With some great road trip options available in the surrounding area, having your own car makes sense. Without one, it’d be much harder to experience everything that Kazan, 25 miles away, has to offer. Among your first few stops here ought to be Kazan Kremlin, Kazan Arena and Kul Sharif Mosque. Locals will also likely point you toward Yoshkar-Ola, 50 miles away. If you can only find time for one thing here, let it be Museum of the History of the Gulag. (But we’d also recommend Sapaev Mari State Opera and Ballet Theatre and Mari El National Shketan Drama Theater.)