Khabarovsk

A Far Eastern city at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri rivers, with century-old streets, a riverside promenade and the Transfiguration Cathedral — a good contrast to Vladivostok.

Khabarovsk (historically known in Chinese as Boli) is the capital of Russia's Khabarovsk Krai and a major city of the Far Eastern Federal District. It sits on high ground on the right bank at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri rivers, only about 30 km from Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island near Fuyuan in China, and has a population of around 600,000. Founded as a military outpost in 1858 and named after the 17th-century explorer Yerofey Khabarov, the city's old town preserves many early-20th-century red-brick and neoclassical buildings. The climate is a typical continental monsoon climate: June–Sep is warm and pleasant, ideal for riverside walks and boat trips; Dec–Feb is bitterly cold, down to −30°C, but offers ice sculptures, ice fishing and other winter experiences; May and October bring large temperature swings. The main sights are concentrated downtown: walk from Lenin Square along Muravyov-Amursky Street to Komsomolskaya Square, then down to the Amur embankment and the Amur Cliff, passing the Regional Museum, the Far Eastern Art Museum and the Military History Museum; on the high ground to the south are the Transfiguration Cathedral and Glory Square. Nearby, you can hike in the Bolshekhekhtsirsky Nature Reserve, visit Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island, or take a day trip to the Sikachi-Alyan petroglyphs. Getting there: the airport has flights to Beijing, Harbin, Seoul, Moscow and elsewhere, and the city is a major stop on the Trans-Siberian Railway, about 12 hours by overnight train from Vladivostok. Getting around the city on foot, by bus or by taxi is easy. Allow 2–3 days. Note: check visa, flight and payment arrangements before you travel (international bank cards usually don't work, so bring rubles in cash); some sights close on Mondays.

Top sights

• Muravyov-Amursky Street – Khabarovsk's most beautiful main street, where early 20th-century red-brick and neoclassical buildings form a one-kilometer pedestrian stre…
• Transfiguration Cathedral – A Russian Orthodox cathedral completed in 2004, the tallest in the Russian Far East, with golden domes about 95 m high on a hill above the…
• Amur Embankment – Several kilometers of riverside promenade along the Amur River (Heilongjiang), where beaches, boat piers and sunsets make it the summer hea…
• Lenin Square – The largest square in the city center, surrounded by a Lenin statue, a musical fountain, and the Khabarovsk Krai government building. It tu…
• Amur Cliff – A rocky cliff in Central Park jutting out over the river, with a small gazebo. It is a classic spot for watching the sunset over the Amur R…
• Monument to Muravyov-Amursky – A bronze statue of the man pictured on the front of the 5,000-ruble banknote, commemorating the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia who led…
• Far Eastern Art Museum – One of the largest art museums in the Russian Far East, with Russian paintings by Repin, Aivazovsky, and others, plus icons and Eastern art.
• Grodekov Khabarovsk Regional Museum – One of the oldest museums in the Far East, founded in 1894. It brings together Amur tigers, Indigenous culture, and the city's history in o…
• Khabarovsk Bridge – A road-and-rail bridge spanning about 3.9 km of the Amur River. It is a key point on the Trans-Siberian Railway and appears on the back of…
• Amur Bridge History Museum – A small museum at the bridge, with a full steel truss from the original 1916 bridge displayed outdoors. It tells the story of the construct…
• Komsomolskaya Square – A square at the southern end of the main avenue, overlooking the Amur River. It is home to a Far Eastern Civil War heroes monument and the…
• Assumption Cathedral – The city's first stone church, destroyed in the 1930s and faithfully rebuilt in 2002, with blue-and-white walls and golden domes on Komsomo…
• Glory Square – A memorial square for the dead of World War II, with an eternal flame, a wall inscribed with names, and the Church of St. Innocent of Irkut…
• Dynamo Park – The largest city park in the center, with tree-lined avenues, ponds, and playgrounds. It is a weekend retreat for locals.
• Military History Museum of the Eastern Military District – A museum of Far Eastern military history, with tanks, artillery, and an armored railway car from the tsarist era displayed in its courtyard.
• Okladnikov Museum of Archaeology – A museum showing ten thousand years of prehistoric culture in the Amur River basin, with rubbings and replicas of the Sikachi-Alyan petrogl…
• Amur Fish Museum – A small aquarium-style museum housing dozens of freshwater fish unique to the Amur River, including Amur sturgeon and Amur taimen.
• Khabarovsk-1 Railway Station – A station on the Trans-Siberian Railway, 8,521 km from Moscow, with a bronze statue of Khabarov, the explorer the city is named after, stan…
• Central Market – The largest local farmers' market, selling caviar, smoked fish, honey, and Far Eastern pine nuts.
• Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island – A border island where the Amur and Ussuri rivers meet. The Russian side has a small Orthodox church and wetland scenery.
• Sikachi-Alyan Petroglyphs – Neolithic rock carvings on basalt along the Amur River, with mask-like faces and elk figures believed to be about 12,000 years old.
• Bolshekhekhtsirsky Nature Reserve – A national nature reserve 20 km south of the city, where Amur tigers and Himalayan bears live in a mixed conifer and broadleaf forest.

Where to eat

• Amur Restaurant – A Far Eastern creative restaurant inside the Amur Hotel, specializing in local seafood, river fish, and ethnic flavors…
• Sopka – An upscale Far Eastern restaurant inside the Sopka Hotel, near the Transfiguration Cathedral, featuring a summer terrac…
• Dom – A modern Russian restaurant housed in a 1911 wooden merchant mansion, featuring an open kitchen with a Russian wood-fir…
• Satsivi – A popular Georgian restaurant in the city center, offering affordable khinkali, khachapuri, and grilled meats; reservat…
• Korea Cafe – An established Korean restaurant on Karl Marx Street, offering affordable bulgogi, bibimbap, and hearty soups, represen…

Itineraries

• Trans-Siberian Railway Eastern Section: Vladivostok to Lake Baikal – Travel west along the railway via Khabarovsk and Ulan-Ude to Irkutsk and Olkhon Island.