Ekaterinburg
 

Anyone who has been there? recommendation please as where to stay and what to see?

I was there in 2004, but I imagine it's changed a good bit since. Certainly you need to see the Church of Blood and the Afghan war memorial. My TR is here: http://wilhelmswords.com/rtw2004/ - Sunny Siberia.

Haven't looked at a Russian guidebook lately, but if they don't include Ekaterinburg the Trans-Siberian Railway guidebooks will - Lonely Planet or Bryn Thomas (Trailblazer).

Briana
I was there a few times but all prior to thursdy. While I did quite a bit of sightseeing, I just remember their local ballet & opera companies as good as anything in Moscow without the steep pricetag. I found an inexpensive guide by contacing the English Dept at a university there(when I was visiting the city was Svedlosk, a city closed to most foreigners so there were no tour co's)

Thursdaysd,
One visit, I had a 'knowledgable' guide show me the 'actual' location(3 homes) where the Romanov executions took place as they werent torn down but remain. At least that was the story

Briana - the Church of Blood is supposedly built on the "actual" location. It's a very conservative church, I had to tie a skirt over my trousers and I was totally astonished to see the Romanovs worshiped as martyrs!!! I had a nice time in a couple of museums, but I think they might be acquired tastes.

The Church of Blood *is* the actual location where the Romanov family and their servants were executed. It sits on the former site of the Ipatiev House, where they were taken. There is a room on the first floor that marks the spot of the storage room where they were murdered.

As a person who studies the Romanov's I can assure you this is the place. The bell tower in the cathedral across the street is where they kept a sharp shooter trained on the house. This is all documented.

Sometimes guides take artistic liberty with tourists.