Museums-reserves were created to preserve and present the specifics of regional and national culture, and to form a sense of the sociocultural identity of the region. There are 8 museums-reserves in the Republic of Tatarstan for today. Cultural tourism in the Republic of Tatarstan is one of the most mobile developing kinds of tourism. The article discusses the place of museums-reserves of Tatarstan in the cultural tourism sphere and the opportunities they have. Development analysis of museums-reserves allows to clarify the content of the term “cultural tourism”, its types. Specific examples of museums-reserves activities help to examine the issues such as participation of museums-reserves in the projects that have cultural vector, and the diversity of museums-reserves; potential ways of integrating museums-reserves into the cultural tourism sphere are identified.