Tyumen is recognized as the best city in Russia in terms of quality of life – this status was awarded to it in 2016 by the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation. A skeptical minority of Tyumen residents joke and come up with memes like “drop everything and go to Tyumen,” but for most townspeople this was not news. Tyumen residents confidently call their city “the best city on earth.” Either the Siberian scale, or the spirit of discovery – after all, Tyumen is the first Russian city in Siberia – became the reason that Tyumen residents strive to be the first and the best. First, the townspeople will send you to see the only four-level embankment in Russia made of marble and granite, and then – the largest drama theater in Russia and the largest mammoth skeleton. This scale brings to the city not only random tourists traveling along the Trans-Siberian Railway across the country, but also Russians who are interested in what the “best city in Russia” looks like and why it was called that. To understand this, take a walk through the favorite places of the Tyumen residents themselves.
Spending a weekend in Tyumen will be interesting for residents of Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Perm, Omsk, and other nearby cities, the journey from which will not take much time.
The approximate travel budget for one person is from 3600 rubles.*
- Train tickets round-trip from 1,250 rubles*;
Planes fly from Moscow to Tyumen every day. The cheapest ticket costs 2,800 rubles*, and the flight lasts 2 hours 40 minutes. - 1 night in a hostel – from 250 rubles* or in a 3* hotel – from 800 rubles*;
- The average bill in a cafe is 400 rubles;
- Walks around the city, travel on public transport, souvenirs – 800 rubles.
1. Embankment of the Tura River
The only four-level embankment in Russia is the pride of local residents and a favorite place for walking and playing sports. The total length is almost four kilometers, and the height differences are more than 25 meters. In spring, the river floods the lower tiers, so they are entirely made of marble.
There are many benches along the embankment, but on warm days townspeople like to sit on the grassy slopes or on the heated marble slabs. On summer evenings, Tyumen residents ride bicycles, rollerblades, longboards, dance, play guitars.
In summer there is a cascading fountain. On the “historical” section of the embankment there are many bronze bas-reliefs telling about the history of Russia and the region. Here is the hunt of ancient people for mammoths, and the conquest of Siberia by Ermak, and the view of Tyumen in the 19th century. On different tiers there are sculptures – the Russian navigator Vitus Bering, the cartographer Semyon Remezov, who created the famous “Drawing of the Siberian Land”, the Tyumen shipbuilder Hector Gullet and the founder of the West Siberian Shipping Company, merchant Ignatov.
All this is the first stage of the embankment. Now the construction of the second and third is underway – from the Tyumenka River to the Holy Trinity Monastery and from the Chelyuskintsev Bridge to the Maslovsky Vzvoz. The second section is especially interesting – this is the territory of the first railway station in Tyumen, where in 1917 the royal family was brought by train before being sent to Tobolsk. In addition to the station building itself, there is a complex of station buildings: two stone warehouses, a water pumping station, an office and a shipping company warehouse. It is planned to restore these buildings in their historical form and use them for public catering, craft workshops, museums and offices. The historical Maslovsky Vzvoz, a section of cobblestone pavement that smoothly descends to the embankment, will also be restored. The authorities plan to complete the construction of the line by the end of 2017.
2. Lovers’ Bridge
The pedestrian cable-stayed bridge is the calling card of Tyumen. It offers a view of the entire embankment and the Holy Trinity Monastery.
The bridge received its romantic name because of the tradition of newlyweds attaching locks with their engraved names to its railings on their wedding day. From time to time, municipal services cut them off, otherwise there would be nowhere to attach new ones. In the summer of 2017, the bridge underwent reconstruction – from gray it became white, and in the evenings it is colored by interactive lighting.
The bridge connects the embankment and Staraya Zareka – once this wooden area was called Bukhara Sloboda. Bukhara merchants who moved to Siberia lived and traded here. Immediately behind the bridge is the Ascension-George Church and the Center of Tatar Culture; the latter is located in the old 19th-century mansion of the merchant and city mayor Filimon Kolmogorov, the “leather king.” The merchant made a fortune in the production and sale of various leather goods and donated part of his own funds to the development of the city. Now the building has been restored and houses an exhibition about the life of the merchant and the history of the Tatar-Bukhara settlement in Tyumen.
House of merchant Kolmogorov
Address: Shcherbakova street, 4, building 11
Phone: +7 (3452) 532-166; 78-35-70, 8 (982) 9048534
Site: tyumen-ctk.ru
Ticket price: 100 rubles
3. Local Lore Museum “City Duma”
The most significant exhibit is a full-length mammoth skeleton, the largest of those existing in other museums in our country. It was found in 1885 near Tyumen. The paleontological exhibition also includes skeletons of a bison, a woolly rhinoceros and a cave bear.
The museum building itself is also interesting. It was built in the second half of the 19th century and represents a classic example of the “official” architectural style of the Russian province: a high staircase, massive columns with stucco, an attic, and a Corinthian portico. In the 19th century, the City Duma was located here.
A memorial stone was laid next to the museum – on the site where in 1586 the first settlers erected a wooden fortress at the mouth of the Tyumenka River. This is the highest place in the city. From here you can admire a unique landscape for the plain – the Tyumen ravines. Now they are abandoned, but the townspeople dream that someday there will be a park there.
Address: st. Lenina, 2
Phone: +7 (3452) 46-11-59
Opening hours:**
Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday – from 10:00 to 18:00
Thursday – from 12:00 to 20:00
Tickets are on sale until 17:30
Weekends: Monday, Tuesday
Site: museum-72.ru
Adult ticket price: 140 rubles
4. Republic and Lenin Streets
The main streets of Tyumen start from the City Duma Museum and run parallel to each other. In the 19th century, local merchants and intellectuals lived here. There are many cafes and restaurants, administrative buildings, university buildings, monuments, and squares. On Respublika you can look into the Kolokolnikovs’ estate museum (Respubliki, 18 and 20),
and on Lenin – in “Masharov’s House” (Lenin, 24). Both houses belonged to Tyumen merchants and patrons of the arts. Now they have exhibitions telling about the life and trade of Tyumen merchants.
When Tyumen residents want to hide from the noise of busy streets, while remaining in the center, they turn from the Republic to the streets of Dzerzhinsky, Semakov, Volodarsky, Kirov. Here you can look at ancient wooden houses with carvings, massive platbands, and first floors sunk into the ground. You can check out the trendy youth pubs “Dzerzhinsky”, “Rusty Grandfather” or the burger bar “How We Love”.
Opening hours of the Masharov House and Kolokolnikov Estate museums:**
Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday — from 10:00 to 18:00
Thursday – from 12:00 to 20:00
Weekends: Monday, Tuesday
Ticket price: 100 rubles
5. Restaurant “Happiness” in a glass ball
The restaurant opened in the very center of Tyumen in 2014. The main panoramic hall is located in a glass ball attached to the shopping center. From here you have a view of the park and the city center. Two more halls—the fireplace and the central—are located inside the shopping center.
Before the opening of the restaurant, the balloon was empty for a long time and intrigued Tyumen residents – it was not known until the end what would open there. Many townspeople were waiting for a space-themed restaurant, as the ball looks like an unearthly flying object from old films. Expectations were not met, but delicious cuisine and affordable prices quickly made the place popular. Now Tyumen residents, relaxing in a restaurant, like to post photos on Instagram with the hashtag #happinessis.
In the restaurant you can have an inexpensive lunch and a cozy dinner. The design combines aristocratic gloss and modern art. For example, the bar counter is made from many old suitcases. The main cuisine is Georgian, but there are dishes for every taste. There is often live music in the evenings.
Address: shopping center “Kalinka”, Republic, 65
Phone: +7 (3452) 666-111
Social network page
For dinner it is better to book a table in advance
6. Coffee shops Garden
Three Garden coffee shops are located in the city center. This is the most famous Tyumen coffee brand – over the course of several years of operation, the coffee shops have become loved by the townspeople, overtaking well-known federal chains. Stylish design, large panoramic windows overlooking the central streets, affordable prices and a large assortment.
Garden serves traditional and signature coffee drinks. Specialty class coffee is roasted at our own roasting facility in Tyumen. The coffee shops serve breakfast all day, and you can snack on sandwiches and desserts. You can also find a Garden-related project in the city under the Coffee makers tyumen brand – takeaway coffee outlets and a mobile minibus.
Site: gardencoffee.ru
Phone: 8-800-222-41-04
7. Tyumen Drama Theater
Now it is the largest drama theater in Russia. The five-story palace with a front facade, columns, stucco moldings and statues occupies an area of 36 thousand square meters. The largest hall has 777 seats. On the fifth floor there is an experimental stage where the Mimicry youth theater puts on performances.
The building was built in 2008 on the square of the 400th anniversary of Tyumen in record time – in a year and eight months. The area in front of the theater is currently being reconstructed.
Address: Republic, 129
Phone: +7 (3452) 40-98-33
Site: tdt.kto72.ru
8. Excursion on a double-decker bus
The red double-decker tour bus is similar to the famous London double-decker. The second floor is partially open.
A sightseeing tour of the historical places of Tyumen is called “From the fort to the capital” and takes 1.5 hours. You can choose a thematic excursion, for example, to romantic places, to temples or museums, to modern city quarters.
Ticket prices: 1st floor – 300 rubles, 2nd floor – 400
Tickets are sold at the ticket office of the City Duma Museum (Lenin St., 2). The bus leaves from here
Phone: +7 (3452) 46-11-59
Website: museum-72.ru
9. Art space “Fabric Loft”
Initiative Tyumen residents restored the building of a former furniture factory, located near the city center, in a loft style and began renting out premises for events, photo shoots, and showing movies in the evenings, treating guests to mate tea. Now the territory of “Fabric Loft” – 700 square meters – is divided into halls for exhibitions of contemporary art, workshops of traditional crafts, and showrooms. In one of the rooms, conceptual furniture is made to order from wood and metal. In the evenings there are concerts, events, educational lectures, and film screenings.
Address: Molodezhnaya, 74, building 4
Phone: 8 (922) 265-57-06
Opening hours: daily from 12:00 to 23:00**
Social network page
10. Gilevskaya Grove
The spacious park, covering an area of almost 80 hectares, opened in 2016 after a large-scale reconstruction, and now it has every chance to become the hallmark of the city, along with the embankment and the cable-stayed bridge. A picturesque stream with steep banks flows through the park, across which there is a nice pedestrian bridge. On one side of the park is Lake Krivoye. The park has children’s areas, a mini-climbing wall, gazebos, barbecues, exercise equipment, and a field for playing football. At the entrance to the park there is a composition with life-size animals of Siberia.
The park’s territory is crossed by a three-kilometer-long bicycle path. Tyumen residents love to ride bicycles, roller skates, skateboards, roller skis, run and practice Nordic walking. Roller skates and bicycles can be rented right in the park.
Lovers of a relaxing holiday can explore Lake Krivoye from observation platforms. This part of the park is rarely crowded, you can hear the singing of birds, the knocking of a woodpecker, the creaking of pine trees swaying in the wind.
How to get there:City buses route 27 go to the forest park. The journey by public transport from the city center will take from 30 to 40 minutes, by car – from 20 minutes.
Roller skates on weekends from 9:00 to 20:00**
On weekdays you need to call in advance by phone 8-922-000-56-72
An hour of roller skating costs 150 rubles, and an hour of cycling costs 180 rubles. You will have to leave your document as collateral.
11. Thermal hot springs
People come to the Tyumen springs with thermal water for treatment from all over the Urals and neighboring cities of Siberia, and sometimes from other regions of the country. Mineral water “Tyumenskaya-2” contains bromine and sodium salts, and its total mineralization is 75 grams per liter. Hot water comes from drilled wells. One of them reaches a depth of 1,233 meters.
Tyumen residents themselves love to relax in hot water on weekends, especially during severe winter frosts. Water temperature is from 39 to 46 degrees. At the same time, the air temperature can reach minus 30-35 degrees. The puffs of steam against the backdrop of snow-covered trees are impressive.
Almost all the springs are located outside the city. The most popular: recreation centers “Verkhny Bor”, “Sosnovy Bor”, “Avan”, “Volna”. The latter is the most affordable and the only one within the city (Ermaka Street, 2A). It can be reached by public transport. There are also so-called wild springs, but we do not recommend swimming in them for your safety and health.
Visit cost: from 350 rubles.
* Prices for travel and accommodation are indicated at the time of writing. The cost indicated in the material and the final price may vary depending on the season and time for which tickets are purchased.
**Operating hours of organizations are indicated at the time of publication of the text. Opening hours may vary depending on the time of year.
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Text author: Daniya Gaisina
