Nizhniy Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod, colloquially shortened to Nizhny and from 1932 to 1990 known as Gorky, is the administrative centre and largest city of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, and the administrative centre of the Volga Federal District, in Russia.
Nizhny Novgorod, colloquially shortened to Nizhny and from 1932 to 1990 known as Gorky, is the administrative centre and largest city of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, and the administrative centre of the Volga Federal District, in Russia. The city is located at the confluence of the Oka and the Volga rivers in Central Russia, with a population of over 1.2 million residents, and roughly 1.7 million residents in the wider urban area. Nizhny Novgorod is the sixth-largest city in Russia, and the second-most populous city on the Volga and in the Volga Federal District. The city is located 420 kilometers (260 mi) east of Moscow. It is an important economic, architectural, educational and cultural centre in Russia and the Volga-Vyatka Economic Region, and provides the majority of Russia's river tourism.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Nizhniy Novgorod
10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Nizhny Novgorod Stadium
Sovcombank Arena is a football stadium in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. It was one of the venues for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
3 km · association football stadium in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia · Wikipedia - 02Stroganov Church
Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, better known as Nativity or Stroganov is a Russian Orthodox church, located at the Rozhdestvenskaya Street in Nizhny Novgorod. It was built in 1696–1719 on the means of the merchant Grigory Stroganov.
1.4 km · church in Nizhny Novgorod · Wikipedia - 03Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Nizhny Novgorod
The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is a Russian Orthodox cathedral church located in the Kanavinsky city district of Nizhny Novgorod. The cathedral is located on the former territory of the Nizhny Novgorod Fair.
2.4 km · Russian Orthodox cathedral in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia · Wikipedia - 04N. I. Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod
The National Research State University of Nizhny Novgorod named after N.I. Lobachevsky,, also known as Lobachevsky University, is a public research university in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, and one of the biggest classical universities of the country. The university is ranked 1,455th in the world in the U.S. News & World Report Best Global Universities 2022–2023.
3.5 km · university · Wikipedia - 05Minin and Pozharsky Square
The Minin and Pozharsky Square, also known as just Minin Square, is the main square of Nizhny Novgorod. It is a social and cultural center of the city, the venue of the most important celebrations.
100 m · main square of Nizhny Novgorod · Wikipedia - 06Church of St. John the Baptist (Nizhny Novgorod)
The Church of St. John the Baptist is one of the oldest Orthodox churches in Nizhny Novgorod, mentioned from the 15th century.
700 m · church in Russia · Wikipedia - 07Lokomotiv Stadium
The Lokomotiv Central Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. It is currently used mostly for football matches and was the home ground of Olimpiyets Nizhny Novgorod.
5.1 km · multi-purpose stadium in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia · Wikipedia - 08Dobrolyubov Linguistics University of Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod Dobrolyubov State Linguistic University is an institution of higher education in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, and it is one of two linguistic universities in Russia. The institution was established in the year 1937 as the Gorky Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages.
1.3 km · university in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia · Wikipedia - 09Chkalov Stairs
The Chkalov Stairs is a monumental flight of steps in the center of Nizhny Novgorod, connecting Minin and Pozharsky Square, the Upper Volga and the Lower Volga embankments. It was built by the architects Alexander Yakovlev, Lev Rudnev and Vladimir Munts.
500 m · staircase, a landmark of Nizhny Novgorod · Wikipedia - 10Great Mosque (Nizhny Novgorod)
This is a list of mosques in Russia. The construction of mosques in Russia has been documented from the 1550s to 2010 and mirrors the history of Islam in Russia.
1.9 km · mosque in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
- 01The Kremlin
It's worth a wander around and contains a church, war monument with eternal flame, a reasonable art museum and impressive views along the Volga River.
- 02Minin and Pozharsky Square
The main square of city, at the south-east side of the Kremlin.
- 03Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street
A pedestrian street, the main street of the city.
- 04Rozhdestvenskaya
Parallel to Oka river under the hill, this street contains a lot of 19th century buildings in rather good condition.
- 05Ilyinskaya
Merchant buildings of 19th century (and a few even older), some in good condition, some in rather worse one.
- 06Varvarskaya
Late 19th-century houses intermixed with early-21st century ones.
From Wikivoyage: Nizhniy Novgorod, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
Jet fighter flight on Sokol Airbase in MiG Jets, Nizhny Novgorod, MiGFlug & Adventure GmbH, Badenerstrasse 286, 8004 Zurich, info@migflug.com. Very nice but expensive experience. The customer can fly the plane under close watch of the pilot. Supersonic flights and stratospheric Edge of Space flights are possible €12,500 for a MiG-29 Fulcrum flight including transfer from Moscow and all preparations.
- 01Nizhny Novgorod Cableway
- 02Nizhny Novgorod
- 03Nizhny Novgorod
- 04Limpopo
- 05Trud
- 06Dinamo
From Wikivoyage: Nizhniy Novgorod, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
= = In the city stalls with shawarma are very popular. They can be found everywhere, even on the outskirts of the city.
From Wikivoyage: Nizhniy Novgorod, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Nizhniy Novgorod
- Airports
- Nizhny Novgorod / Strigino (GOJ), 18 km · Saransk (SKX), 256 km · Golden Ring Yaroslavl (IAR), 271 km
- Stations
- Nizhny Novgorod railway station, 3.8 km · Moskovskaya, 3.8 km · Gorkovskaya, 1.7 km · Dvigatel Revolyutsii, 7.8 km · Proletarskaya, 8.9 km
- Moscow → Nizhniy Novgorod402 km · quickest by air, 5h 35m · ₽6,300–9,780
- Saransk → Nizhniy Novgorod250 km · quickest by road, 5h 32m · ₽1,050–1,390
- Tunoshna → Nizhniy Novgorod271 km · quickest by road, 7h 28m · ₽1,400–1,860
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Nizhniy Novgorod
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Nizhniy Novgorod. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get aroundThere is a network of s-trains, trams, trolleybuses, buses, marshrutkas and a 2-line metro system.
- Get aroundOn surface public transport (trams, trolleybuses, buses and marshrutkas) you are expected to pay within one stop after you enter, the fare is fixed for one ride.
- Get aroundAs of 2019, you can pay by Apple Pay/Google Pay/Visa PayWave/Mastercard Contactless on board on any public transport including marshrutkas.
- Get aroundTo indicate your intention to exit a marshrutka, press a button and to indicate your intention to enter a marshrutka en-route, you need to wave your hand.
From Wikivoyage: Nizhny Novgorod, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 011,340 km
- 021,355 km
- 031,387 km
- 041,417 km
- 051,462 km
If you know how people move in Nizhniy Novgorod – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Nizhniy Novgorod
- Volga Federal Districtfederal district of Russia800 m
- Bortown in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia4.9 km
- Sormovsky City Districtone of the eight districts of the city of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia9.1 km
- Kanavinsky City Districtone of the eight districts of the city of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia8.8 km
- Nizhny Novgorod City RailS-Train in Nizhny Novgorod. The system of electric trains in the city limits. It is similar to the London overground. Integrated with the underground3.8 km
- Leninsky City Districtone of the eight districts of the city of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia6.1 km