St Petersburg
This eastern tip of Vasilyevsky Island is where Peter the Great wanted his new city’s administrative and intellectual centre to be. In fact, it became the…
Must-see attractions in Russia
St Petersburg
In a once-industrial part of the city, Lumiere Hall hosts large-format multimedia exhibitions – basically massive 3D projections in a 360-degree space,…
Moscow
This 13th-century neighbourhood was the first in Moscow to grow up outside the Kremlin walls. While its name means 'China Town' in modern Russian, do not…
Moscow
When the Ostankino TV Tower was built in 1967, it was the tallest free-standing structure in the world (surpassing the Empire State Building). At 540m, it…
Moscow
In 1810, the wealthy Prince Nikolai Yusupov purchased this grand palace on the outskirts of Moscow, and turned it into a spectacular estate. Now his…
Church of the Trinity in Nikitniki
Moscow
Hidden between big government blocks, this little gem of a church is an exquisite example of Russian baroque. Built in the 1630s, its onion domes and…
Northern European Russia
The second-largest island in the archipelago, Anzer Island has its share of stone labyrinths and burial mounds, as well as a scattering of monastic sketes…
Saviour Church ‘Not Made by Hand’
Moscow
The prettiest building in the grounds is Saviour Church ‘Not Made by Hand’ (Khram Spasa Nerukotvorny). The structure epitomises Mamontov’s intentions…
St Petersburg
The Russian Museum's exhibitions of 20th-century works are held in this building's 1st floor, which is connected by stairs to the main collection in the…
St Petersburg
All of Russia's prerevolutionary rulers from Peter the Great onwards (except Peter II and Ivan VI) are buried inside this cathedral. The magnificent…
Church of the Nativity of the Virgin in Putinki
Moscow
When this church was completed in 1652, Patriarch Nikon responded by banning tent roofs like those featured here. Apparently, he considered such…
Moscow
Stalin's genocide is a subject many Russians prefer to forget rather than reflect on, but this modern multimedia space serves as both a learning centre…
Museum of the Defence & Blockade of Leningrad
St Petersburg
The grim but engrossing displays here contain donations from survivors, propaganda posters from the blockade period and many photos depicting life and…
St Petersburg
Fyodor Dostoevsky lived in flats all over the city (mostly in Sennaya), but his final residence is this ‘memorial flat’ where he lived from 1878 until he…
Glinka Museum of Musical Culture
Moscow
This musicologist's paradise boasts over 3000 instruments – handcrafted works of art – from the Caucasus and the Far East. Russia is very well represented…
St Petersburg
For lovers of things that glitter and the applied arts, the Hermitage's Treasure Gallery should not be missed. Its two special collections, guarded behind…
Moscow
If the Armoury hasn’t sated your lust for diamonds, there is more in the Diamond Fund Exhibition. The fund dates back to 1719, when Peter the Great…
Moscow
The Kremlin’s ‘official’ exit onto Red Square is the stately red-brick Saviour Gate Tower. This gate – considered sacred – has been used for processions…
Moscow
A reopened palatial building sporting an elegant glass cupola, Space Pavilion is packed with rockets, landing capsules and entire space stations, some of…
Moscow
Built in 1873 by Victor Gartman, the ornate Russian-style wooden studio is notable for the carved art nouveau detailing on the exterior. It contains an…
Museum of Decorative & Applied Arts
St Petersburg
Also known as the Stieglitz Museum, this fascinating establishment is as beautiful as you would expect a decorative arts museum to be. An array of…
Malye Karely Wooden Architecture Museum
Northern European Russia
Set in pretty rolling dales 25km southeast of Arkhangelsk’s centre, this well-presented open-air museum is Arkhangelsk’s foremost attraction. Featuring…
St Petersburg
The first stone building in the city, the Menshikov Palace was built to the grandiose tastes of Prince Alexander Menshikov, Peter the Great’s closest…
Western European Russia
Surrounded by beautiful countryside, Spasskoe-Lutovinovo, 65km north of Oryol, is the family estate of Ivan Turgenev (1818–83), where the 19th-century…
Yakutsk
At Permafrost Kingdom, two neon-lit tunnels burrowed into a permanently frozen hill have been filled with dozens of fabulous, never-melting ice sculptures…
St Petersburg
The Trinity Cathedral boasts stunning blue cupolas emblazoned with golden stars. A devastating fire in 2006 caused the 83m-high central cupola to collapse…
St Petersburg
The most famous statue of Peter the Great was immortalised as the Bronze Horseman in the epic poem by Alexander Pushkin. With his horse (representing…
Russian Academy of Fine Arts Museum
St Petersburg
Art lovers should not bypass the museum of this time-tested institution, which contains work by academy students and faculty dating back to its foundation…
St Petersburg
Nevsky Prospekt is Russia’s most famous street, running 4km from the Admiralty to Alexander Nevsky Monastery, from which it takes its name. The inner 2…
St Petersburg
Centred on the famed statue of the Bronze Horseman, this square is listed on city maps as Senatskaya ploshchad (Senate Sq). Its dominant feature is the…
St Petersburg
On eastern Aptekarsky (Apothecary) Island, this was once a garden of medicinal plants – founded by Peter the Great himself in 1714 – that gave the island…
St Petersburg
Leningrad party boss Sergei Kirov was one of the most powerful men in Russia in the early 1930s. His decidedly un-proletarian apartment is now a…
St Petersburg
The city's oldest park, these leafy, shady gardens can be entered either at the northern Neva or southern Moyka end. Early-18th-century architects…
St Petersburg
Built by Giacomo Quarenghi between 1806 and 1808 as a school for aristocratic girls, the Smolny Institute was thrust into the limelight in 1917 when it…
St Petersburg
If baroque is your thing, then look no further than the sky-blue Smolny Cathedral, an unrivalled masterpiece of the genre that ranks among Bartolomeo…
Vladivostok
A fully militarised zone for most of the past 150 years, this big island just offshore has been reinvented as a business and academic centre and is home…
St Petersburg
Designed by Vasily Stasov, the striking Grand Choral Synagogue opened in 1893 to provide a central place of worship for St Petersburg’s growing Jewish…
St Petersburg
Catherine the Great had this baroque palace built in 1783 for Grigory Potemkin, a famed general and her companion for many years. Today it is home to the…
St Petersburg
A branch of the Russian Museum, the castle is worth visiting for its temporary exhibits as well as a few finely restored state rooms, including the lavish…
St Petersburg
Between the cemeteries and the main church, you'll pass a ticket kiosk with a separate admission to the old Annunciation church, aka the…
