Russia

Stepping onto Red Square never ceases to inspire: the tall towers and imposing walls of the Kremlin, the playful jumble of patterns and colours adorning St Basil’s Cathedral, the majestic red bricks of the State History Museum and the elaborate edifice of the GUM department store, all encircling a vast stretch of cobblestones. Individually they are impressive, but the ensemble is electrifying. Come at night to see the square empty of crowds and the buildings awash with lights.

Ding-dong ring the bells of a few dozen churches as you ride your bike through the streets of Suzdal, which are lined with wooden cottages and lush gardens. This is Russia as it would have been, but for the devastating 20th century – unpretentious, pious and very laid-back. Some of the best religious architecture is scattered around, but you can just as well spend all day lying in the grass and watching the river before repairing to a banya (hot bath) for the sweet torture of heat, cold and birch twigs.

Little can prepare most visitors for the scale and quality of the exhibits at the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. Comprising an almost unrivalled history of Western art, the collection includes a staggering number of Rembrandts, Rubens and Matisses – the latter being displayed in new galleries in the General Staff Building. In addition, there are superb antiquities, sculpture and jewellery on display, not to mention the stupendously decorated public halls and private apartments of the Romanovs, for whom the Winter Palace was home until 1917.

Daylight gradually fades, light illuminates the carriage, and windows turn opaque and reflect life inside the train. One of the pleasures of travelling in Russia is to board an overnight train and alight in a different city the following morning. This may be inside a deluxe carriage from St Petersburg, but for many the dream is of a cross-continent odyssey on the trans-Siberian route. One logical place to connect with this route is Novosibirsk, Russia's third-largest city and home to a mammoth train station and an impressive opera house.

Photos simply don’t do them justice: the astonishing beauty of the Caucasus mountains is best appreciated on a trek among the jagged peaks. You can take short hikes through meadows, past waterfalls and up into alpine heights from the villages of Dombay and Arkhyz. Those seeking to conquer Europe’s highest mountain set their sights on Elbrus, the twin-peaked overlord that tops out at 5642m – one of Russia’s most challenging mountain adventures. Wherever you plan to go, be sure to arrange any necessary permits well in advance.

It seems almost trite to describe Kamchatka as majestic. To many it is, quite simply, the most beautiful place in the world. It’s Yellowstone, Rotorua and Patagonia rolled into one, and it teems with wildlife free to frolic in one of the world’s great remaining wildernesses. Traditionally the domain of well-heeled tourists who could afford helicopter rides to view its trademark volcanoes, geysers and salmon-devouring bears, parts of Kamchatka can now be explored by independent travellers on more limited budgets. Now if only they could fix that weather…

The serene Black Sea coast has long been a favourite of Russian holidaymakers for its seaside towns, easy-going ambience and the magnificent scenery in the nearby Caucasus mountains. The gateway to it all is Sochi, a vibrant city that reinvented itself as a first-rate international resort and host of the 2014 Winter Olympics. The looming peaks of nearby Krasnaya Polyana make a superb destination for ski lovers, while there’s great hiking – past waterfalls and up to eagle-nest heights – in the Agura Valley.

In the town that considers itself Russia’s birthplace stands one of the country’s most impressive and picturesque stone fortresses. Within the grounds of the kremlin rise the Byzantine 11th-century Cathedral of St Sophia and a 300-tonne sculpture celebrating 1000 years of Russian history. Climb the Kokui Tower for an overview of the complex, then enter the Novgorod State United Museum to see one of Russia’s best collections of iconographic art. A pleasant park and riverside beach also fringe the magnificent brick walls.

The quintessential Russian experience is visiting a traditional banya (hot bath). Forget your modesty, strip down and brave the steam room at the likes of Moscow's Sanduny Baths. As the heat hits, you’ll understand why locals wear felt hats to protect their hair. A light thrashing with a bundle of birch branches is part of the fun, as is the invigorating blast that follows the post-steam dive into an icy pool or the douse in a frigid shower – as the locals say, S lyogkim parom! (Hope your steam was easy!).

Old buildings made of logs may not usually be synonymous with ‘heart-stopping excitement’, but the collection of wooden masterpieces on Kizhi is enough to spike the blood pressure of those blasé about even the most glorious architecture. The excitement builds as the heavenly Transfiguration Church is first glimpsed from the approaching hydrofoil. Up close, the church is a miracle of design and construct: legend has it that the unnamed builder destroyed his axe upon its completion, correctly assuming that its glory could not be matched.

What could be more Russian than a night at the ballet, dressed to the nines, watching Swan Lake or Romeo and Juliet? St Petersburg’s famed Mariinsky Theatre offers the ultimate in classical ballet or operatic experiences, and now has a contemporary twist as its long-awaited second stage has finally opened. Also worth a visit is Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre, looking better than ever after a long renovation. Tickets are no longer cheap, but the experience will stay with you forever.

Already one of Russia’s most successful environmental projects, the Great Baikal Trail has the ambitious aim of encircling Lake Baikal with marked hiking trails. That’s still a long way from being achieved, but where trails have been etched into the landscape, donning boots for a trek along Baikal’s shores is all the rage. Whichever section you choose, Baikal’s gobsmacking vistas and the tough going will leave you breathless as you pass through virgin taiga (swampy coniferous forest), along isolated beaches and through cold, flowing rivers.

The former capital of Siberia, Tobolsk is today renowned across Russia for its magnificent kremlin. Crowds are rare, though, and if you come on a weekday you're likely to have its grounds almost to yourself. The kremlin is perched high above the old town, a part of Tobolsk where you'll lose track of time as you explore the endless wooden buildings and dramatic churches. Tobolsk is off the main Trans-Siberian route, but its charms are well worth the detour.

Sacred of the sacred to the shamanist western Buryats, who attach a legend or fable to every rock, cape and hillock, enchanted Olkhon sits halfway up Lake Baikal’s western shore. It’s obvious why the gods and other beings from the Mongol Geser stories chose to dwell on this eerily moving island, though today it’s more likely to be a bunch of backpackers you meet emerging from a cave. The island’s landscapes are spellbinding; Baikal’s waters lap balmiest on its western shore and if you’re after some Siberia-inspired meditation, there’s no better spot.

Misty mountain passes, standing stone idols, tranquil lakes and empty roads that stretch on forever…welcome to the Altai Republic, Russia’s supreme natural paradise, almost twice the size of Wales but with less than one-tenth of the population. You can travel for hours here without seeing another soul – unless you count the wild horses and goats. From snow-capped peaks to the lunar landscapes of Kosh-Agach, desolation has never been quite so appealing. But be warned – the Altai and its mysteries possess a magnetic pull, drawing travellers back year after year.

Throat singers zing and burp under upturned eaves, the yurts of nomads pimple the dust-bare grasslands, a hoard of Scythian gold gleams in the National Museum and a clipped Turkic tongue stutters on the dusty streets – this is Tuva, a republic isolated from the rest of Russia by the Yergaki Mountains, where Slavic influence has all but faded. You’ll long remember a tour of this incredible country, not least for its wildernesses peppered with petroglyph-etched standing stones and its excitingly unique traditional music.

Vladivostok, capital of Russia’s east, has a swagger in its step after being remade for an economic summit in 2012. No longer a remote satellite of Moscow, Vladivostok is Asia’s rising star, and Golden Horn Bay is its heart and soul. Take it in from one of the city’s myriad viewpoints, or join the frenzy of activity on the bay with a ferry cruise. Check out the impressive new suspension bridge spanning the bay. Suddenly those San Francisco comparisons don’t seem quite so preposterous.

It’s a fine line between shopping and fun at the kremlin in Izmaylovo. Cross the footbridge and walk through the gate to enter a Disney-like medieval village, complete with wooden church, whitewashed walls and plenty of souvenir shops. Just as in times of yore, the best shopping is in the trade rows outside the kremlin walls. Wander among the sprawling market's stalls to find an endless array of traditional handicrafts, as well as art and antiques, Central Asian carpets, Soviet paraphernalia and more.

Delve into the mysteries of the Gulag past of the Solovetsky Islands and visit one of Russia’s most impressive fortress-monasteries. Some of Stalin’s most brutal repressions took place on these remote, forested islands, reachable only by boat and small plane and made infamous by Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago. The monastery, with its sturdy stone walls and powerful cannons, is famous for fighting off the British and withstanding an eight-year siege. Today it's a place of worship once more, the golden iconostases of its churches returned to former glories.

For history buffs, a trip to Volgograd to take in the immense Mamaev Kurgan memorial to the Battle of Stalingrad is one of those must-visit, bucket-list types of places. The sheer mass of the 72m-high statue of Mother Russia wielding a sword that extends for another 11m must be seen in person to be fully grasped. Historians regard the epic WWII battle between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Red Army as the bloodiest in human history and a turning point in Russia’s ultimate victory in the war.