You should definitely spend you first day in the center of Nizhny Novgorod. One of the main images associated with the city is the Dmitrievskaya Tower (St Demetrius Tower). Minin and Pozharsky Square, which is the main city square, commands a magnificent view of this tower and has roads radiating in several directions. You can explore the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, with all its scenic viewpoints and the Governor’s Garden, take a circular route along the Kremlin wall and visit several museums in the Kremlin towers.

Another option is to see the Monument to Valery Chkalov and the famous Chkalov Stairs, to enjoy the breathtaking views of Strelka, a narrow strip of land at the confluence of the Volga and the Oka, and to stroll along Verkhne-Volzhskaya (Upper Volga) Embankment lined with museums. If you walk all along the embankment, you will reach Sennaya Square with one of the city’s main attractions — a cableway, which can take you across the Volga to Bor, a satellite town of Nizhny Novgorod.

If you take a walk from Minin Square up along Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street, the main pedestrian precinct in the city, you are bound to encounter a lot of exciting architectural and gastronomic adventures: numerous restaurants, museums and even a flea market on weekends.

Many come to Nizhny Novgorod for culture: here you can find many classical museums that offer interactive programs. New galleries and studios of contemporary art keep popping up, some have their own residencies and educational programs.

Over the last decade, Nizhny Novgorod has trended as the capital of street art, international artists are coming here for festivals while local artists are actively conquering foreign venues. Feel free to choose what resonates with you the most: take a walk along the street art routes designed by the MESTO festival, visit one of the contemporary art centers such as the Arsenal in the Kremlin, Tikhaya or Terminal A studios, see classical museums of Nizhny Novgorod and marvel at The Call to Arms of Kuzma Minin, a seven-meter painting by Konstantin Makovsky, enjoy audiovisual art at TSEKH*, an experimental multimedia space, and learn more about INTERVALS, an annual international media art festival. Make sure to visit the exposition at the Pakgauzy exhibition hall on Strelka.

Indeed, visual art in Nizhny Novgorod deserves a day of its own!

After two days spent in Nizhny Novgorod, you must have learned a lot about its history and enjoyed the art of different eras displayed in the city’s galleries and museums.

We suggest having a good rest today and enjoying splendid views of the Spit known as Strelka. Multiple slopes and descents of the city provide excellent vantage points. Due to uneven topography, the views in the upper part of the city are always delightful. If you are not in the mood to leave the central part of the city, we recommend the views from Fedorovskogo Embankment and the 800th Anniversary Park. From here, you can see the lower part of the city, Strelka, the football stadium and the Nizhny Novgorod Fair.

If your heart pines for more greenery and quiet walks overlooking the great rivers, here are a few more options: Alexandrovsky Garden, Shweitsariya Park, Verkhne-Volzhskaya (Upper Volga) Embankment, Strelka. Anyway, you are sure to get postcard-like views and nice photos as a memento. We invite you to join the meditative tradition of many locals and watch the sunset from one of the embankments. After all, Nizhny is the capital of sunsets, see for yourself.

You must be feeling thoroughly rested and energetic after Day 3. We suggest you fill this day with emotions and interact with the city and those who make it better. Here are some ideas for a real adventure:

Interactive tours to the Heritage Quarters will plunge you into stories based on traditions and legends of the neighborhood restored and protected by the project team.

Promenade performances. If you happen on one of these during the weekend of your visit to Nizhny, you are in luck. The Nizhny Novgorod Center of Theater Arts regularly surprises locals and tourists with their projects, interacts with the streets and objects of the city, involves audiences in their performances.

Walks with local urbanists. Check out walk announcements from local experts like Dima Four or Anton Martsev.

Immersive audio tours arranged as small performances by Zvuchit NN and theatricalized walks from Farolero.

Festivals and markets. There can be one of those festivals in Sverdlov Square during your stay in Nizhny. Going there is a great way to socialize with locals, listen to good music and buy souvenirs at a local market.

During the first days of your trip to Nizhny Novgorod, you must have opted for eateries along your travel route. Today we suggest you put everything else aside and thoroughly plan your breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper and coffee breaks in the most exciting venues of the city. You should have a closer look at a fancy set of gastroprojects from the Regional Association of Restaurateurs and choose something to please your palate.

The previous day was hardly overwhelmed with new knowledge and long walks, so today is the time to make up for it. Let’s travel to one of the following popular tourist areas in the region:

Gorodets

One of the most ancient and beautiful towns in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. It is easy to get there by car, by bus or by Valday hydrofoil boat — a perfect weekend trip. Quiet streets, merchant mansions and wooden houses with carved window dressings, lots of museums, a Town of All Trades famous for its handicrafts.

Arzamas

You must have heard about the Arzamas literary circle, Arzamas geese and Arzamas onions, about Leo Tolstoy’s 'Arzamas Horror' and about the famous Soviet writer Arkady Gaidar, who spent his childhood there. Maxim Gorky was exiled to Arzamas while the famous painter Vasily Perov studied there. The town was visited by Alexander Pushkin, Empress Catherine II, Alexander Suvorov. There used to be more than thirty churches. A famous saying 'One eye on us, and one on Arzamas' has gone viral and is firmly a part of the Russian oral folklore.

Diveyevo

The village of Diveyevo is an important spiritual center of Orthodox Russia and a major pilgrimage destination. The Saint Seraphim-Diveyevo Monastery, a convent with many churches, chapels and shrines, is definitely worth a visit. Even if you are going there as a tourist rather than a pilgrim, you will appreciate the amazing architecture, ancient frescoes, beautiful gardens, and most importantly, you will feel the serenity that we miss badly in a noisy metropolis.

Semyonov

Semyonov is the center of Old Believers, the capital of the Golden Khokhloma and the birthplace of poet Boris Kornilov. Founded in the 17th century not far from the legendary river of Kerzhenets, this is a town with small wooden houses with intricate carvings, a real open-air museum!

Bogorodsk

This leathercraft and pottery town, the birthplace of famous actor Anatoly Solonitsyn, known to us from Tarkovsky’s films, has grown from a small trading settlement of the 16th century. There you can buy famous Bogorodsky Souvenir candies and attend a clay modelling workshop in the Ceramics Museum, go skydiving in summer, skiing or snowboarding in Khabarskoye resort in winter.

Feel free to choose any other exciting destination on our map or from ready-made tours provided by the local operators.

If this is the final day of your trip to Nizhny Novgorod, don’t rush. Have another walk around the places you’ve taken to and check the Route Builder to see if there are any remarkable spots you may have missed out on.

A good idea for a farewell day is to buy some souvenirs from the local brands. Rethinking folk styles and ancient lace, conceptual designs and original ceramics. You can learn more about the local brands in the Discover Nizhny Telegram channel, using #local.