With some terrific day trip options available in the surrounding area, renting a car makes sense. Without one, it’d be much harder to enjoy everything that Yoshkar-Ola, 45 miles away, has to offer. Museum of the History of the Gulag, Sapaev Mari State Opera and Ballet Theatre and Mari El National Shketan Drama Theater alone justify the drive. The locals are also likely to point you in the direction of Cheboksary, 55 miles away. If you only see one thing here, make sure it’s Monument of Mother. (But we’re also big fans of Chuvash National Museum and Museum of V.I. Chapaev.)