A 35-metre-high observation tower overlooking the moor taiga gives Tomskiy District a distinctive landscape feature. There are also eco-routes, a rural tourism destination and a rural park featuring crafts and a festival. These different themes offer a range of ways to plan a stay and find suitable accommodation.
Views, eco-routes and rural tourism
“Everest” in the interfluve of the Tom and Ob rivers is a tourist attraction in Tomskiy District. The 35-metre-high observation tower offers views across a moor-taiga landscape. Tourists in the district also choose the “Talovskie chashi” and “Zvezdnyy klyuch” eco-routes for their trips. The views of the moor taiga and the named eco-routes thus offer distinct nature-focused experiences.
The “Zemlyanichnaya ferma” is a rural tourism destination in the district. The Semiluzhensky Cossack Ostrog is also among the destinations chosen by visitors to Tomskiy District. Together with the observation tower, routes and park, these places offer different travel-planning themes, from landscapes to rural tourism.
Okolitsa Park and the “Prazdnik Topora” Festival
The rural park “Okolitsa” in Zorkaltsevo is a destination in Tomskiy District and the traditional venue for the International Folk Arts and Crafts Festival “Prazdnik Topora”. The festival has been held in Tomsk Oblast since 2008 and attracts hundreds of participants and thousands of spectators from across Russia and neighbouring countries.
The park’s programme includes four competitions for craftspeople in different categories, a large applied arts fair and an extensive concert programme. The park also has a focus on crafts outside the dates of any particular festival: visitors can view the craftspeople’s works there year-round. Special event areas showcase regional traditions shaped by Russian, Tatar, Chinese, Uzbek, Selkup and other cultures. If you are planning to travel specifically for the festival, check the dates for your travel year.
More travel ideas in Tomsk Oblast
The wider travel region of Tomsk Oblast also offers nature and cultural destinations in other districts. The 27-kilometre “Zov bolotnoy tishiny” route for swamp vehicles and hiking runs through Bakcharsky District. It is intended for visitors aged 12 to 70; excursions must be booked in advance and accompanied by staff.
In Parabelsky District, Tomsk Oblast, the “Chumel Chvech” Museum introduces visitors to the culture and daily life of the southern Selkup group living there. Visits are by prior arrangement. Opened in 2017, the “Tropa okhotnika” trail features traditional traps for animals and birds, including a sable trap, a bear trap, a snare for partridges and a trap for capercaillies. The exhibition also includes a hunter’s shelter, a cone collectors’ shelter and the temporary half-dugout hut “karamo”.
Plan your stay
If you are looking for a holiday apartment, choosing a theme can be a useful first step: the observation tower and eco-routes offer a different focus from the park, with its crafts and festival.
Discover more destinations: Luchanovo, Zonalnaya stantsiya, Kargasoksky District, Alexandrovsky District, Tomsk, Tomsky District, Asinovskiy District.
Go to the overview of the wider travel region: Tomsk Oblast.
