Arkhangelsk

The most comfortable time to see Arkhangelsk is summer. During May, June, and July the sun seems to stay 24/7 in the sky. This is actually not the case: Arkhangelsk is 300 km south of the Arctic Circle, so it doesn't have polar days or polar nights. But prepare to be awakened by sun peering through your window at 02:00 in the summer. The other side of this is 2-4 hours of light per day in the winter.

Spring is late (snowfalls in May are quite usual), summer is relatively warm (+20 to 25°C); the first snow comes in October or November and winter is harsh (-10 to -20°C and windy). From November to May, the Northern Dvina and White Sea are covered with ice, and ship navigation is possible only with icebreakers.

Arkhangelsk has two airports: Talagi for interregional flights and Vaskovo for flights within Arkhangelsk region.

• 🌍 Talagi Airport (ARH  ^IATA). It is the hub for Nordavia. There are several daily flights from Moscow (from Sheremetyevo Intl. Airport served by Nordavia, and Vnukovo Intl. Airport served by UTair), and Saint Petersburg (from Pulkovo Intl. Airport served by Nordavia and Rossiya Airlines). One-way domestic flights usually range between 4000-6000 руб. Apart from seasonal flights from a few holiday destinations in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, international flights are limited to services from Tromsø in Norway. 

Talagi airport is about a 25-min drive from the city centre. The going rate for a taxi to the airport is about 200 руб but in the opposite direction, enterprising cab drivers ask for around 400 руб. Buses 12 and 12к get you from Talagi to city centre for a mere 28 руб but takes almost an hour and the timetable is not optimal.

A slightly more adventurous traveler will probably opt for the train, which from Moscow's Yaroslavsky Vokzal takes about 23 hours with one to two trains per day. A train journey from Saint Petersburg clocks in at around 27 hours with up to three services per week, other cities with direct trains to Arkhangelsk includes Kotlas and Murmansk. Also, there is one international train service from Minsk, the capital of Belarus, once a week taking three nights. As in most northern Russian cities extra trains to and from the Black Sea usually appears during the summer months, catering to domestic tourists but open for anyone to use. Schedules change from year to year so check beforehand.

• 🌍 Arkhangelsk railway station (Архангельск-Город), at Prospekt Dzerzhinskogo 2 (on the eastern edge of town). Buses and taxis are available and will whisk you to the city centre in a just few minutes. (updated Mar 2019)

1200 km by M8 road from Moscow via Yaroslavl and Vologda, and you are in Arkhangelsk (couple of hundreds km more if you drive from St Petersburg). The road is paved, but its quality could be much better.

Archangelsk is a significant commercial and fishing port acting as well as a gateway to Northern Sea Path (Северный морской путь). But there are no any regular ship connections with Arkhangelsk excluding river commuter ships.

Arkhangelsk had been founded in 1584, but until the 20th century nearly all buildings were wooden. That is why there are not so many examples of old architecture here. Outside of the centre, buildings become very typical, but the core part of the city has some diversity.

Orientation is easy from Lenin Square, where Arkhangelsk's only skyscraper is built. This 24-floor administrative building is seen from many parts of the city and can act as a lighthouse for a traveller. Streets called ulitsa (улица) are positioned perpendicularly to the river, those are called prospekt (проспект) are parallel to the river. The area of interest is limited by Dvina's embankment (Naberezhnaya) in the west, Kuznechevsky Bridge in the north, Obvodny Kanal prospekt in the east, and the Sea and River Station (Морской и Речной Вокзал) in the south. Most of the attractions, e.g. views, buildings, museums, restaurants, theatres, etc., are within this area.

• 🌍 Northern Dvina's embankment and around (Severnoy Dviny embarkment). Arkhangelsk is the theme of the Russian 500-ruble banknote, and walking through the embankment you can find all the sites printed on it. For example, the monument of Peter The Great (photo below). Other monuments are generally belong to Soviet period, including the canonical Lenin's monument at the relevant square. There is also a couple of interesting churches around Naberezhnaya, including the former German Kirche (now used as city concert hall). River views and ships also compensate Arkhangelsk's architectural scarcity. Most of Arkhangelsk's street events are organized at Naberezhnaya, in summer the embankment is the favorite place of walking for locals. To find places for eating and drinking go to Troitsky prospekt. Natural history museum and the gallery of arts are in Lenin Square. 
• 🌍 Wooden Arkhangelsk. Wooden buildings are being gradually moved out of the city, but still Arkhangelsk contains many sections of such 1- to 2-floor houses. Some of them look beautiful, others are more like slums, but anyway wooden Arkhangelsk is a certain point of interest and worth a walking visit. Even some sidewalks are still made of wood, crunching under feet. Most beautiful and well-maintained wooden buildings are concentrated at Chumbarova-Luchinskogo street (улица Чумбарова-Лучинского) which is planned as a "museum street" by the city authorities. 

• 🌍 Solombala Island (Соломбала). Northern Dvina's delta is full of flat islands, several of them form parts of Arkhangelsk, and Solombala is the most known of such parts. Traditional port district, it's filled with the mixture of old wooden houses and modern blocks, unkempt, but colourful. Arkhangelsk competes with Veliky Ustyug to be called the home of Ded Moroz (Farther Frost, Russian version of Santa), and in Solombala you can find "Ded Moroz's village": a kind of entertainment area with Russian traditional facilities for family leisure (like winter snow coasts for kids). 
• 🌍 Malye Korely (Малые Корелы). Tu-Su 10:00-17:00. An open-air museum of Russian North's wooden architecture. The museum area is situated on the high bank of a small picturesque river and is filled with impressive wooden houses, churches etc. Malye Korely is claimed to be the European-largest open-air architectural museum. Located in a village just outside the city, it's an easy target for a day or a half-day trip. You can also stay there for a night or two in a hotel complex performed in traditional Russian style. Winter gives the opportunity of skiing and sledging in Malye Korely (rent of equipment is possible). Easiest way to reach Malye Karely is to catch a taxi, but you can also try to go by a local bus No. 104 from Sea and River Station (Морской и Речной Вокзал). Admission: 250 руб. 

• Norway (Honourary Consulate), Pomorskaya Street, 16, ☏ +7 8182 43-20-03, +7 8182 65-10-43, +7 921 720-9077, arkhangelsk@barents.no. M 10:00-16:00, Th 13:00-17:00.