# Yeltsin Center, Yekaterinburg > The Yeltsin Center is the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center on the Iset embankment, and its heart is a nine-room museum of Russia in the 1990s. The museum opens Tuesday to Sunday 10:00–21:00 and is closed on Mondays. A ticket costs 400 ₽, the building itself is free, and under-8s go free. Allow 2–3 hours; it’s a 15-minute walk from the Plotinka. Web page: https://yesgo.io/russia/yekaterinburg/yeltsin-center - City: [Yekaterinburg](https://yesgo.io/russia/yekaterinburg), Russia - YesGo score: 40/100 (Yes, if nearby) - Time on site: 2 h 30 min - Entry: Museum 400 ₽, building free - Opening hours: Museum and art gallery: Tue–Sun 10:00–21:00, closed Mondays; the building itself: daily 10:00–22:00 - With kids: Fine with kids - Museum: Tue–Sun 10:00–21:00 - Closed: Mondays — museum and art gallery - Building, atrium, cafés, shops: Daily 10:00–22:00 - Museum ticket: 400 ₽, valid all day - Museum + art gallery: 500 ₽; gallery only 300 ₽ - Family ticket: 800 ₽ — two adults and one or two children - Free: Children up to and including 7 - Audio guide: 150 ₽ at the desk plus a 1,000 ₽ deposit or an ID other than a passport; free in the center’s app - English audio guide: Available, according to travel guides — confirm at the desk - Guided tour (Russian): Tue–Sun 15:00, 500 ₽, 90 minutes - Payment: Foreign Visa and Mastercard cards don’t work in Russia — bring roubles in cash - Underground car park: 24/7; weekdays 9:00–18:00 400 ₽/h, otherwise 200 ₽/h - Coordinates: 56.84476, 60.59103 - Facts checked: 30.10.2026 ## Key facts - **25 Nov 2015** — the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center opens (source: English and Russian Wikipedia, “Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center”) - **9 rooms** — in the museum: the Labyrinth, seven “Day” halls and the Hall of Freedom (source: English and Russian Wikipedia; Sputnik8) - **Free** — entry to the building itself — atrium, bookshop, cafés; the museum and gallery are paid (source: Official Yeltsin Center website, “Museum” page) - **Boris Bernaskoni** — architect, Bernaskoni bureau (source: English and Russian Wikipedia, “Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center”) - **Demidov** — the business centre the building started as in 2006, before the Center bought part of it in 2011 (source: Russian Wikipedia; E1.ru, opening report, 25.11.2015) - **7 bn ₽+** — spent on creating the Center (source: Russian Wikipedia; E1.ru, 25.11.2015) - **2017** — Kenneth Hudson Prize of the European Museum of the Year Award (EMYA) (source: European Museum Forum; Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 2017) - **1914–1987** — the years covered by the ground-floor Labyrinth (source: Tripster journal, “Yeltsin Center”; Sputnik8) - **Trolleybus** — a real one in Day One — Yeltsin famously rode public transport to work (source: Tripster journal; E1.ru, 25.11.2015) - **Kremlin office** — recreated: where Yeltsin recorded his resignation address on 31 December 1999 (source: Tripster journal; Sputnik8) > **The museum is closed on Mondays** Every Monday the **museum and art gallery** are shut. The building stays open, so you can browse the bookshop or grab a coffee, but without the museum it isn’t worth the trip. If Monday is your only free day in Yekaterinburg, spend it on the [Plotinka](https://yesgo.io/russia/yekaterinburg/yekaterinburg-plotinka) and the [Church on the Blood](https://yesgo.io/russia/yekaterinburg/yekaterinburg-church-on-the-blood) instead. > **Bring cash: foreign cards don’t work** Since March 2022 Visa and Mastercard cards issued abroad don’t work anywhere in Russia, including the Yeltsin Center ticket desks, cafés and shop. Bring enough roubles in cash for tickets, the audio-guide deposit and lunch. Reduced tickets are sold only at the desk anyway, so there is no online workaround. ## Is the Yeltsin Center worth visiting? Yes — if you have any interest in how modern Russia came to be. The Yeltsin Center is one of the most theatrical history museums in the country: you walk through rebuilt rooms, a real trolleybus, a 1991 grocery shop with empty shelves and the Kremlin office where Yeltsin resigned. It opened on 25 November 2015 and in 2017 won the Kenneth Hudson Prize of the European Museum of the Year Award. It sits in Yekaterinburg for a reason: this is where Yeltsin’s political career began, as Communist Party chief of the Sverdlovsk region. The white building with its curved blue glass started life as the Demidov business centre; architect Boris Bernaskoni turned part of it into the museum. Two honest caveats. Most labels are in Russian, so the audio guide matters more here than in most museums. And the exhibition tells the story of the 1990s from the Center’s own point of view — compelling, but not a neutral textbook. ## Yeltsin Center tickets and prices A full museum ticket costs **400 ₽**, museum plus art gallery **500 ₽**, and the gallery alone 300 ₽. A family ticket for two adults and one or two children is 800 ₽. Tickets are valid all day from 10:00 to 21:00, so you can leave for lunch and come back. Children up to and including 7 go free. Reduced tickets — half price for full-time students and some other groups — are sold only at the Center’s ticket desks with a document; the official list is written for Russian residents, so as a foreign visitor expect to pay the full price. Entry to the building is free: the atrium, the bookshop, cafés and some exhibitions cost nothing. You only pay for the museum, the gallery and separate events. ## Opening hours The museum and art gallery open **Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00–21:00**, and close on Mondays. The gallery’s ticket desk stops selling at 20:30, so aim to arrive by 19:00 at the latest — the museum alone needs at least two hours. The building keeps longer hours: daily 10:00–22:00, Mondays included, according to travel listings and the information desk times the Center publishes. Holiday schedules can shift, so glance at yeltsin.ru before you go. If you read that the Center has been closed: it hasn’t. As of 30 October 2026 the museum is open on its usual schedule and selling timed visits into late November. ## What to see inside - **“Russia in Search of Freedom”** — a short animated film at the start, styled after Ural gemstones, that sets up the whole visit. - **The Labyrinth** on the ground floor — Russia from 1914 to 1987 and Yeltsin’s road to power, with his ZIL-41052 limousine. - **Seven “Day” halls** upstairs — seven turning points from the 1987 party plenum to his 1999 resignation. - **The trolleybus** in Day One — a nod to the Moscow party boss who took public transport to work. - **The August 1991 barricades** — the failed coup told through newsreel and rebuilt street scenes. - **The early-1990s shop** — empty shelves and privatisation vouchers; the room locals linger in longest. - **The Kremlin office** in Day Seven — recreated where Yeltsin recorded his New Year’s Eve resignation in 1999. - **The Hall of Freedom** — column screens with Russians talking about freedom, and a booth to record your own answer. - **The art gallery** — rotating contemporary art; tours in English can be booked in advance through the gallery. ## How to get to the Yeltsin Center 1. Take the metro to **Ploshchad 1905 Goda** and walk 5 minutes down Lenin Avenue to the Plotinka, the old dam on the Iset. 2. Drop down to the water and follow the embankment **north, downstream**, past the Drama Theatre — 10–15 minutes. The white building with blue glass is hard to miss. 3. The address is **Ulitsa Borisa Yeltsina 3** (Boris Yeltsin Street). The main entrance faces that street; museum ticket desks are inside. 4. From **Dinamo** metro station it’s about 15–20 minutes on foot, but the riverside route from the Plotinka is the nicer walk. 5. By taxi, ask for “Yeltsin Tsentr” — every driver knows it. Drivers can use the 24-hour underground car park beneath the building. ## How long do you need? The Center itself suggests **2–3 hours** for the museum, which is right for a steady visit with the audio guide. There’s a lot of film and sound, though, and if you watch everything you can easily spend four or five hours. The art gallery adds another 40–60 minutes. Short on time? In about 90 minutes you can do the animated film, skim the Labyrinth, then focus on three Days: the 1991 coup, the 1990s shop and the Kremlin office. The Center’s own 90-minute tours run in Russian. If you don’t read Russian, a private guide makes the Seven Days far easier to follow. ## Before you go Tick off what’s ready — your ticks are saved in this browser. - [ ] It isn’t Monday - [ ] Arriving by 19:00 at the latest - [ ] Roubles in cash — foreign cards won’t work - [ ] Center’s audio-guide app downloaded, or 1,000 ₽ deposit for a rented one - [ ] Headphones for the app - [ ] Decided whether to add the gallery — the combined ticket is cheaper ## Yeltsin Center, Church on the Blood or Ganina Yama | | Yeltsin Center | Church on the Blood | Ganina Yama | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | What it is | Museum of Russia in the 1990s | Church on the site of the Ipatiev House | Monastery where the Romanovs’ remains were hidden | | Where | Iset embankment, centre | Centre, 15 min from the Plotinka | Outside the city, about 20 km | | Entry | Museum paid, building free | Free | Free | | Time | 2–3 h | 30–60 min | Half a day with transport | With one day in Yekaterinburg, pair the Yeltsin Center with the Church on the Blood — they’re 20 minutes apart on foot. [Ganina Yama](https://yesgo.io/russia/yekaterinburg/ganina-yama) needs its own half-day. ## Yekaterinburg history: compare and choose Every history stop in Yekaterinburg rated by YesGo. - [Church on the Blood](https://yesgo.io/russia/yekaterinburg/yekaterinburg-church-on-the-blood) — YesGo score 55/100 (Yes, go) · 45 min · Free entry to the church - [Plotinka Dam](https://yesgo.io/russia/yekaterinburg/yekaterinburg-plotinka) — YesGo score 44/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · Free - [Yeltsin Center](https://yesgo.io/russia/yekaterinburg/yeltsin-center) — YesGo score 40/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h 30 min · Museum 400 ₽, building free - [Sevastyanov House](https://yesgo.io/russia/yekaterinburg/sevastyanov-house) — YesGo score 39/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · Free, outside only - [Yekaterinburg Opera and Ballet Theatre](https://yesgo.io/russia/yekaterinburg/yekaterinburg-opera-theatre) — YesGo score 34/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h 30 min · 300–20,000 ₽, depends on the show - [Ganina Yama](https://yesgo.io/russia/yekaterinburg/ganina-yama) — YesGo score 31/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · Free entry - [White Tower](https://yesgo.io/russia/yekaterinburg/yekaterinburg-white-tower) — YesGo score 31/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free outside; interior closed for now ## Yeltsin Center and the city centre in a day Start at the Sevastyanov House and the Plotinka, follow the river to the Yeltsin Center, then cross the Iset to the Church on the Blood. Add it to your route — YesGo sorts out the timing and walks. 1. [Sevastyanov House](https://yesgo.io/russia/yekaterinburg/sevastyanov-house) — YesGo score 39/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · Free, outside only 2. [Plotinka Dam](https://yesgo.io/russia/yekaterinburg/yekaterinburg-plotinka) — YesGo score 44/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · Free 3. [Yeltsin Center](https://yesgo.io/russia/yekaterinburg/yeltsin-center) — YesGo score 40/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h 30 min · Museum 400 ₽, building free 4. [Church on the Blood](https://yesgo.io/russia/yekaterinburg/yekaterinburg-church-on-the-blood) — YesGo score 55/100 (Yes, go) · 45 min · Free entry to the church ## Not to be confused with The Yeltsin Center has a branch in Moscow, in a manor house on Malaya Nikitskaya Street, but the presidential museum itself exists only in Yekaterinburg. The office towers, shops and banks in the same block are neighbours, not part of the museum. ## Tips - Come at 10:00 on a weekday — the rooms are nearly empty and you won’t queue for the video screens. - Download the Center’s free audio-guide app before you arrive and bring headphones; then you don’t have to leave a deposit. - Buy the combined museum-and-gallery ticket if you want both — it’s cheaper than two separate ones. - Your ticket lasts all day, so lunch in the atrium café and go back in. - For the best photo of the building, look across from the opposite bank of the Iset; the façade is lit at night. - Walk on to the Church on the Blood afterwards — two very different chapters of Russian history in one afternoon. - If Russian-only labels put you off, book a guided tour: the Seven Days make far more sense with someone explaining why those days mattered. ## Questions ### How much is a ticket to the Yeltsin Center? The building is free. The museum costs 400 ₽, museum plus art gallery 500 ₽, the gallery alone 300 ₽, and a family ticket 800 ₽. Children up to 7 go free. Pay in cash — foreign cards don’t work in Russia. ### What are the Yeltsin Center opening hours? The museum and gallery open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00–21:00, and close on Mondays. The building with its cafés and shops is open daily 10:00–22:00. ### Is the Yeltsin Center worth it? Yes, for anyone curious about post-Soviet Russia. It’s one of the country’s most immersive history museums. Bear in mind that labels are mostly in Russian and the story is told from the Center’s own perspective. ### Is there an English audio guide? Travel guides say an English audio guide is available. You can rent one for 150 ₽ plus a deposit, or use the Center’s free app on your phone — check the language at the desk. ### How long should I spend at the Yeltsin Center? Plan on 2–3 hours for the museum. Watching every film can stretch it to 4–5 hours; the art gallery takes up to an hour more. ### How do I get to the Yeltsin Center? Walk 5 minutes from Ploshchad 1905 Goda metro to the Plotinka, then 10–15 minutes north along the Iset embankment. The address is Ulitsa Borisa Yeltsina 3. ### Is the Yeltsin Center closed? No. As of 30 October 2026 it is open on its normal schedule. Only the museum and gallery close, every Monday. ### What is there to see inside? An animated film on Russian history, the Labyrinth with Yeltsin’s ZIL limousine, seven halls on key days including a trolleybus, the 1991 barricades, a 1990s shop and his Kremlin office, and the Hall of Freedom. ### Is the Yeltsin Center good for kids? Under-8s go free, and the building also has Newton Park, a hands-on science centre with its own ticket. The museum itself suits teenagers better than small children. ## How we checked Museum and gallery hours, the Monday closure, prices, concessions, the audio guide, tours and parking come from the official Yeltsin Center website on 30.10.2026. The building’s own hours (daily 10:00–22:00) aren’t listed separately on the official site; they appear in Sputnik8 and match the information-desk hours on the official parking page, so they’re marked “checking”. Tripster lists older prices (300 and 400 ₽); we give the current official ones. English Wikipedia calls the 2017 award a Council of Europe prize and Russian Wikipedia “European Museum of the Year”; the European Museum Forum and RFE/RL say it was the Kenneth Hudson Prize of EMYA, which is what we state. The English audio guide comes from Lonely Planet and other travel guides, not the official site, so it’s marked “checking”. We couldn’t reliably confirm tram and bus numbers (routes were changed in 2025), so directions are on foot from the metro and the Plotinka; walking times are our estimate. That the Center is open on 30.10.2026 was checked against timed sessions on sale at Kinoafisha. ## Sources - Official Yeltsin Center website: “Museum”, “Art Gallery”, “Parking”, “About” pages, 30.10.2026 - English and Russian Wikipedia: “Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center”; Wikidata Q21639265 - Tripster journal: “Yeltsin Center — where the history of the 1990s is examined” - Sputnik8: “Yeltsin Center” — building hours, rooms - E1.ru: report on the Center’s opening, 25.11.2015 - European Museum Forum and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty — on the 2017 Kenneth Hudson Prize - Lonely Planet: “Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center” — English audio guide - Kinoafisha: timed “Museum visit” sessions, October–November 2026 --- This is the Markdown version of a YesGo page for AI assistants. Quote the web page link above, not this file.