ул. Мира) 3, Vzlyotnaya St. (ул. Взлётная) 2 and Totmina St. (ул. Тотмина) 6. Siberian souvenirs are also sold in the Sibir-Etno (Сибирь-этно) galleries, the first of them is in the Krasnoyarsk railway station, the second is at Aviatorov St. (ул. Авиаторов) 19.

The one unique thing you're advised to buy is cedar nuts, because the Siberian region is the only region where the authentic variety of this delicacy can be purchased. Throughout the rest of the world cedar nuts are extremely expensive.

Other goods are the same as all over Russia. Chinese clothes could be slightly cheaper on the Chinese market.

Entertainment centers / shopping malls

  • Krasnoyarsk has a lot of huge trade-and-entertainment centers, similar to shopping malls, where you can find cinema theaters, restaurants, cafeterias and numerous large and small shops. The major centers are: Torgovyy Kvartal (Торговый Квартал, Russian for Trade Block) at Televizornaya Str. 1, Planeta (Планета, Russian for Planet) at Dyevyatogo Maya Str. 77 and Luch (Луч, Russian for Ray) at Karla Marksa Str. 149. Other large trading centers are Kvant (Квант, Russian for Quant) at Krasnoy Armii Str. 10, Yevraziya (Евразия, Russian for Eurasia) at Karla Marksa Str. 95-1 and Krasnoyarye (Красноярье, Russian for Places of Krasnoyarsk) at Krasnoyarskiy Rabochiy Str. 120.

Eat

There are plenty of restaurants in Krasnoyarsk. While there is no McDonalds, there are locations of KFC. There are many excellent Chinese restaurants on Mira street near the Theater of Musical Comedy.

Budget

  • Syem Slona (Съем слона), Several locations. Chain of canteen-style cafeterias. All items are under RUB100. 

Mid-range

  • Shkvarok, Mira Ave., 102A. Ukranian restaurant with a lot of character. 

Splurge

  • Balkan Grill (Балкан Гриль), Perensona 9 (Behind Krasnoyarsk Opera theater). Balkan food. Nice atmosphere, although the steaks are not top-notch. 
  • Baran i Biser (баран и бисер, Literally: Sheep and Beads), Mira #19, ☏ +7 (391) 290-40-40. Fantastic food and atmosphere. Central European, Georgian cuisine. Bakes bread in wood-fired oven. 
  • Svinya i Biser (Literally: Pig and Beads), Krasnoy Armii St., 16A. Great atmosphere and service. 
  • Shelf, 78 Dobrovolcheskoy Brigady St.#15; 2nd floor, Pervaya Bashnya Business Center, ☏ +7 (391) 291-19-19. Mains: RUB500-1,500. 

Drink

Cafes

  • Yurta Teahouse, Sibirskaya, 92/4, ☏ +7 391 286 86 09. A really cool tea house in a large yurt! Pot of tea: RUB150; Flame roasted and skewered chicken, meat and potatoes: RUB340. 

Bars

Nightclubs

There are many nightclubs all over Krasnoyarsk, but it's better to avoid those located in suburbs (the clientele can be unpleasant), or very expensive luxury clubs and restaurants (frequented by local criminals). Most cinemas have nightclubs as well. Beware of drug traffickers, which are present in most nightclubs; however, they usually don't disturb others unless approached.

  • Havana Club, ul. Bograda, 134. Includes 3 dance floors. 
  • Harley's Bar (Бар Харлей), Molokova 56, ☏ +7 391 275-99-99. Free entrance before 11PM; afterwards RUB300 for girls and RUB500 for guys. 

Sleep

Note that some hotels do not have English-speaking staff and may be in bad condition. It is advisable to read reviews online and book in advance. It is also better to book accommodation in the city centre since certain outlying areas can be a bit dodgy.

Most hotels and hostels offer free WiFi and many have computer terminals. Almost all accept credit cards. Hotels and hostels will usually provide a visa invitation and registration for an additional fee.

Budget

Hostels

  • Kiwi Hostel, Partizana Zheleznyaka 9g-17 (4th floor) (North of the city centre; Bus# 20, 30, 51, 60, 65, 77, 83, 85, 87, 91 or Trolleybus #7, 8, 11), ☏ +7 983 294 2626, . 8-bed dorm: RUB450; 6-bed dorm: RUB500. 
  • SibTourGuide Hostel, Mira street, building 85, apartment 72, ☏ +7 950 985 86 08. Check-in: 1PM, check-out: Noon. Nice hostel. The owner will arrange tours to local villages, the Stolby Nature Reserve, the Tunguska explosion site, the Hydroelectric Power Station, and boat trips on the Yenisey river. Dorm bed: RUB700; Single: RUB1,000; RUB300 fee for check-in after 9PM. 
  • Titmouse House, Mira street #120-35A; Staircase #5, 4th floor, ☏ +7 913 527-22-83. Check-in: 1PM, check-out: Noon. 8-bed dorm: RUB500; 6-bed dorm: RUB650; Twin: RUB1,600. 

Mid-range

  • Amaks City Hotel, ул. Александра Матросова, 2 (Directly across the Kommunally Bridge), toll-free: 8-800-555-5225. Terrace with a nice view of the river. 295 rooms. From RUB3,600, breakfast included. 
  • Ogni Eniseya Hotel (гостиница Огни Енисея), ul. Dubrovinskogo, 80 (on the embankment of the Yenisey River, near the Regional Museum), ☏ +7 391 227-52-62. Single: From RUB2,530; Double: From RUB4,000. 
  • Sky Hotel, Марковского, 45/1 (on the embankment of the Yenisey River, near the Regional Museum), ☏ +7 8 (391) 226-33-33; 8 (391)226-38-88, . Single: From RUB2,530; Double: From RUB4,000. 

Splurge

  • Takmak Spa Hotel (SPA Отель Такмак), Bazayskaya ul., 234-А (16km from the city centre), ☏ +7 391 231-25-31. A beautiful getaway! Includes 2 restaurants, spa, pool, sauna, fitness center, volleyball and basketball courts. Single: RUB3,200-7,000; Double: RUB3,800-8,000. 

Connect

Phone

The international code for Russia is +7, the code for Krasnoyarsk is 391.

For information on purchasing a SIM card in Russia, see Russia#Contact.

Note that SIM cards purchased elsewhere, such as in Moscow or Saint Petersburg, may be subject to roaming charges.

Internet

Free WiFi is available in most hotels, shopping malls, university buildings, cinemas, restaurants and cafes, and some public areas and parks. There are also plenty of WiFi hotspots for which you must pay. You can also buy a mobile GPRS card to enable data transfer via the cellular networks. For more information, see Russia#Contact.

Сonsulates

Stay safe

Though generally safe for the experienced traveler, Krasnoyarsk can be a tricky destination for someone not familiar with the region and culture. The downtown areas are pretty much safe all night, but in the suburbs it's highly recommended not to walk alone after dark. If you are 15–30 years old, the neighborhood of student dormitories (living blocks without balconies, usually 9-story), the inside of living districts and street cafes can be dangerous for you even at the day time due to the chances to meet drunk bullies who can be easily provoked, for example, by your unusual or not athletic look. Other places of higher risk are large market places and the railway station: be sure to keep your cash out of view and out of pickpockets' reach.

Avoid asking the police for help unless it is really necessary. If possible, communicate with the hotel staff and security first, because communication with local policemen may be unpleasant due to both the language barrier and their usual rudeness, or even dangerous, especially for non-European-looking foreigners (although police in Krasnoyarsk is far from being as dangerous as in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Sadly, this is a national problem in Russia: there is not much difference between police and criminals.

Go next

The easiest way to travel from the city is to fly to Moscow first, and then to wherever necessary. However, there are some flights from the local airport Emelianovo to China and the nearest ex-USSR countries, or through Novosibirsk and Irkutsk which can be easily reached by train.

The neighboring region of Khakassia with its major city Abakan is 400 km South, reachable by car (M-54 road) and everyday train from the railway station.

The next stops of note on the Trans-Siberian Railway are Achinsk to the west towards Novosibirsk and Kansk to the east towards Irkutsk

During the summer there are 1-2 week cruises to the Northern part of the Krasnoyarsk Krai to the mouth of the Yenisey. Everyday connections exist only for the city of Divnogorsk, located 40 km west, near the Krasnoyarsk Hydroelectric Power Station.

Routes through Krasnoyarsk
Yekaterinburg ← Achinsk ←  W  E  → Kansk → Khabarovsk



This region travel guide to Krasnoyarsk is a usable article. It gives a good overview of the region, its sights, and how to get in, as well as links to the main destinations, whose articles are similarly well developed. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.
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