Western Siberia
Tobolsk's best museum, and indeed one of the best museums in Siberia, occupies a beautiful 18th-century former administration on the southwestern edge of…
Must-see attractions in Russia
Western European Russia
Tula has been a weapons manufacturing centre for centuries, a legacy celebrated at this fantastically kitted-out new building that houses an impressive…
Zarya Centre for Contemporary Art
Vladivostok
The full renovation and repurposing of a former clothing factory into a giant creative complex containing offices, studios, cafes and work spaces is one…
Western European Russia
Designed by Konstantin Ton (1794–1881), the genius behind Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the Kremlin Armoury and the Grand Kremlin Palace, this…
Western Siberia
Tyumen's sleek riverside promenade runs northwest from the centre almost all the way to Trinity Monastery. The promenade offers great views of the…
Western European Russia
Housed in a beautiful building with wrought-iron staircases, this splendid collection includes pieces by luminaries such as Valentin Serov, Ilya Repin and…
Western European Russia
This restored stone fortress, first constructed out of wood in the early 16th century, is home to the stunning 18th-century Assumption Cathedral. The…
Western European Russia
This blindingly white 72m-high structure, with its top dome shining gold, can be seen from miles away on a clear day. Consecrated in 1699, it’s the fourth…
St Alexander Svirsky Church on Khizhgora
Northern European Russia
Some 2km into the national park, in an elevated clearing in the forest, stands the atmospheric St Alexander Svirsky Church on Khizhgora. This onion-domed…
Western European Russia
This exceptional gallery charts a course from gilded icons and late-15th-century European paintings through to fascinating pieces of socialist realism…
Western European Russia
The author’s family lived on the 1st floor of this riverside dacha, which contains many original pieces. Dostoevsky’s bookcase is still stocked, and his…
Northern European Russia
Arkhangelsk’s most compelling art gallery has regularly changing exhibitions that range from modern reflections on Soviet propaganda to pop art. Upstairs…
Western Siberia
Minsalim is a master bone-carver who turns mammoth tusks and antler fragments into detailed figurines related to myths and legends of the local brand of…
Moscow
On the northern side of Sobornaya pl, with five golden helmet domes and four semicircular gables, the Assumption Cathedral is the focal church of pre…
Jewish Museum & Centre of Tolerance
Moscow
Occupying a heritage garage, purpose-built to house a fleet of Leyland double-deckers that plied Moscow's streets in the 1920s, this vast museum, filled…
Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines
Moscow
Growing up in 1980s USSR was a peculiar, but not necessarily entirely bleak experience. Here is an example – a collection containing dozens of mostly…
St Petersburg
Facing Millionnaya ul, the New Hermitage was built for Nicholas II in 1852, to hold the growing art collection and as a museum for the public. Designed by…
St Petersburg
This stunning mint-green, white and gold profusion of columns, windows and recesses, with its roof topped by rows of classical statues, was commissioned…
St Petersburg
The classical Small Hermitage, which evolved from a series of buildings constructed between Palace Sq and the Neva between 1764 and 1769, was used by…
Central Museum of the Armed Forces
Moscow
Covering the history of the Soviet and Russian military since 1917, this massive museum occupies 24 halls plus open-air exhibits. Over 800,000 military…
St Petersburg
Facing the Neva, this section of the museum (also known as the Large Hermitage) dates from the time of Catherine the Great. It mainly houses Italian…
Moscow
Palaces for workers! There is no better place to see this Soviet slogan put into practice than at VDNKh, which stands for Exhibition of Achievements of…
Anna Akhmatova Museum at the Fountain House
St Petersburg
Housed in the south wing of the Sheremetyev Palace, this touching and fascinating literary museum celebrates the life and work of Anna Akhmatova, St…
Moscow
The Archangel Cathedral at the southeastern corner of Sobornaya pl was for centuries the coronation, wedding and burial church of tsars. It was built by…
Moscow
The Annunciation Cathedral, at the southwest corner of Sobornaya pl, contains impressive murals in the gallery and an archaeology exhibit in the basement…
Northern European Russia
In the 16th and 17th centuries, this monastery in the lakeside town of Kirillov, 130km northwest of Vologda, was northern Russia's largest, and one of the…
Moscow
The entire battlefield – more than 100 sq km – is now part of the Borodino Field Museum-Preserve, its vast fields dotted with dozens of memorials to…
St Petersburg
This vast expanse is simply one of the most striking squares in the world, still redolent of imperial grandeur almost a century after the end of the…
Moscow
Moscow's first new park in 50 years, Zaryadye was inaugurated in 2017 and occupies a prominent site along the Moscow River, wedged into historic Kitay…
St Petersburg
The elegant Style Moderne Kshesinskaya Palace (1904) is a highly appropriate location for this excellent museum – one of the city's best – covering…
St Petersburg
This fantastic conversion of the former Smolninsky Bread Factory has plenty to keep you interested, including many of the original factory fittings…
Moscow
This glass-dome pavilion was the first element of Park Zaryadye to open to the public. A creation of Sergei Kuznetsov, the pavilion was designed as an …
Moscow
A pet project of the ubiquitous artist Zurab Tsereteli, this museum is housed in a classical 18th-century merchant’s home, originally designed by Matvei…
Museum of Decorative & Folk Art
Moscow
Just beyond the Garden Ring, this museum showcases centuries-old arts-and-crafts traditions from around Russia and the former Soviet republics. Of the 40…
Moscow
With its two golden domes rising above the eastern side of Sobornaya pl, the Ivan the Great Bell Tower is the Kremlin's tallest structure – a landmark…
Moscow
At the northern end of Red Square, the State History Museum has an enormous collection covering Russian history from the time of the Stone Age. The…
St Petersburg
Following a move to this beautifully repurposed building opposite the former shipyard of New Holland, the Central Naval Museum has moved into the 21st…
Abramtsevo Estate Museum-Preserve
Moscow
In 1870 Savva Mamontov – railway tycoon and patron of the arts – bought this lovely estate 45km north of Moscow. Here, he hosted a whole slew of artists,…
St Petersburg
Russia in all its grit and glory – from the industrial sprawl of Magnitogorsk to the glittering domes of Moscow – is on full display at this vast…
Moscow
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier contains the remains of one soldier who died in December 1941 at Km41 of Leningradskoe sh – the nearest the Nazis came to…
