Khabarovsk

Cathedral of the Transfiguration

Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral, Преображенский Кафедральный собор

Christianity is alive and well in Russia, as this golden domed church towering above Khabarovsk is evidence of. Only completed in 2004, at 83 meters it's the 3rd tallest church in all of Russia - inside it's not that impressive, just large. The monastery, or rather the Theological Seminary, right next to it is also worth a look a brief look from the outside. Opposite, facing the Amur is a war memorial "Вечный огонь" ("the eternal flame"), rather kitschy but has good Amur views. The whole thing is labeled as the Ploshchad Slavy or the Square of Glory.

Dynamo Park

Парк Динамо

A quite attractive park spreading over 30 hectares, immensely popular with locals on sunny days. The water ponds to the south are popular for splashing and cooling down. There are several nice, quirky statues cut from huge wooden logs dotted all over the park which can be interesting to trace down in a small treasure hunt for adults. There are also a handful of running amusements, cafés and beer gardens. Just across the street from the eastern entrance, Khabarovsk's local ice-hockey team battles it out in the premier Russian league in the Platinum arena.

Far East Regional Museum

Хабаровский краеведческий музей

One of the oldest museums in the Russian far east, laid out in 6 sections in an impressive 1894 red-brick building. For the most part it's leaps and bounds ahead of the region's other museums, and with nearly half a million artifacts in the collection, they can afford to be picky about what they display. The ethnographic section with displays of indigenous cultures from around the Amur is unusually informative, but the zoology section is also worth a look, stuffed animals galore! To top it off, it has been renovated, and they even have a few English captions here and there. May be worth considering but the price for foreigners is high for what you see.

Closed · opens 10 am·RUB 300

Far Eastern Art Museum

Дальневосточный художественный музей

Established in the 1930s and now housed in the building of a former officers' club. They seem to take most pride in their collection of Far Eastern aboriginal art, but they also have a rare collection of ancient Russian religious icons and Japanese porcelain. In the classic exhibition they have a few painters you may have heard of like Titian and Garofalo, but also some lesser known Russian masters.

Tue–Sun 10:00-17:00·Foreigners RUB 150

Far Eastern Military Museum

Военно-исторический музей ДВО

Another impressive building from the turn of the 20th century, this one was the state bank up until the 1930s. Weapons galore propped up by medals and other memorabilia. If you are not interested in these sort of things, you can probably give it a miss, but they have a few cool war propaganda posters from the Great Patriotic War and a luxury officers' railway carriage from the 1920s in the courtyard, if you need to entertain yourself for a while while any male company goes into boy mode.

Tue–Sun 10:00-17:00

Far Eastern Railway Museum

Музей истории Дальневосточной железной дороги

A small museum which houses a previously private collection of around 2000 original artifacts, documents, models and photographs telling about the history and construction of the Far Eastern Railway.

Mon–Fri 09:00-17:00

Fedotov Exposition Hall

Выставочный зал имени Федотова

Temporary exhibitions of professional painters, sculptures, designers and other artists from the far east. The exhibits changes monthly.

Geological Museum

Геологический музей Хабаровска

Housed in a beautiful 19th-century building, which once belonged to a prominent local merchant family. True to its name, this museum has a huge collection of rocks and minerals – some even some from outer space, like a few moon fragments brought home to Earth by automatic probes and one of the world's largest iron meteorites which crashed into the Sikhot-Ailin mountains in the 1940s. If you are not into stones, you could check out the small section on tools and equipment related to prospecting in the region or the collection of prehistoric plant and animal fossils. Outside the museum there are a few large monoliths of minerals, ores and rocks.

Closed · opens 10 am

Khabarovsk City History Museum

Музей истории Хабаровска

The newest museum in town: it was opened in 2004. A small museum which details the history of Khabarovsk from its inception up until today. Covering the pre-revolutionary period, the October Revolution and the civil war in Khabarovsk, the city during World War II, and up until the Perestroika and modern Khabarovsk. The collection is mainly made up of everyday items, photographs and documents from private donations.

Foreigners RUB 300

Museum of Archaeology

Хабаровский музей археологии

Part of the regional museum but located in an attractive separate building which, before the October revolution got him, was owned by the owner of a local brewery. Finds from the dawn of man up until the middle ages. Their collection of ancient ceramics is interesting, and the Sikachi-Alyan petroglyphs and Sheremetyevsky inscription replicas are also worth a look.

Tue–Sun 10:00-17:00

Park Severnyy

Another park/recreational area with ponds and its own orthodox church. It's probably not a do-or-die type of attraction but something pretty far down on the list. What might be even more fun is traveling west a few km to cross over the Amur River on the Amurskogo Mosta.

The Arboretum

Хабаровский дендрарий

Founded in 1896 as an experimental laboratory, it was transformed into a 12-hectare (27-acre) botanical garden in the 1930s. It's a nice place for a stroll among the many trees, bushes and flowers, about 800 different kinds of them gathered from nearly every continent; some exotic medical plants also grow here.

May-Oct, advance reservations required

Utyos

кафе «Утёс»

The name means The Cliff in Russian, very appropriate as this monument is an unusual art nouveau building from the forties on top of a tall cliff dominating the waterfront, which used to be a lifeboat station. It has a large balcony with spectacular views of the Amur and beyond. Also find a statue of Muravyov Amursky on display, which just so happened to make it onto the 50 rouble note.

Vsevolod Sysoyev Far Eastern Zoo

Зоопарк имени В. Сысоева

Opened in 2002, this smallish zoo have around 40 different species, mostly regional fauna like Ussuriysk bears and tigers and the Far Eastern Leopard. The zoo is named after local nature writer.

Daily 10:00-18:00