©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd

Volga Region

Includes  Why Go? Nizhny Novgorod . . 320 The (Волга), one of ’s great rivers, winds for Gorodets ...... 326 some 3530km through ’s heartland and has been a ...... 326 part of the continent’s longest ‘highway’ since time imme- Sviyazhsk . . . . . 333 morial. The stretch of the Volga between Nizhny Novgorod and the forms a rich and fascinating cultur- Ulyanovsk . . . . . 333 al region with over a dozen different ethnic groups, most Samara ...... 335 notably the Volga Tatars. Travelling along or alongside the Samara Bend . . . . 339 river you encounter spectacular hilltop kremlins in Nizhny Shiryaevo . . . . . 339 Novgorod, Kazan and , bombastic architecture Saratov ...... 340 in Volgograd, numerous lively provincial capitals and pic- turesque stretches such as the Samara Bend. This natural Volgograd ...... 341 beauty culminates in the magnificent Volga Delta south Astrakhan ...... 345 of Astrakhan, a vast region of reeds and waterways. West Volga Delta . . . . . 348 of the Volga River, takes in a windswept area of Elista ...... 349 steppe that is home to the Buddhist , who originate from western Mongolia.

Best Places to Eat When to Go Astrakhan ¨¨Kafe-Bar Sasha (p338) °C/°F Temp Rainfall inches/mm ¨¨Priyut Kholostyaka (p331) 30/86 6/150 20/68 ¨ ¨Staraya Kvartira (p337) 10/50 4/100 ¨¨Restoratsia Pyatkin (p324) 0/32 -10/14 ¨¨ -20/-4 Sharlay (p348) 2/50 -30/-22 -40/-40 -50/-58 0 Best Natural J FDM A M J J A S O N Settings Feb Much of the Late Apr–late Late Jul–Sep ¨¨Volga Delta (p348) Volga River is May Spring sun Navigation season frozen over and warms the air and is in full swing ¨¨Kalmykia (p349) draped in a winter accommodation is and lotus flowers ¨¨Samara Bend (p339) landscape. plentiful. bloom in the delta. ¨¨Shiryaevo (p339)  Volga Region 319 - - - #\ N

#] uz TA rg a ian Sea #] OS Uf Mele BLIC RT a enbu Casp AN PU Or ST Delt RE ak SHKO a k N lga BA zhnyye vs TA z myzy Vo he ra BLIC KAZAKH menk o 1 Iz RS Ka # \ # \ # Ka \ # PU \ # ma Rattle in a Rattle ev Agry Take the spectacular cable the spectacular Take #\ rk (p323) on a 13-minute (p323) \ # Nabere Chelny n ya IA r RE Sa TATA across the grassy steppe steppe the grassy across capital (p349), to Elista Buddhist only Europe’s of republic. 6 5 car in River Volga the ride across Novgorod. Nizhny Mt #] ve RT BLIC ra Bend #\ Shir akha m) Ri R #÷ n tional Pa

PU tr ma ar

#\

s

k

r

za e Sa v

(370 Na i As

a

RE lga

UDMU R hs

Bolg a #\ Ol

Strelnaya v Ka

3

g Vo # L l \ #

r-

4 o iyaz an # V ^ #] -E # Tolyatti BLIC ka BLIC zr k rato #\ Sv A RY ry PU Zhiguli Hill Sy vs PU Medieval Volga Medieval was Lower the Volga Ages, Middle the In tribe by the Khazars,dominated a Turkic The Judaism. to leaders converted whose Khazar (present-day Itil stood capital at was the do Astrakhan). The Volga Middle Bulgars. tribe, the Turkic of another main and distant rela of the Huns Descendants Bulgarians, they of the Balkan tives migrat with local Finno-Ugric mixed ed eastwards, Sa HI sa Yosh RE 5 MA \ # #] KALMYKIA ista no BLIC RE # #\ AS - - El \ # ya 2 #] PU o # UV ebok Ul a d ev RE CH Ch nz #] #\ k ogra k Pe Stroll through through Stroll 1 lg ss Makary ns #\ M2 /·

excursion or a fully cruise cruise or a fully excursion in the major taking ship, and sights. stops 4 Kazan Kazan multicultural Russia’s one of (p326), and dynamic cities most a picturesque home to kremlin.

r ra r Vo

od

e

IA e v

Sa v

M5

i i /· 6 # ^

s OV # R BLIC km cherka

zhny R

vgor

\ n #

vo Ni o

RD n 00 PU

mile ov

ts D

No o M6 No RE

/· D #\ 00 de MO #\ mb 9 #\ ro Ta M2 /· n Go M7 M4 /· /· azan k #\ #\ -on-Do #] Ry #] E ov OW pets zh Li M8 02 01 /· Vladimir Rost rone Explore the waterways of of waterways the Explore and Climb the stairs Volga River the Volga Sail # e MOSC UKRAIN Vo (p339) on a short on (p339) Kurgan Mamaev of paths Volgograd’s (p342), to the memorial magnificent Stalingrad. of Battle 3 1 2 Volga RegionVolga Highlights (p348). Delta the Volga #_ tween Baghdad and the Baltic. Baghdad tween times, the Volga has support the Volga ancient times, Since and serveded agricultural settlements as a commerce. link in transcontinental main the Vikings plied ago, than 1000 years More route be establishingtrade a waters, its History