The Nizhny Novgorod region ranks first among all Russia’s regions in terms of the number of preserved folk arts and crafts. Furthermore, mechanical engineering and other types of manufacturing are well-developed in the region, with 750 large and medium-sized enterprises, and 502 manufacturing enterprises.
According to the results of a competitive ranking by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, the Nizhny Novgorod region is among the top 5 regions of Russia in terms of the development of industrial tourism. A total of 10 enterprises from the region took part in the programme, including the Vyksa Metallurgical Plant, which came top in the nomination for Synergy of Art and Industry, while the Gorky Automobile Plant won the nomination for Best Industrial Tourism Project that Changes the Idea of the Brand, and the Ariel Glass Christmas Tree Decorations Factory won in the nomination For Creating a Special Atmosphere on a Production Tour. Today, about 50 enterprises are already involved.
Additionally, this year the Nizhny Novgorod region became the mentor region of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives for the development of industrial tourism.
In our digest below, we will take you through the most interesting opportunities for industrial tourism in the Nizhny Novgorod region. A lot of interesting things await you!
The Vyksa Metallurgical Plant, founded way back in 1757, is the largest manufacturer of welded steel pipes and railway wheels. Today it is the most outstanding example of the development of industrial tourism in the Nizhny Novgorod region.
The company has developed special tourist routes to explore the production facilities, and the plant also features the largest monumental mural in the world created by a single artist, Misha Most. And industrial marvels are not the only reason to come here, there’s also the modern art. Starting in 2011, OMK has initiated and supported one of Russia’s largest festivals for the development of contemporary art, the Vyksa Festival. You can find all the options for visiting, as well as additional recommendations for traveling to Vyksa on the website.
In 1992, the first waffle cone was produced at a small family factory, which today is a major industrial enterprise producing 100 types of frozen desserts for every taste and preference, from classic ice cream to exotic yogurt-based ice cream.
Here you can see how ice cream is produced, take part in the process, and even try it directly from the assembly line as part of a small team (up to 15 people) and organised groups (15 people or more). The price of the tour is 2000 rubles.
Ariel has inherited the traditions of the production of glass Christmas decorations established by the first Gorky glass blowers back in 1936. The factory produces original glass decorations featuring characters from Russian fairy tales for 21 countries around the world, and you can buy them either in the factory store or online.
Immerse yourself in the history of Nizhny Novgorod Christmas tree decorations, and make an appointment to try your hand on painting them in a master class.
A team group visit (up to 15 people) costs 1200 rubles per person, while an organised group visit (from 20 to 45 people) is priced at 1000 rubles per person.
The renovated GAZ Museum is a modern, spectacular space based around a collection of cars and trucks produced in different periods. Among them, for example, are the legendary Volga, Pobeda («Victory»), and Chaika («Seagull») models in various modifications.
The museum is interactive in many ways — here, for example, you can get behind the wheel or climb into the back of a modern Gazelle NN, use touch screens to take a look at the internal structure of the cars, listen to the memories of car makers on audio streams, and with the help of a VR helmet you can see how the legendary «half-truck», the GAZ-AA, was assembled on the conveyor.
An adult ticket to the exhibition costs 500 rubles, a student ticket costs 200 rubles, and a child ticket costs 150 rubles.
Sibur-Neftekhim is the largest petrochemical company in the Nizhny Novgorod region, and one of the most successful in Russia. It is a huge plant, whose products are used as raw materials by petrochemical and chemical enterprises, as well as by companies in other industries.
The company produces ethylene, propylene, benzene: the primary products for making film and plastic. Over a territory of several square kilometres in the open air there are tall furnaces, huge complex columns, in fact an entire city of pipes and mechanisms, with platforms, ladders, valves, and a vast amount of equipment.
In recent years, group tours have been organised on the territory of the plant to promote the industrial potential of the region. You can sign up for a group tour either as part of the PromExcursovod volunteer team, or through the Excursions form on the website.
Rikor Electronics manufactures electronic and electrical products for use in various industries. During the tour, you can learn how to work in the workshops, find out about the specifics of the production of laptops and tablets, as well as learning about employment prospects and how leisure time is organised for the enterprise’s employees.
The Khokhloma Painting Workshop is one of the main symbols of the Nizhny Novgorod region, and it is here that a wide variety of products are made, products which are renowned not only in Russia but also internationally. We recommend visiting several tourist sites at once: a display cabinet showing the finest products made by local artisans, the Golden Khokhloma museum and tourist centre, where you can get find out more about the history of the craft and view an extensive collection of products with paintings from the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as the House of Semyon Lozhkar, a folk museum where you will learn more about the way of life of the master craftsmen of the Volga forests.
You can find out the price of a tour and make your appointment by phone, and on the website you can go on a 3D tour of each individual space within the museum complex.
The only underground museum in Russia, located directly in the working mine of the Peshelansky gypsum plant, at a depth of 70 metres. Down here you can see stalactites, samples of Paleolithic paintings, underground rivers and lakes with waterfalls, as well as learn interesting facts about the history of mining and observe how gypsum is mined.
According to the summer tariff, a tour will cost 2,200 rubles, concessions — 1,700 rubles. Please note that the minimum age to take part in a tour is 14.
Ruspolimet has evolved over the years from being a mining plant to becoming an advanced metallurgical enterprise. Over the course of the tour, you will learn all the subtleties of the processes taking place in the laboratory, get acquainted with modern equipment, see how metallographic studies are carried out in the laboratory, and haow mechanical tests are conducted. And in the Teremok museum of History and Folklore you will find an exhibition dedicated to the history of the Kulebak Metallurgical plant
The Volga Paper Mill produces paper for printing newspapers, books, textbooks and other printed products, the production of corrugated cardboard, and much more besides. The tour includes a visit to a sawmill, a wood pulp processing workshop where the cleaning and separation into fibres takes place, a paper and packaging production workshop, as well as a warehouse where the finished products are stored.
The crystal clear anhydrite mined in the Bornukovskaya cave is the real gem of the village. Ever since the 19th century, snow-white sculptures have been made from it that have graced exhibitions all over Europe, as well as the palaces of a numer of famous people. The factory’s master craftsmen have breathed new life into the art of stone-cutting, and today, in addition to sculptures, more than 70 types of household items, decorative products and souvenirs made of anhydrite are being developed within its walls.
The company’s employees conduct group tours in a complex with master classes in stone cutting costing 700 rubles for a full ticket and 600 rubles for a reduced price, as well as individual master classes for only 400 rubles. Here you can also buy ready-made souvenirs, or develop your own design at workshops on painting plaster figurines or rock art.
Wood painting originated in Gorodets in the 19th century, and the Gorodetsky Painting Factory, first opened in 1960, carries on the traditions of the first craftsmen and introduces them to all its visitors. Modern craftsmen hand-paint wooden products, referencing a wide variety of themes, from folk festivals to characters of Slavic folklore.
Visitors to the factory can to see how local artists work, and also have a look round the museum, where the best works are on display. Inspired as you are by what you have seen, you can take part in a master class and try your hand at painting a panel or a matryoshka board for yourself.
Since 2017, the Museum of Matryoshka Dolls and Traditional Toys has been open to visitors in the grounds of the Semyonovskaya Painting factory. Here anyone can find out more about the history of the Semenovskaya matryoshka doll, explore a vast collection of antique matryoshkas produced by the local factory, as well as other products of the former USSR. Additionally, the exhibition features exhibits of contemporary art designed by the factory’s numerous partners from around the world.
The museum is open daily except for Mondays, on weekdays from 9:30 to 17:30, and on Saturday and Sunday until 14:00. Admission price with an excursion included starts from 300 rubles, and master classes and tour groups can also be organised.
The Sormovskaya Confectionery Factory is one of the few enterprises in the region producing a full range of confectionery products, from sweets and cookies to marshmallows and marmalade, as well as independently carrying out primary processing for cocoa beans.
The factory museum runs excursions lasting an hour and a half for schoolchildren aged between 9 and 17 accompanied by an adult. To make an appointment for a tour, contact the museum administration in advance and sign up for one of the available slots: 9:30, 12:00, or 14:00 on any weekday (Saturday, Sunday — weekend). The number of tourists in the group is recommended to be between 15 and 30 people, including the accompanying adults.
A production facility where you will fully appreciate the meaning of the word «filigree». Products made in the rare technique of Cossack filigree are used in the design of a wide range of souvenirs, from functional accessories, including handbags, bracelets, necklaces and rings, to interior decor, including corporate gifts. There is a museum in the grounds of the enterprise where excursions and master classes are held. You can also sign up for organised excursions to the production workshops.
The facility is open to visitors on weekdays from 10:00 to 14:00, and outside of these hours visits can be organised by prior individual agreement with the guide.
This museum meticulously preserves the centuries-old traditions of the unique Nizhny Novgorod guipure embroidery, and combines them with modernity by applying them to actual shapes and textiles. It produces sets of bed and table linen, napkins, as well as skirts, blouses, and robes made of linen and cotton with artistic embroidery.
In 2004 the company opened an exhibition hall, where visitors can see the fabulous world of Nizhny Novgorod guipure man-made embroidery, explore the history of its origin, see preserved materials and exhibits of craft artels of the mid-20th century, exhibition samples and competitive products made by craftsmen and artists across different generations. The factory exhibition hall can be visited either individually or as part of group, and is open on weekdays from 8:00 to 17:00.
As part of the development of industrial tourism, as well as career guidance activities of the energy branch of PJSC RosSeti Center and Volga Region, Nizhnovenergo organises excursions to the Strelka substation for schoolchildren, as well as tourists excursions to cultural heritage sites located where RosSeti operates. For example, just an hour’s drive from Nizhny Novgorod you can visit a unique monument of the Russian architectural avant garde, the Shukhov Tower on the Oka, from 8:00 to 21:00 on weekdays, and until 22:00 on weekends.
This production facility is considered to be a continuation of the traditions of the ancient Russian art of gold embroidery. To this very day, Gorodetsky craftswomen preserve the traditions of the decoration of fabulous «razmetny herbs» or plant motifs, with the help of a hammered seam which slightly rises above the fabric. A wide variety of textile products with embroidery are produced here, mainly women’s outfits.
The factory features the Gorodetsky Gold Embroidery exhbition hall, where you can either go on a guided tour or find out about the products and history of this craft on your own.
The lace industry first reached Balakhna at the beginning of the 18th century, and by the 19th century the town had become the centre of lacemaking for the entire Nizhny Novgorod region, and the facility is still in operation to this day. The Balakhninsky Patterns lace-weaving workshop operates in the Plotnikov’s House museum, part of the Balakhninsky Museum Historical and Artistic Complex. There is also a Lace Hood Style exhibition.
Many Nizhny Novgorod residents are familiar with Lyskov lemonades. Today, you can also look behind the scenes of the production of local beer and soft drinks using natural raw materials. Excursions to the brewery are organised by many of the region’s tour operators.
Over the course of the excursions you will be told about the history of the plant, introduced to the main components and technology in the brewhouse, and be shown around the beer fermentation room and the bottling process. And, of course, a tasting can easily be organised!
The NMZHK Group of Companies produces food products, industrial margarines and other food ingredients, as well as soap. During a tour of the plant, you can see the production of mayonnaise, margarine, view the bakery and tasting shop, as well as the production of fried seeds. In the tasting shop of the Development and Implementation Centre, you can try shortbread cookies made with local margarine.
This advanced Russian glass industry facility, which can trace its history back to 1934, has been completely modernised using 21st century technologies. At this truly unique complex, you can see how more than 1,200 tons of sheet glass are produced per day, as well as learn how a furnace that has no rivals anywhere in the world works for the production of small-scale batches of automotive glass.
Greenhouses in the Forest is a plant in the Nizhny Novgorod region growing tomatoes, cucumbers and green vegetables using modern Dutch technologies. Today the greenhouse complex occupies an area of 17.3 hectares of land. The complex features the latest equipment enabling the automatic control of the plant cultivation process, including adjusting levels of humidity, nutrition, irrigation, temperature, and artificial illumination, and you can see all this with your own eyes.
The Lenin Breeding Farm can trace its history back to 1931 in the Koverninsky district. Today it is a multidisciplinary enterprise that produces sausages, semi-finished meat products, and dairy products. On the farm, you can learn how «smart» production works» — feed podmotors, a feed dispenser robot, and a manure cleaner robot «work» here.
One of the largest oil refining enterprises in Russia, with a declared oil refining capacity of 17 million tonnes per year — according to this indicator, the facility ranks first in the PJSC LUKOIL group. To date, the plant is the only manufacturer and supplier of solid food paraffins in Russia. At the factory, you can see how the work of one of the region’s largest taxpayers is organised.
The first and largest secondary polymer processing plant in Russia. On the tour, you can see how plastic is processed into raw materials for the production of plastic bottles, synthetic fibres for clothing or furniture, paving slabs, and much more besides, as well as immerse yourself in the working process of the plant and examine all the stages of polyethylene processing: sorting (by colour, quality, clean/dirty waste), pressing, cutting, washing, drying and producing the end-product granules.
To date, this is the only waste sorting plant in the Nizhny Novgorod region equipped with automated waste sorting lines. The production facility has an eco-educational mission: its employees say that if waste were sorted at home, the waste recycling industry, which is still taking only its first steps in Russia, would be much easier to develop. During the tour, you will learn all about how waste is recycled.
One of the enterprises of the region working with the Khokhloma painting technique, a type of wood painting using a unique technology for creating a golden background and herbal ornaments. It offers a wide selection of hand-painted modern and functional natural wood products of its own manufacture. In addition to the production facility, a Museum of Folk Art is located in the grounds of the factory, where excursions and painting master classes are held regularly.
A factory for the production of wooden toys, offering excursions where you will visit a hand-finishing workshop and can take part in a master class on assembling weapons. In the interactive zone you can practise marksmanship, and you can see the entire production cycle, from the idea to the finished product. After all, it is interesting not only to play with toys, but also to see how they are created.
Varco is the Varnavinsky bone carving workshop, which preserves the traditions that came to the Nizhny Novgorod lands from the north back in the 17th century. Today, more than 300 types of functional and decorative products are produced here, including a complete set of women’s jewellery, jewellery boxes, chess pieces, candlesticks, and even writing materials.
Continuing the region’s tradition of wood painting, you can find here not only the company’s own products here, but also products by talented artists from all over the country. In addition to a large assortment of original souvenirs, other products made here include themed dolls with rulers of different years, or with different animals, as well as activity sets for independent creativity.
This is our own full-cycle production facility, from timber logs to finished products, so here you can see all the stages of manufacture, from wood-cutting to hand-painted art. As part of the visit, you can participate in the painting process and make your own matryoshka doll to take home with you.
When travelling in the Nizhny Novgorod region, you can also visit:
