Lenin's Tomb

Lonely Planet review

Whether for the creepiness value or an interest in mummification, the granite tomb of Lenin is a must-see, especially since (if some people get their way) the former leader may eventually end up beside his mum in St Petersburg. For now, the embalmed leader remains as he has been since 1924 (apart from a retreat to Siberia during WWII).

Vladimir Ilich (Lenin) died of a massive stroke on 22 January 1924 when he was 53 years old, was embalmed six months later, and has now become the world's most famous mummy.

From 1953 to 1961, Lenin shared his tomb with Stalin. In 1961 at the 22nd Party Congress, the esteemed and by then ancient Bolshevik, Madame Spiridonova, announced that Vladimir Ilich had appeared to her in a dream, insisting that he did not like spending eternity with his successor (so much for the atheistic, no after-life thing, Vlad). With that, Stalin was removed, and given a place of honour immediately behind the mausoleum.

Before joining the queue at the northwestern corner of Red Square, drop your camera at the left-luggage office inside the State History Museum, as you will not be allowed to take it with you. Then, after trouping past the oddly waxy figure, emerge from the mausoleum and inspect where Stalin, Brezhnev and other Communist heavy-hitters are buried along the Kremlin wall.