From Wikitravel

Saratov is a city in the Volga region of Russia.

[edit] Get in

The only way to fly to Saratov is from Domodedevo Airport in Moscow with Saravia. They only fly Yak40 and Yak42 aircraft which are made in Saratov. The flight takes about an hour and a half and can cost approximately 100 dollars.

Otherwise the best way to get there is by train from Moscow's Pavletsky Station, which takes approximately 16 hours. Saratov is also easily accessible via rail from Samara to the north and Volgograd and Astrakhan to the south. Lufthansa operates a limited flight schedule between Frankfurt and Samara.

There are also buses between Saratov and many other cities, including Moscow. However, the comfort and value of the rail system over the vast distances involved makes the bus service a comparatively unattractive option.

[edit] Get around

Saratov, like most provincial Russian towns, is served by a network of trams, buses and marshrutkas (set-route minibuses). The main terminus for most forms of transport is the area around the Kritiy Rynok (market) at the top of Prospekt Kirova. There are also taxis, both official and non-official. As with all non-official taxis in Russia, agree a price with the driver before setting off.

Getting around Saratov generally requires cash since credit cards are not widely accepted in many non-hotel or non-retail shopping endeavors including travel. It is important to have roubles or an ATM card with which to get roubles because US dollars are not widely accepted and banks, even with proper identification, typically only convert one hundred dollars at a time and even then only accept certain series of US bills. During the Christmas period banks have a very limited schedule of hours. Be aware that after January 1, 2008, Western Union transfers are very difficult if they are made to a foreigner since new rules require not just a passport but that the passport be notarized by a Russian notary. Saravia tickets require cash and can be purchased at DME, the Saratov airport, and the Saratov train station. It is anticipated that in the not too distant future Saravia will follow Russian air carriers like S-7 in utilizing online booking. Since Saravia does not have international partners, if you miss a Saravia flight because of a late flight to DME wou will not receive a refund or ticket on another flight. Since overweight baggage incurs charges which may approach the cost of the ticket, be careful about baggage weight. Because overweight charges are paid at a different counter in DME, allow yourself extra time for the check-in process in case it turns out you are overweight. While there are money exchanges at both the Saratov airport and train station, the hours of operation are limited. Usually there are men in the train station who will exchange US dollars but at bad rates and with the risk of getting counterfeited roubles. In the present currency market situation Euros are probably easier to work with in Saratov.

[edit][add listing] See

See the magnificent Volga river - the longest river in Europe. At the most popular spot (Naberezhnaya Kosmonavtov, the Cosmonauts Embankment) the Volga is 3km wide, whereas at some other spots nearby Saratov its width reaches as much as 11km. The Embankment also features the beautiful "Old Bridge", built in mid-20th century. The bridge was the longest in Europe until the 1980's.

[edit][add listing] Do

Despite its provincial setting, Saratov has much to offer by way of culture. Enjoy a classical concert in the pseudo-gothic Conservatory on Prospekt Kirova, or an opera or ballet in the nearby Bolshoy Teatr. Tickets are very reasonably priced and available from the box offices of both venues. In January of 2008 ticket prices were less than four dollars US and represent an incredible bargain.

Visit the circus, one of the first in Russia to be established in its own dedicated building.

Go to the Radischev art gallery - the first public art gallery opened in Russia (19th century). Some fine European, as well as Russian pieces of art are gathered here. The gallery also features a computer room where visitors can access various art-related programmes, including one showing scenes of architectural gems lost under Communism and their modern replacements.

Support the local soccer team - Sokol - and attend a match in the stadium beside the train station.

Take a stroll in Gorodskii Park and try out the bumper cars, ferris wheel and waltzers in its fairground. Most of the rides are open even on the coldest days of winter. Victory Park is another great place to visit. Before Christmas the area around Lenin's statue in the central part of the city is a fun place for kids with sleigh rides and photo opportunities with Russian version of Santa Claus. There is also an inexpensive large public outdoor ice skating rink a few blocks from Lenin's statue but although they rent skates be prepared for a long wait to rent them. There are also large beautiful forests in and around Saratov.

There are several beaches on the Volga river including some on an island.

[edit][add listing] Buy

The usual Russian souvenirs such as matryoshkas are available in Saratov, although if travelling through Moscow it is probably best to wait to get them there as they will be cheaper.

The markets in Saratov are useful spots to pick up winter clothes if necessary, including coats, boots, leather gloves and of course hats. Haggling is indulged.

Prospekt Kirova is the most upmarket shopping area in the city, with fancy boutiques selling expensive shoes, bags and jewellery. There is also a branch of Zara. Also on Prospekt Kirova is an excellent tobacconist, selling all kinds of pipes and tobacco including hookah pipes, as well as a speciality tea shop.

Barrikada, on Ulitsa Gorkogo, is an excellent alternative music store that sells legitimate (i.e. non-pirate) albums and music DVDs at prices much cheaper than in Western Europe, and stocks a diversity of artists unparalleled by even Moscow's gargantuan Gorbushka market.

Electronics can be purchased from one of the city's branches of El Dorado (one particularly large one is located on the embankment near the river station).

Dom Knigi, the book shop on the corner of Ulitsa Volskaya and Prospekt Kirova, has an English language section and is also a good spot to pick up postcards, maps and souvenirs such as books of old postcard views of Saratov.

Despite its name, Detsky Mir ('Children's World') at the top of Prospekt Kirova near McDonalds, stocks all kinds of everything (clothes, accessories, stationery, hipflasks, penknives...) in cabinets, behind counters, and at individually manned stalls. TsUM (Tsentralniy Universalniy Magazin, 'Central Universal Store') across the way is a similar sort of operation.

[edit][add listing] Eat

Cafe Fortuna, above an internet cafe on Prospekt Kirova, is reliable for good Russian food like blini, borshch and solyanka, as well as omelettes and chips and the like.

Papa's Irish Bar, also on the Prospekt, serves a decent menu including a fry and Irish stew, as well as other slightly Russified Western pub food.

There are a number of passable sushi restaurants around, while street food like shwarma and hot pirogi are readily available.

For those unwilling to spread their wings, there is a McDonalds on Prospekt Kirova. There is also an ice-cream parlour called Pingvin on the Prospekt and a Baskin Robbins by the multi-coloured church off the end of the Prospekt.

Saratov is also home to a locally-owned chain of overpriced coffee shops called Vostok-Zapad ('East-West'), where no two cappuccinos are ever the same (or, indeed, ever much like a cappuccino). They are, however, a pleasant place to hang out and the coffee is decent enough, if not exactly what you may have in mind. Another café is Café et Chocolat which, as the name suggests, is a French-style establishment, serving crepes and pastries.

[edit][add listing] Drink

Bars along the main pedestrian street, Prospekt Kirova, include Pivnoy Zavod (Beer Factory, a microbrewery); Papa's Irish Pub; Pivnoy Bul'var (with American pool tables as well as Russian billiards); and Grand Michel (with bowling).

There are also numerous wine bars around the city where wine can be sampled by the cup.

Saratov's main nightclubs include Jumanji and Ars. Both operate rigorous security checks (metal detectors and body searches are par for the course) and face control policies (non-white ethnic minorities may be refused point blank).

In summer, barges along the naberezhnaya (embankment) become floating bars and clubs.

[edit][add listing] Sleep

Saratov does not offer much choice in terms of accommodation. Visitors on tourist visas are mainly confined to one of the following four hotels:

Hotel Volga - located in the centre of the city, in a turn of the century (19th/20th) building on Prospekt Kirova. This is a small hotel; comfortable, but probably in need of some modernisation.

Hotel Slovakia - a large, purpose-built, more modern hotel located further from the centre, on the river embankment. Seems popular with business types.

The other two hotels are Hotel Olympia and Hotel Zagreb.

[edit] Get out

Just opposite Saratov, on the other side of the Volga, is the smaller town of Engels, accessible via a quick bus journey across the bridge. Catch the bus on Ulitsa Moskovskaya.

Other towns in the Saratovskaya Oblast', accessible via marshrutka, include Marx and Balokova.

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