Penza Oblast

• — the large industrial capital city is pleasantly green; be sure to visit the fairytale-like, wooden Museum of Russian folk art
• — the second largest city in the region with a few churches worth seeking out only if you happen to be here
• — glass works nuts will want to visit its Museum of Crystal Glass; its glass plant produced fineries for the Tsar of Russia and the Persian Shahs for over 200 years
• — a large town with some of the region's more attractive 19th century architecture, including the Cathedral of Saint Michael the Archangel
• — a small city, built in the 1950s, not a tourist destination by any stretch of the imagination

• The somewhat underwhelming ruins of Mukhsha, a medieval city of the Golden Horde
• Tarkhani Estate-museum — the childhood home of Lermontov
• The estate-museum of V.G. Belinsky
• Troitsa-Skanov Monastery and cave complex

Penza is the first major stop in Russia on the South Ural route of the Trans-Siberian Railway, which starts in Kharkiv. Daily overnight trains from Moscow take 13 hours and arrive around 09:00.
Penza's modest airport services flights to/from Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Saratov.

• Hunting, fishing (including wolf hunts!)

The next major stop to the east on the South Ural route of the Trans-Siberian Railway is Samara.