A stroll through the city
Novosibirsk is home to more than a million and a half people. Still the City provides a chance to breathe fresh air in its thousands of square meters of parks and gardens.
Novosibirsk Zoo
In the 1930s there was only a small petting zoo in Novosibirsk. Today the local zoo is a contender for the title of one of the wonders of Russia. During the Great Patriotic War animals from traveling circuses and zoos were brought to the future Novosibirsk Zoo to be preserved. When the war was over the city did not want to remain without the zoo.
By 1947, the zoo contained about 50 species of animals and birds. Today 10 000 animals and 756 call the zoo their home. One of the inhabitants of the zoo, liger, a mix of a male lion and a female tiger, has enjoyed the love and attention of the zoo visitors. The local zoo is not a stuffy menagerie where animals and people have to ctram but a huge green park with large cells where animals in captivity regularly give birth to their young ones. 350 species of animals at the Zoo are included in the International Red Book.
Botanical Garden of Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Thousands of hectares of plants from around the world, a picturesque lake, dozens of hiking trails. The most exotic collection of plants flowering year-round. The greenhouses of the Botanical Garden like a museum host permanent exhibitions. Novosibirsk Botanical Garden presents a park, a museum, a research laboratory and an institute all in one.
The Botanical Garden is located in Akademgorodok, a 20-minute walk from the university. Many visitors come for a walk here all year round. The garden is home to over 10,000 plant species, with unprecedented hybrids and rare species among them. Scientists-enthusiasts of botanical gardens work in it; they are the author of dozens of new varieties of plants and the herbarium containing 800,000 sheets.
Novosibirsk arboretum
Novosibirsk arboretum is located near the zoo. That is why often visitors simply do not reach the Arboretum entrance. Even indigenous Novosibirsk dwellers are not aware of the existence of this place sometimes.
Meanwhile, the Dendrological park streches over 128.8 hectares, including the Arboretum, an urban zone and plant nursery. The Arboretum is a living laboratory where research is carried out on a continuous basis, and anyone can learn more about the ecology of plants in Siberia. It hosts 221 trees, shrubs and herbs, many of which cannot be found in the natural conditions of Siberia.
Zaeltsovskiy Park
SIn winter the park hosts a ski slope, an ice rink and snowmobiles. In summer you can enjoy its bicycle paths, the beach and a recreation area. At any time of the year it is the place with fresh air from thousands of trees growing in a vast array in just 15-minute drive from the city center.
The Beaches
Novosibirsk city dwellers are divided into those who swim and sunbathe in the Ob river, and those who make it to the artificial Ob Sea. For all of them there are several beaches in different parts of the city, where there is everything for a comfortable beach outing.
