Glinka Museum of Musical Culture

Lonely Planet review

Musicologists will be amazed by this massive collection of musical instruments from all over the world. The museum boasts over 3000 instruments - handcrafted works of art - featuring cultures from the Caucasus to Mongolia to the Far East. Recordings accompany many of the most rare instruments, allowing visitors to experience what they actually sound like.

Russia is very well represented amongst the collection - a 13th-century gusli from Novgorod, skin drums from Yakutia, a balalaika by the master Semyon Nalimov - but you can also see such classic pieces as a violin made by Antoni Stradivari.

This incredible collection started with a few instruments that were donated by the Moscow Conservatoire at the end of the 19th century. The collection grew exponentially during the Soviet period. It was named for Mikhail Glinka in 1945, in honour of the nationalist composer's 150th birthday.