St Petersburg
Russia's oldest and biggest public library was founded in 1795. It has some 31 million items, nearly a sixth of which are in foreign languages. Its main…
Must-see attractions in Russia
St Petersburg
This privately run museum presents its pan-Russian collection in three sections – folk toys, factory toys and artisanal toys. Examples of the last include…
Moscow
The offices of the president of Russia, the ultimate seat of power in the modern Kremlin, are in the yellow, triangular former Senate building, a fine…
Black Sea Coast
If you're not swimming among the fish, or eating the fish, you might considering paying a visit to the fish in the Discovery World Aquarium, which is a…
Archaeology & Ethnography Museum
Yakutsk
These two separately run museums are in the same building; sadly, neither enjoys the luxury of signage in English. On the bottom three floors you'll find…
Northern European Russia
The circular pl Lenina is the original heart of neoclassical Petrozavodsk, skirted by matching semicircular buildings built in 1784. In its centre is a…
Western European Russia
Mirozhsky Monastery sits on the riverbank at the confluence of the rivers Velikaya and Mirozhka, where it gets its name from. The highlight of this 12th…
Sigmund Freud Museum of Dreams
St Petersburg
This odd conceptual exhibition, based on abstractions and ideas, not artefacts, is an outgrowth of the Psychoanalytic Institute that houses it. The two…
Moscow
The 13m circular stone platform in front of St Basil's Cathedral is known as the Place of Skulls. Legend has it that it was the site of executions,…
Future Site of Kuryokhin Centre
St Petersburg
For decades the Kuryokhin Centre, a hub for the contemporary arts, was based in a clapped-out but atmospheric old cinema here. At the time of research a…
Moscow
The 16th- and 17th-century Terem Palace is the most splendid of the Kremlin palaces. Made of stone and built by Vasily III, the palace’s living quarters…
St Petersburg
In the 1820s and 1830s, Carlo Rossi designed Ploshchad Iskusstv (Arts Square), named after the cluster of museums and concert halls that surrounds it, and…
Moscow
This monastery was built by widows of the Battle of Borodino, and there are several exhibits on the grounds related to the 1812 battle. Leo Tolstoy stayed…
Northern European Russia
Unveiled to protests and arrests in 2005, a youthful statue of Yury Andropov commemorates the USSR’s 1982–84 supremo and chief of Petrozavodsk’s Komsomol …
Vladivostok
Perched near the waterfront, the S-56 submarine is worth a look. The first half is a ho-hum exhibit of badges and photos of men with badges (all in…
St Petersburg
Call ahead to arrange a tour of this small but interesting museum inside St Petersburg University and dedicated to Dmitry Mendeleev, creator of the…
St Petersburg
Marking the division of Nevsky pr and Stary (old) Nevsky pr is pl Vosstaniya, whose landmarks are the giant granite pillar with the communist star, and…
St Petersburg
The pretty cast-iron 'First Engineer Bridge' crosses the Moika RIver. Built in 1829, its named after the nearby Engineers' Castle, also known as the…
St Petersburg
Designed by French architect Jean-Francois Thomas de Thomon, the Greek revival–style Stock Exchange was completed in 1810. It ceased to serve its original…
St Petersburg
The old Customs House, topped with statues and a dome, is now home to the Institute of Russian Literature. Fondly called Pushkin House, the handsome…
Yakutsk
Khomus (Jew’s harps) play a big part in Sakha culture. Concerts occur year-round, when performers imitate natural sounds such as a horse neighing. The…
Armenian Church of St Catherine
St Petersburg
Continuing with a tradition of non-Orthodox churches being built on Nevsky pr, the Armenian merchant Ovanes Lazarian paid for the city’s first Armenian…
St Petersburg
Bring your passport with you to access this small but interesting museum, which recounts the history of St Petersburg's metro. Sadly there's no signage in…
Russian Far East
A five-minute walk west from the centre on ul Lenina is a complex containing Birobidzhan’s Jewish culture centre, Freud, and a synagogue with a small…
Western Siberia
The Fine Arts Museum has several rotating and permanent exhibits ranging from ornate window frames saved from the city’s old wooden houses to tiny,…
Church of the Holy Martyr Mina
Western European Russia
If you like your churches photogenically abandoned, this one's for you. Legend has it that in the 17th century, Swedish invaders sought refuge in the…
Western European Russia
The kremlin branch of the Arms Museum hosts temporary exhibitions displaying military weaponry from around the globe and spanning different wars…
Western Siberia
The blue Selskhoz Academy is a brick mansion that was originally a school museum. Its biggest claim to fame is being the hiding spot for Lenin during WWII…
Western European Russia
The writer, poet and 1933 Nobel laureate Ivan Bunin (1870–1953) spent some of his childhood in Yelets, studying at the town’s gymnasium. This small museum…
Vladivostok
Just beyond Russky Island, Popov Island is better regarded for its beaches and filled with many guesthouses and dachas. You’ll probably need to stay…
Treasury of the Sakha Republic
Yakutsk
Pay a visit to this unique museum for a look at Yakutia's rich mineral wealth combined with fine craft traditions. You'll see exquisite carvings in…
Municipal Museum of Regional Studies
Russian Far East
This proud town museum has several rooms of photos and artefacts showing how Komsomolsk rose from a pioneer camp in 1932 to an industrial Soviet city. It…
Western European Russia
Russia’s third-largest working church, this handsome 97m-high structure was built in Russo-Byzantine style in the late 19th century. Outside stands a…
Moscow
The 18th-century Arsenal was commissioned by Peter the Great to house workshops and depots for guns and weaponry. An unrealised plan at the end of the…
Western European Russia
Housed in an attractive whitewashed 12th-century monastery, this museum offers the usual historical displays and religious relics, including some…
Yakutsk
True permafrost nerds might check out the Permafrost Institute, about 2km west of the city centre. It has a lab that stays a constant –6°C, but high…
St Petersburg
Opposite Gostiny Dvor, this palace (1749–57) is another noble town house by Rastrelli. From 1810 it was the most elite military school in the empire and…
Western European Russia
There's an amusement park (аттракционы) at the northeastern end of this leafy riverside park and a statue of the Russian novelist, Ivan Turgenev. You can…
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
Originally built in 1857 to commemorate the victory over the British and the French in the Battle of Petropavlovsk, this wooden chapel was destroyed in…
Northern European Russia
This ramshackle 19th century church stands on the edge of Lake Lekshmo, and was used as a warehouse in the Soviet era. Today it is only used for services…
