Les meilleurs hôtels à Novosibirsk

With a population of around 1.5 million, Siberia's largest city, Novosibirsk, is famous for the Akademgorodok, the scientific "Academy Township" south of the city, where Soviet scientists put their heads together for major research projects (though many took their brainy wares tohigher bidders after the fall of Communism). Like so many Russian cities, Novosibirsk is a snapshot of the Soviet era -- industrial to the core, an uninspired sprawl of warehouses and railyards built up during the 1920s when the city became a strategic transfer point between the eastern coal fields and the western mineral mines. The completion of the Turk-Sib Railway in the 1930s cemented the city's status as a major stop on the Europe-to-Asia circuit, and, in this jet age, Novosibirk's huge airport has become acentral fueling stop for flights between Moscow and Far East Asia. With a population of around 1.5 million, the city has little to recommend itself to tourists, though visitors enjoy a night out at the elegant Opera & Ballet Theater (known as the Bolshoi of Siberia). And for the kiddies, Tsentralny (Central) Park features a children's railway and other family fun during the warmer months. The region is known for its archeological finds, and visitors to Akademgorodok's Russian Institute of Archeology & Ethnography can tour two major museums -- one devoted to the wooden architecture of Siberia, and one to the region's archeology and ethnography. Novosibirk's Local Studies Museum boasts two branches, one exhibiting a woollymammoth skeleton and other regional finds, and the other showcasing area folk crafts.