Outings
Until a few years ago, dining out for pleasure was like spending a fortune on a tea and supper you could have made at home! Even if this habit persists, the generalization of Business Lunch (lunch formula: simplified menu and cheaper than à la carte) has pushed people to venture out of their homes and stolovaïas (very cheap self-service. Count 300 RUB for a meal with a drink). Now, in Siberia, restaurants abound (even offering breakfast) and are open continuously, often until late in the evening (even if the room is empty). You should know that gastronomic catering remains very affordable.
If you want to see people during the day/evening, bet on cafés and other pubs (Irish, they are very popular. Visit the Irish Pub in Akademgorodok, which is very popular with the scientific community.) You can eat there, drink there (lots of tea. Coffee, on the other hand, has only recently found its place. In Kyzyl, the capital of the Republic of Tuva, the first coffee shop opened its doors less than 10 years ago), you can watch the hockey match, the national sport. In the bars, you always find food and plenty to keep you busy: game nights, concerts, poetry, hip-hop competitions, (very) prolific cocktail menu, voluble neighbours. Perhaps you will capture a bit of the famous Russian soul there? In Siberia, drinking a cocktail is trendy (any tender bar masters the art of shaking ; some houses offer up to 150 references), especially if you accompany it with a chicha (available just about everywhere, with a tobacco menu). Expect to drown in the menus..
How's the party going? Make a detour through karaoke, the other national sport (it's serious)! Solo, as a couple, with friends, you can go there at any age to relax and send some heavy stuff, the time of a song or until dawn. Between two rounds of singing (Russian, international and even French catalogues. And not only Mireille Matthieu, always very popular in Russia), you dance, eat, rehydrate... In Novosibirsk, celebrate New Year's Eve at the Cacao Lounge Project (several establishments): whatever your vocal level, the visit is worth the detour!
Do you opt for the restaurant, the bar, the karaoke, the trendy club or the whole thing? As you get ready to go out, play it sexy like a local: get dressed up, get your groove on (you'll never overdo it). Comfort and style are the order of the day: any address has a free locker room (coats and other snow boots) at your disposal, a must before going on the slopes
Fresh air
In Siberia, if you like to entertain at home and linger over tea, it is unthinkable to bury yourself at home! During the week, on weekends, at any time of the day, walks along the waterfront (many cities now have their own waterfront facilities, unusual in the past), town centres, terraces are teeming with people, until the first snow. One imagines the Russian city as a cold, concrete and unbreathable megalopolis, but it is not! Many of them collect green spaces, sometimes several hundred hectares of forest. If you have time, take a walk in the central park (tsentral'ny park). Some of them have kept their 19th century spirit: beautiful tree-lined paths for strolling, merry-go-rounds, shooting ranges and barbecue areas. In the Krasnoyarsk park there is a very popular attraction: the 1.3 km long Children's Railway (Soviet heritage), which trains young people in railroad professions. These courses still exist).
One escapes from the city as much as possible, hunting, fishing, mountain motocross, mushroom picking, berries and wild plants in the forest. Krasnoyarsk, a sprawling industrial centre, is literally nestled in the taiga. For those who do not own an isba, there is still the 47,200 hectares of the Stolby Nature Reserve to snorkel in, which is very popular in summer (don't miss hiking and sleeping among the trees). In Vladivostok, you can enjoy sunbathing and lazing by the sea until September-October (on the fabulous glass beach, lined with multicoloured polished shards).
In the winter, do it all over again. Siberia, with its relief and very snowy spots, is favourable to all snow sports: skiing, sledging and ice skating on the front line! In Novosibirsk, you can admire the snowkite enthusiasts on the Ob Sea, who come to Novosibirsk at the weekend. On a stroll through the city, you may come across these neighbourhood ice rinks made "home" by the local residents with the help of water jets. Still in Krasnoyarsk, you ski in the city centre in the Bobrovy Log resort. It is possible to combine Lake Baikal with ski touring, even for a short stay: in Listvianka (Chersky Mountain, 1,175 m, fabulous panorama of the lake) or in the Baikalsk resort (expensive ski lifts for a riquiqui ski area). Russians practice other winter activities, which you can try: ice fishing, ice biking, banya on ice (at Lake Baikal, ephemeral installation from January to March), ice hiking and even ice clubbing..
A lot of culture
It is in winter that cultural life is in full swing (think about this when preparing your trip: in summer, most theatres are closed). Opera, ballet, puppet theatre, philharmonic concerts, musicals: the diversity of stages and programmes is boundless. Above all, these shows are very accessible (about 250 RUB for an entrance ticket to the prestigious Novosibirsk Opera House, the largest in Russia). The same applies to the countless museums throughout the country, which are often of a high quality (the problem is that not all of them are equipped for foreign tourists. Prices vary, but rarely above 300 RUB). Finally, here and there are ethnographic museums in the open air, where it is good to spend the day, sometimes a night. For example, go to the Atsagat complex, to explore the Buryat cultures and sleep in a yurt (very popular with the Buryats themselves).
