Things to see and do Murmansk Oblast

This commemorative site extends into a large park near the city centre on a huge esplanade. We come here to a family and this is an opportunity to put in front of a collection of Red Army tanks, vehicles and planes. The soldiers are of course glorified and the monument to the dead is still flowery. At the same time as a renewal of religion is observed, Russians remain very respectful of the sacrifice of the generations of World war II, the so-called patriotic war.

In addition to helping you organize your trip (visa, accommodation), this effective Anglophone agency offers trips to the city and the region, including: fishing and hiking in summer, skiing in winter and excursions in Scandinavia. Possibility of a Francophone guide.

This botanical garden is unique in its location and in the species it contains. In addition to the vegetable varieties in the region, it contains species originating throughout Russia and elsewhere, as well as tropical greenhouses. Furthermore, this place is very pleasant to walk in summer. A small museum is located at the entrance to the park.

Founded in 1930, the museum of the Geological Institute of the local centre of the Academy of Sciences displays nearly 10,000 mineral samples from the region, particularly from the Khibiny Mountains. The collection is of unparalleled richness and is well worth a visit. It is easy to understand why the Kola Peninsula and the city of Apatity are major centres of scientific and extractive activities: the soil is richer there than anywhere else in Russia.

It is a kind of open geological museum of the main minerals in the region. Unfortunately, the explanations are almost unreadable, due to lack of maintenance. Take a walk in the basement of this park.

A quarter of an hour from the centre, this lake overlooks Murmansk and offers a superb panorama of the city and the port. In the park near the lake you will see a memorial and a gigantic concrete statue of a soldier of the Second World War; it is called "Alyosha" and it watches over Murmansk. The walk between the rocks from the main road to the statue is not to be missed, to soak up a bit of arctic nature even while staying in town!