The Regional Museum, commonly associated with the Alabin museum network, is Samara's broadest introduction to the surrounding Volga region. Its collections range from archaeology and natural history to ethnography, merchant-city history, and the Soviet period.
It is the right first stop if you want context before wandering Samara's embankment and historic centre. The museum is not as immediately iconic as the Space Museum, but it gives the city a deeper regional frame.