Yekaterinburg, Russia
 

Hi! I want to go to the Urals in Russia - this summer. It's said that the mountains are very beautiful! But what about Yekaterinburg? Has anybody been there? Is it OK? Or it's better not to go there?

Thanks!

Ive been there

Its just a big industrial city with mainly Stalin Era no AC buildings. Much of the summer, many inhabitants will just go to their dachas rather than stay in the hot city. While it doesnt feel mountainous, the countryside is beautiful in summer and most people are just growing produce to last them for the winter.

Thanks for information! It's great to know different opinions, cause I heard that today the city looks quite modern with parks and cathedrals...

It's not so much stuff to do in Yekaterinburg, but it might be good to explorer for 1 day. If you looking for beautiful nature places I reccomend you to visit Altai.

I was there in 2004, it's probably changed a bit since then. I found a few things to do, enough for one day:

The Church on Spilled Blood - very interesting, new, conservative church with the Romanovs as Christian martyrs.

War memorial for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan - definitely not glorifying war.

Museum of Decorative Arts - a big room displaying cast iron objects including a huge pavilion, adorned with Chinese junks, fish, hunting scenes, and even two of the horses from St. Petersburg's Anichkov bridge. Also the Geological Museum, but I like rocks.

The town itself was unimpressive, aside from the metro, and the river smelled.

I didn't find the Urals very impressive either - seemed too low to be a continental divide. I was riding the Trans-Mongolian route to Beijing, and I'd say that once past Moscow the best stop was Irkutsk and Lake Baikal.