Saratov Oblast Voyage Tips and guide

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Saratov Oblast (Russian: Сара́товская о́бласть suh-RAH-tuhf-skuh-yuh OH-bluhst') is a region in the Lower Volga, bordering Voronezh Oblast to the southwest, Tambov Oblast to the west, Penza Oblast to the northwest, Samara Oblast to the north, Ulyanovsk Oblast to the northeast, Orenburg Oblast to the east, Kazakhstan to the southeast, and Volgograd Oblast to the south.

• 51.533333461 Saratov — this large capital is the former center of Volga German culture and a major modern industrial city; has a fine art gallery and is home to much of the Russia's space program and was home to Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space
• 52.0389847.783922 Balakovo — a mid-sized city known with impressive pretension as the Venice of the Volga for its many canals, contains the largest church of the Old Believers in Russia
• 51.5543.1666673 Balashov — a smaller city on the Khopyor River
• 51.50166746.1222224 Engels — a mid-sized city, which was the capital of the former Volga German Republic, is connected to Saratov by a 3-km bridge across the wide Volga River
• 52.0547.3833335 Volsk – a smaller town on the Volga, known for its nearby chemical weapons development and testing grounds around Shikhany
• 51.746.756 Marks
• 51.866667457 Atkarsk
• 50.4548.158 Novouzensk
• 52.01333348.80259 Pugachyov
• 52.31666745.38333310 Petrovsk
• 52.48333348.111 Khvalynsk

• Khvalynsky National Park

Saratov Oblast was the center of Volga German culture, Germans who resettled in Russia in the 17th century enticed by offers of farmland, until World War II, when Stalin deported the Germans en masse to Siberia and Kazakhstan. Today, Saratov Oblast is a big center of industry along the Volga River.

Overnight trains from Moscow to Saratov take about 16 hours and are very affordable. Flights cost about twice as much (although they are still very reasonable) and will get you there in an hour and a half.