Chusovoy: Astafyev’s Legacy, Bridges and City Stories

Chusovoy brings together literary history, city walks, distinctive bridges and hands-on activities. The Viktor Petrovich Astafyev Literary Museum displays the writer’s personal belongings, books and magazines; visits are possible by prior request. There is also a walking tour connected to Astafyev, stories about city landmarks and creative workshops. This lets you explore a range of themes on your trip, rather than treating Chusovoy merely as a starting point.

Literary Traces and City Stories

The «Liniya Astafyeva» sightseeing route consists of twelve information boards near significant places in Chusovoy. These places are connected to the story of the Astafyev family’s life in the city. The boards give the walk a literary focus and link it to the city’s history. Check the current condition of the boards before visiting.

The «Astafyevskaya liniya» walking trail is the same route as the «Liniya Astafyeva» sightseeing tour; it was created in Chusovoy in 2015 and is intended for independent visits. The «Gorodskie legendy» tour was added in 2017: it tells stories about local monuments, mysterious figures, important buildings and other city landmarks. The two activities have different focuses—one on the story of the Astafyev family’s life, the other on legends and buildings.

On the bank of the Arkhipovka stands a life-size monument to the writer Alexander Grin, erected in 1988. The bridges offer another way to take in Chusovoy: three bridges connect the right and left banks. The oldest is a railway bridge; the road bridge is also known as the Yermakovsky Bridge. A cable-stayed bridge leads to the district on Zakurye Island.

Near Chusovoy is the Park of the History of the Chusovaya River. The centrepiece of its exhibition is a museum about Yermak’s journey from Nizhny Chusovoy Gorodok to Siberia. This adds a regional history theme to Chusovoy’s city walks and monuments.

Workshops and Local Themes

The Folk Culture Centre offers workshops in stained glass, wet felting, painting, graphics, cutting and sewing. A workshop lasts up to two hours. Workshops and guided tours are available by prior reservation only, so arrange your visit with the centre. This gives travel groups with varied interests creative activities alongside literary and historical attractions.

The city also offers luge and bobsleigh: the Ogonyok Sports School runs workshops in both disciplines for anyone interested. Contact the school directly to make a booking. The Chusovoy Museum also offers a walking tour about what people in Chusovoy ate and cooked in the 19th and 20th centuries. If this tour is important to your plans, check the current schedule in advance.

More Places to Explore in Perm Krai

Beyond Chusovoy, Perm Krai offers nature and cultural experiences with a different focus. The Basegi Nature Reserve has two excursion routes: «K vershine Severnogo Basega» and «K Yuzhnomu Basegu». The «K vershine Severnogo Basega» route is eleven kilometres long, including the return journey; the outing takes five to eight hours, including the guided tour and rest breaks. The excursion season runs from June to October. The trail starts at the checkpoint by the «Schastlivyy» ranger station and passes through 3,700 metres of taiga forest and about 300 metres of mountain meadows. Check current arrangements with the nature reserve before making plans.

The visitor centre at Basegi Nature Reserve regularly hosts environmental education discussions, lectures, quizzes and games featuring films or multimedia presentations. Topics include animals, plants, protected areas and the nature reserve itself. For a contrast in cultural history, the Khokhlovka open-air museum includes a tent-style windmill, Komi-Permyak and Russian farmsteads dating from the late 19th to early 20th century, and wooden churches and a bell tower that are more than 300 years old. The exhibition also includes an architectural complex of saltworks. Khokhlovka is the Urals’ first open-air architectural and ethnographic museum of wooden architecture and opened to visitors in September 1980.

Choose the Right Focus for Your Holiday Rental

When looking for a holiday rental in Chusovoy, one simple question can help: do you want your trip to focus mainly on city history, literature and creative activities, or would you also like to visit other destinations in Perm Krai? The answer gives your search a clear focus without combining different places into a single excursion area. This way, you can weigh Chusovoy’s own attractions separately from your wider regional interests.

Discover More Destinations

Discover more destinations: Ust'-Kachka, Barda, Vereshchagino, Gremyachinsk, Bryokhovo, Kalinino, Perm, Polazna.

Go to the main travel overview: Perm Krai.