Quote:
Originally Posted by Siberian
How boring. Why if the question is about "in Europe" then it's always something with western part of it?
Is somebody heard about Perm, Ufa, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov On Don, Volgograd here? Kharkiv? These cities with more than 1 Mil people and they're located im Europe too actually. These are the most under rated cities in Europe!!
|
I've been to Nizhniy Novgorod. Unless it's changed dramatically, I'd say it's more or less correctly rated. It has some potential, but it's nowhere near most of the other cities mentioned here. I also spent about a week in Yekaterinburg, in the middle of winter. I liked the 20's architecture on Prospekt Glavniy/Lenina, and the setting around the lake is probably quite nice in summer, but other than that, unfortunately, I'd say it's unknown as a tourist destination for a reason. I also encountered more xenophobia in Yekaterinburg than anywhere else in Russia.
Based on what I've read, and pictures I've seen, none of the other cities you mention above are terribly underrated either. They were probably very nice at some point, but Soviet
gradostroitel'stvo left them functional, though not especially charming.
I did quite enjoy Vologa and Yelets and some smaller towns, but given the red tape - and expense - you have to go through to get there, I'm not sure it's worth trying to visit unless you're already in Russia for other reasons. Just not very much bang for the buck.
Of course, this is just my opinion; no offense meant, these are just my impressions.