Chelyabinsk residents call their city the capital of the South Urals, which is incorrect from the point of view of geography, but reflects the essence of the city. This is a large metropolis south of Yekaterinburg and east of the Ural Mountains, famous for its mighty metallurgical plants, space cataclysms and the all-Russian meme – “harsh men.” The latter, however, is a myth: a very hospitable people live here, they know a lot about entertainment of a very different order.
Residents of Yekaterinburg, Ufa, Tyumen, Perm and other nearby cities will be interested in spending a weekend in Chelyabinsk. . *
- Round-trip train tickets 1,270 rubles;
Planes fly from Moscow to Chelyabinsk every day. The cheapest ticket costs 2,199 rubles, and the flight lasts 2.5 hours. - 1 night in a hostel – from 350 rubles * or in a 3 * hotel – from 500 rubles;
- Average bill in a cafe – 400 rubles;
- City walks, public transport, souvenirs – 800 rubles.
1. South Ural Arbat
It is worth starting your acquaintance with the city from Kirovka – a pedestrian street in the very center of the city. The symbolic gate of Kirovka overlooks the main square of Chelyabinsk, it is small in length, but there is something to see here: it is on the Chelyabinsk Arbat that you can see a combination of ancient merchant buildings and modern high-rise office centers, which is rare for megalopolises, take pictures next to the sculptures of a policeman, a beggar, flirtatious fashionistas or a guitarist painfully reminiscent of Alexander Rosenbaum. Do not ignore Lefty with his metal flea and cast-iron camels, which must have escaped from the city’s coat of arms.
Here, on Kirovka, you can listen to street musicians, watch the performances of artists, take part in regularly occurring flash mobs on a variety of topics, visit boutiques. And if you are tired and hungry, then numerous cafes and bars are always happy to open their doors. In the Irish pub Fox & Goose, for example, at one time the presidents of Russia and Kazakhstan, Vladimir Putin and Nursultan Nazarbayev, did not disdain to treat themselves to beer. And in the late afternoon, you should visit the MeetPoint network with its dance floor – there are not only great steaks and kebabs, but also mind-blowing themed parties.
Fox & Goose opening hours: 11-00 – 24-00. **
Social page.
Opening hours MeetPoint: 11-00 – 05-00. **
Page in the social network.
2. Museum of local lore with the remains of the famous meteorite
After completing your tour of Kirovka, do not be too lazy to walk just a couple of hundred meters: on the bank of the Miass River, the main and only, albeit fairly overgrown, water artery of Chelyabinsk, there is a regional museum of local lore. Prices are reasonable, guides are friendly. Here you can admire the tusks of prehistoric South Ural mammoths and sabers of quite historical Bashkirs and Tatars who have lived in the South Urals from time immemorial. And from recent history – a hefty piece of the Chelyabinsk meteorite that flew over the city on February 15, 2013. The space visitor fell into Lake Chebarkul, 80 kilometers from Chelyabinsk, but even flying past, he managed to mess things up: the area of windows knocked out by a sound wave can be measured in square kilometers, and how many Chelyabinsk residents spent nerves trying to call relatives and friends and convince them that it was meteorite, not World War III – no medical institute can count.
By the way, you can buy souvenirs in the museum. At one time, both here and at flea markets in different parts of the city, perfumes “with the smell of a meteorite” and even pieces of molten metal, supposedly of the very heavenly iron, were going with a bang.
Opening hours of the local history museum:
Tue-Fri: 10-00 – 19-00. **
Sun: 11-00 —19-00. **
Day off: Monday.
Site: chelmuseum.ru
3. Gagarin Park of Culture and Leisure
The Southern Urals are called “the second Switzerland” for a reason: here, like in the Alps, there are both old low mountains and endless forests. There is also a piece of this nature in industrial Chelyabinsk. The Gagarin Park of Culture and Leisure smoothly turns into the city forest, stretching for many kilometers to the west of the city center. But those looking for entertainment do not need to delve into the labyrinth of old paths, on which Chelyabinsk residents themselves, it happens, get lost. There are no mountains and rocks in PKiO, but here you can feel like a real Tarzan: the cable cars of the Forest Extreme attraction are stretched over a large part of the “civilized” territory of the city pine forest. Put on your climbing harness – and forward to the trees! Fans of outdoor activities will surely appreciate the opportunity to rush in a “bungee” over the heads of passers-by or over the smooth surface of an old pond, then climb the rope net even higher, where the next obstacles (but surmountable even without special preparation) and adventures (which will probably end well) will await.
Rope park operating hours: 11-00 – 21-00. **
Rope park website: les-extrem.ru.
4. Theaters of Chelyabinsk
Lovers of cultural leisure who have arrived in Chelyabinsk are certainly advised to visit the Naum Orlov Drama Theater. The oldest temple of the muses in the South Urals (96 years old!) And today pleases connoisseurs of drama, comedy and tragedy. The theater’s repertoire includes performances for every taste – from the classic Hamlet to the modern Lady for a Day by the popular director Dmitry Astrakhan, and famous troupes of a federal scale perform here on tour.
Connoisseurs of informal art will find pleasure to their taste in the Palace of Culture of Railway Workers – the theater-studio “At the Steam Locomotive” has been working here for many years, and local amateur actors regularly perform amazing plays. In front of a small, only fifty seats, hall “locomotives” present daring, young works – “The Last Woman of Senor Juan”, “Salute to the Dinosaurs”, “We Are Different”. And although formally the status of the studio is amateur, the intensity of passions on the local stage is no lower than that of the honored pros.
Dram site. Orlov Theater: cheldrama.ru.
Page in the social network of the theater studio “At the steam locomotive”.
5. Jurassic Cultural Park
Remember when we talked about mammoth tusks in the local history museum? Visitors to the PKiO named after Gagarin can plunge into the Earth’s past even deeper than lovers of quiet historical exhibitions. Having finished with “Forest Extreme”, those who wish can get into the Mesozoic era on the territory of the “Lost World” dinopark. Yes, dinosaurs are not really real here. But nevertheless, thrill is guaranteed even for the brave: few beginners are able to maintain self-control when a two-meter oviraptor meets him with a pincer-toothed grin around the bend of the path. And this raptor is screaming from the loudspeakers disguised in the grass … And how it snaps its teeth! But don’t be alarmed, it’s just that this fossil protects its future cubs – there they are, eggs, in the grass under the clawed paws.
However, in “The Lost World” there are also plenty of peaceful monsters. For example, the ducks in the local pond have long been accustomed to being close to the plesiosaur (yes, the same Loch Ness monster!), And they do not hesitate to pick up crumbs from the buns from the water right under the flippers of an ancient reptile.
Dinopark operating hours: 11-00 – 20-00. **
Website: chelzoo.ru.
6. Cafe “Tomato”
In Chelyabinsk, of course, there are fast foods of federal and international brands – from McDonald’s to Subway, but locals often prefer them almost homemade food. For example, from pizzerias “Tomato”, which can be found in any corner of the city. Cheerful young guys and girls will quickly and tasty feed any of two dozen signature pizzas here, prepare pasta and other masterpieces of Italian cuisine, willingly serve a glass of limoncella or a tomato drink as an aperitif, and after a meal – tea or coffee with dessert, but there will be a desire – and homebrew beer. Here they are deservedly proud of the repeatedly won “Golden Fork” – the city culinary award, the laureates of which are determined annually. But “Tomato” pleases with a relatively low price tag: for 250-500 rubles per person, you can arrange a real feast here, and you can find pizzerias at the beginning of Kirovka in the historical center of the city, and in the area of an extensive park of culture and recreation, and in Kalininsky or Traktorozavodsky districts – if someone wants to look at the power of the former Tankograd.
Pomodora working hours: 12-00 – 00-00. **
Network site: hce.ru
7. Rest on the lake
The Chelyabinsk region is called “the land of a thousand lakes”, but the city itself was not lucky in this regard: there are reservoirs, but you can only swim in them, having stocked up on a serious degree of Chelyabinsk “severity”. They say that even the elephants from the Warsaw Zoo, splashing around in Lake Smolino, were not very happy.
However, there is a way out for beach lovers. Minibus taxis from the center will easily take everyone to the sun, air and water – for example, to Lake Kremenkul.
Formally, this reservoir is located outside the city and private cottages have long sprung up on its shores. Here, at the service of those in need – official and “wild” beaches, numerous cafes, parking lots, barbecue zones and other gifts of civilization in the bosom of nature. The main thing is to guess with the changeable weather in Chelyabinsk, because the dry calm in a matter of hours can be replaced by a biblical flood. Which, however, has its own charm.
* Prices for travel and accommodation are indicated at the time of writing. The cost indicated in the material and the final price may differ depending on the season and the time for which tickets are purchased.
** The operating hours of the organizations are indicated at the time of publication of the text. Opening hours may vary depending on the season.
Text writer: Kirill Babushkin