Bashkortostan

Understand

Bashkortostan is named for its native Bashkir people, a Muslim people who speak a Turkic language. Bashkirs, Tatars, and ethnic Russians each comprise roughly one third of the population of the region. Bashkortostan is sometimes called "second Switzerland": high mountains and expansive steppes, evergreen forests, 600 rivers and 800 lakes. Various kinds of tourism and sport are very popular here, for example rafting and alpine skiing.

Getting there

International flights arrive at 1 Ufa International Airport (UFA IATA) from Frankfurt, Tel Aviv, Sharm el-Sheikh, Baku, Yerevan and Istanbul. Domestic flights from Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Syktyvkar, Krasnoyarsk, Yekaterinburg, and others. Ufa train station is one of the principal stops on the South Ural route of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Trains also arrive from nearby cities Orenburg, Samara and Chelyabinsk. The daily train from Moscow takes 26 hours. It is also possible to arrive by train from northern Kazakhstan. The capital of Bashkortostan — Ufa — is accessible from federal highways M5 and M7.

Getting around

Bus. Entire cities are covered by local bus operators. A bus from one end of the city to another typically costs $0.3-0.5. Intercity buses cost $10–25, depending on the distance. Buses are frequent and fast.

See

Picturesque villages are found across Bashkortostan.

1 Rock Paintings of Shulgan-Tash Cave — listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Do

Skiing. One of the most attractive ski resorts in Bashkortostan is Mratkino, in the city of Beloretsk.