Stand on the slope above the Belaya River at the Monument to Salavat Yulaev and the city opens up below you: the river, the bridges, and the low hills of the Ufa Plateau. It is the view, more than any single building, that gives Ufa its shape.
Ufa rewards a traveller who likes walking and looking rather than ticking off headline sights. The centre holds older stone architecture and Soviet-era set pieces, while the streets just outside it shift into one-storey wooden houses with carved window frames. This guide covers the places worth your time in the city and how to string them together in a single day.
Top things to do in Ufa
1. Monument to Salavat Yulaev
The best-known sight in Ufa, and the one with the finest setting, looking out over the river. Come for the panorama as much as the monument itself.
In summer there are gardens around the statue; in winter the slopes become huge ice slides. Either season, it works best as the start or end of a walk along the ridge above the river.
2. National Museum
One of the places the city itself points visitors toward, alongside the Friendship Monument and the Fountain of Seven Girls. It is a sensible first stop if you want context before walking the streets.
Pair it with the central squares, which are within easy reach on foot.
3. Fountain of Seven Girls
A central fountain that appears on any short list of what to see in Ufa. It fits naturally into a walk through the middle of the city.
Combine it with the National Museum and the Friendship Monument, since the three are named together as the city's principal sights.
4. Friendship Monument
The third of the sights Ufa is best known for, and easy to fold into the same central circuit as the National Museum and the Fountain of Seven Girls.
Treat the three as one outing rather than separate trips.
5. Gostiny Dvor
One of the largest shopping centres in Ufa is also an architectural monument, built in the first half of the 19th century on the main market square. Merchant mansions once surrounded the square, and some survive, converted to other uses.
In summer there is a fountain in front of the market, shaped like a waterfall flowing from granite bowls. It sits on Verkhnetorgovaya Square, close to Lenin Square.
6. Lenin Monument, Lenin Square
The first monument to Lenin in Ufa went up in the autumn of 1924, and the site has had a complicated history since: the figure was replaced in the late 1930s, removed by the end of the 1980s, and a new statue was finally installed in 2011.
It stands at the intersection of ul. Lenina and Kommunisticheskaya, near Gostiny Dvor, so the two are natural to see together.
7. Gentry Assembly Building
This three-storey mid-19th century mansion on ul. Lenina, 14 is where the opera singer Fyodor Shalyapin began his career. A 2007 monument commemorates him as a young man, said to be the only monument showing the singer at that age.
Across the road is the Aksakov National House, now the Opera and Ballet Theater, so look at both from the same spot.
8. House of Cooperation (Bashpotrebsoyuz)
A massive corner building with a seven-storey tower, built in 1935–1936 and one of the best examples of Soviet architecture in Ufa. The city's first elevator was unveiled here.
It stands at ul. Lenina, 26, on the same central axis as the Gentry Assembly Building and the Lenin Monument.
9. Ufa Cathedral (Temple of the Nativity of Mary)
The largest and most visible Orthodox church in Ufa, built 1903–09, with the emphasis on a tall, tiered bell tower that looks down over Kirov Street. It only received cathedral status in the 1990s.
For a good view of the church, look at it through the ravine on the side of ul. Oktyabrsky Revolyutsy.
10. Demidov Home
A small, one-storey mansion at ul. Oktyabrskoy revolyutsii, 57/1, once home to the Demidov miners, with fine stucco moulding. It is believed to be the oldest building in the city, possibly built in the early 1770s.
Suvorov is said to have stayed here in 1774, and local tales have him slipping into the city at night and inspecting the stables. It is close to the Temple of the Savior on the same street.
11. Temple of the Savior
A small copy of the Kazan Cathedral in Saint Petersburg, built in 1824, standing in what was a one-storey Ufa suburb. It was ruined in Soviet times and is now slowly being restored.
It sits at ul. Oktyabrskoy revolyutsii, 37, a short walk from the Demidov Home.
12. Mayakovsky Square
A small, quiet park at the intersection of Tsyurupy and Kommunistichesky streets, filled with flowers, with a monument to the Soviet poet Mayakovsky.
Use it as a pause between the centre and the Trunilovskaya Sloboda side of town.
13. Realnoye School and the wooden houses of ul. Aksakova
The largest educational institution of pre-revolutionary Ufa occupied this huge three-storey building at ul. Kommunisticheskaya, 23, on the corner of Aksakova Street.
Opposite is the wooden Bukhartovsky House at 48 Aksakova St., and further along Aksakova there are more wooden houses with carved platbands, including number 46, where blue platbands stand out against white walls. This is the area to slow down in.
14. Ornate wooden houses along ul. Gogol
Ufa's main attraction is in its details, and the carved wooden houses are the clearest example. There is a good concentration of them along ul. Gogol, even in the very centre of the city.
Walk the street rather than looking for a single address, and keep an eye out for small monuments and elaborate fences that reveal an ordinary red-brick house as a historic madrasa.
15. Trunilovskaya Sloboda
Bounded by Salavat Yulaev Avenue, Tsyurupa, Tukayev and Zaynulla Rasuleva Streets, this former suburban settlement was known in the 19th century for poverty and lawlessness. Plenty of attractive wooden houses from the beginning of the last century survive, and the area has good views over the river.
The eastern part of Tukayev Street is where the standard provincial layout gives way to private one-storey buildings, and the oldest mosque in the city stands right on that border. The boulevard on Tukayev St makes a good route through it.
If you only have one day
Morning: Start at the Monument to Salavat Yulaev for the view over the river, then walk down into the centre. Take in Lenin Square and the Lenin Monument, Gostiny Dvor, and the House of Cooperation along ul. Lenina, and look at the Gentry Assembly Building and the Aksakov National House opposite it.
Afternoon: Visit the National Museum, the Fountain of Seven Girls and the Friendship Monument. Then head for the wooden architecture: the Realnoye School and the carved houses of ul. Aksakova, followed by ul. Gogol.
Evening: Cross toward Trunilovskaya Sloboda and walk the boulevard on Tukayev St as the light softens, finishing with the river views from the slope. If time allows, add the Temple of the Savior and the Demidov Home on ul. Oktyabrskoy revolyutsii.
Frequently asked questions
Is there one obvious attraction I should not miss?
No. The city has no single well-known attraction, and the best-known sight, the Monument to Salavat Yulaev, is for many travellers just a monument, though one with a beautiful setting overlooking the river.
What should I do if I have more than a day?
Spend the extra time outside the centre, including Chernikovka and other areas, and give the residential districts on the steep slopes above the river, such as Nizhny Novgorod and Trunilov settlements, a proper walk.
Where can I see the city's older architecture?
Older stone architecture in the centre fared better under the Soviets, though it has thinned out since the 2000s. For wooden buildings, head to ul. Gogol, the houses around ul. Aksakova, and Trunilovskaya Sloboda.
What is "facadeism"?
It is a local practice of preserving only the front wall of a building and constructing a multi-storey glass-and-concrete office, hotel or shopping centre around it. You will notice it while walking the centre.
Work out which of these walks fits your days in Ufa, and start planning your route through the centre and the wooden streets beyond it.