Find places in Russia

Must-Haves

• Red Square and St Basil's Cathedral (Kitay-Gorod)
  The country's most famous square, with the painted domes of St Basil's at one end.

Fun for Everyone

• Moscow Metro Circle Line stations (Koltsevaya Line)
  Chandeliers, mosaics and marble make the metro a museum you ride for a single fare.
• VDNKh (Ostankino)
  A vast Soviet exhibition park of gilded fountains, pavilions and a space museum.
• Patriarch's Ponds (Presnensky)
  A leafy pond and the setting of The Master and Margarita, ringed by cafés.

Off the Beaten Path

• Moscow City Panoramic Observation Deck (Moscow City)
  Views from the skyscraper district on the city's west side.

Must-Haves

• Moscow Kremlin and Armoury Chamber (Kremlin)
  Coronation cathedrals, Fabergé eggs and royal carriages inside the red fortress walls.
• State Tretyakov Gallery (Zamoskvorechye)
  The great collection of Russian art, from medieval icons to Repin and Vasnetsov.
• Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (Volkhonka)
  European masters and a fine impressionist collection a short walk from the Kremlin.

Great for Date Night

• Bolshoi Theatre (Teatralnaya Square)
  Ballet and opera in one of the world's most famous theatres.

Off the Beaten Path

• Garage Museum of Contemporary Art (Gorky Park)
  Bold contemporary exhibitions in a restored Soviet restaurant building.

Fun for Everyone

• Zaryadye Park (Kitay-Gorod)
  A modern park beside Red Square with a floating bridge over the Moskva River.
• Gorky Park and Muzeon (Yakimanka)
  Riverside lawns, rental bikes, winter skating and a garden of Soviet statues.
• Sokolniki Park (Sokolniki)
  A large wooded park with cycling paths, cafés and a big winter skating rink.

Off the Beaten Path

• Kolomenskoye Museum Reserve (Nagatinsky Zaton)
  A riverside royal estate with a UNESCO listed tent roofed church and apple orchards.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Izmailovo Kremlin and Vernissage Market (Izmailovo)
  A mock wooden fortress beside a weekend market for souvenirs and Soviet curios.

Must-Haves

• GUM (Red Square)
  A historic glass roofed arcade on Red Square, famous for its ice cream and food hall.

Fun for Everyone

• Danilovsky Market (Danilovsky)
  A domed market hall packed with food stalls from across Russia, the Caucasus and Asia.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Depo Food Mall (Lesnaya Street)
  One of Europe's largest food halls, set in a restored tram depot.
• Varenichnaya No. 1 (Arbat)
  Soviet nostalgia, cheerful decor and hearty pelmeni and vareniki dumplings.

Must-Haves

• Café Pushkin (Tverskoy Boulevard)
  Classic Russian dishes served in a grand imitation of a 19th century mansion.

Great for Date Night

• White Rabbit (Smolenskaya)
  Modern Russian tasting menus under a glass dome with views over the city.
• Dr. Zhivago (Mokhovaya Street)
  Playful Soviet themed Russian cooking with a view of the Kremlin walls.

Fun for Everyone

• Eliseevsky Food Store (Tverskaya Street)
  A gilded pre revolutionary grocery hall, great for browsing and buying sweets.

Great for Date Night

• City Space Bar (Kosmodamianskaya Embankment)
  Cocktails high above the river on the top floor of the Swissotel Krasnye Holmy.

Must-Haves

• Moscow Circle of Light Festival (City centre)
  Light projections on landmark buildings each autumn.

Must-Haves

• Hotel Metropol Moscow (Teatralny Proezd)
  A grand art nouveau hotel opposite the Bolshoi.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Izmailovo Hotel Complex (Izmailovo)
  Huge Soviet era towers near the market and metro, a budget option.

Must-Haves

• State Hermitage Museum (Palace Square)
  The Winter Palace and one of the world's greatest art collections.
• State Russian Museum (Mikhailovsky Palace)
  The best collection of Russian art, from icons to the avant garde.
• Catherine Palace and Amber Room (Pushkin)
  The blue and gold palace of Tsarskoye Selo with its rebuilt Amber Room.

Off the Beaten Path

• Fabergé Museum (Shuvalov Palace)
  Imperial Easter eggs and jewellery in a restored palace on the Fontanka.
• Kunstkamera (Vasilyevsky Island)
  Peter the Great's curiosity cabinet, odd and fascinating.

Must-Haves

• Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood (Griboedov Canal)
  A church covered inside with mosaics, built where Alexander II was killed.
• Peter and Paul Fortress (Zayachy Island)
  Where the city began, with the Romanov tombs and riverside beaches.

Fun for Everyone

• St Isaac's Cathedral Colonnade (St Isaac's Square)
  A climb to the colonnade for views across the rooftops.
• New Holland Island (Admiralteysky)
  A restored naval island with lawns, food stalls and a winter skating rink.

Great for Date Night

• Canal boat tour (Moika and Fontanka)
  Seeing the city from the water is the classic summer evening outing.

Must-Haves

• Peterhof Palace and Gardens (Peterhof)
  A palace and park of gilded fountains on the Gulf of Finland.

Off the Beaten Path

• Pavlovsk Park (Pavlovsk)
  A huge landscaped park where squirrels take nuts from your hand.
• Kronstadt (Kotlin Island)
  A naval town with the Naval Cathedral, reached by causeway.

Fun for Everyone

• Summer Garden (Central District)
  Peter the Great's formal garden with statues and fountains.

Must-Haves

• Scarlet Sails (Neva River)
  A school leavers' festival in June with fireworks and a red sailed ship.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Pyshechnaya (Bolshaya Konyushennaya Street)
  A Soviet style counter serving sugared doughnuts and milky coffee since the 1950s.

Must-Haves

• Teplo (Bolshaya Morskaya Street)
  A cosy, rambling restaurant of Russian and European comfort food.

Great for Date Night

• Severyanin (Stolyarny Lane)
  Old Petersburg style dining with classic Russian dishes.

Must-Haves

• Singer House Café (Nevsky Prospekt)
  Coffee above a bookshop with a window view of the Kazan Cathedral.

Off the Beaten Path

• Eliseev Emporium (Nevsky Prospekt)
  An art nouveau food hall with a café, pastries and a grand interior.

Fun for Everyone

• Rubinstein Street (Central District)
  The city's best known strip of bars and restaurants.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Kuznechny Market (Vladimirskaya)
  A covered market for pickles, honey, fruit and smoked fish.

Fun for Everyone

• Gostiny Dvor (Nevsky Prospekt)
  An 18th century shopping arcade at the heart of Nevsky Prospekt.

Must-Haves

• Suzdal Kremlin (Kremlin)
  The town's oldest quarter with the blue and gold domed Nativity Cathedral.
• Museum of Wooden Architecture and Peasant Life (Kamenka River)
  Log churches and peasant houses moved from villages across the region.

Must-Haves

• Saviour Monastery of St Euthymius (Lenina Street)
  A fortified monastery with bell concerts and frescoed cathedral.

Off the Beaten Path

• Pokrovsky Convent (Pokrovskaya Street)
  A white convent by the river where royal wives were once exiled.

Great for Date Night

• Kamenka River meadows (Town centre)
  Riverside walks with views of domes at sunset.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Medovukha tasting (Torgovye Ryady)
  Try Suzdal's traditional honey drink in the old trading rows.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Torgovye Ryady trading rows (Torgovaya Square)
  Old trading arcades with stalls selling cucumbers, honey and crafts.

Fun for Everyone

• Cucumber Festival (Museum of Wooden Architecture)
  A summer festival celebrating Suzdal's famous cucumbers.

Must-Haves

• Pushkarskaya Sloboda (Lenina Street)
  A hotel complex of wooden houses near the river.

Must-Haves

• Kazan Kremlin (Kremlin)
  A UNESCO fortress with a mosque and cathedral side by side.
• Kul Sharif Mosque (Kazan Kremlin)
  Turquoise domes and a small museum of Islam in the Volga region.

Off the Beaten Path

• Bolgar (Bolgar)
  Medieval ruins and a museum on the Volga.

Great for Date Night

• Tatar Academic Theatre (Lake Kaban)
  Tatar language theatre by the lake.

Fun for Everyone

• Bauman Street (Vakhitovsky)
  The pedestrian main street with cafés and street musicians.
• Kazan Family Centre (Kirovsky)
  A bowl shaped building with a panoramic view of the Kremlin.

Off the Beaten Path

• Old Tatar Quarter (Staro Tatarskaya Sloboda)
  Painted wooden houses, mosques and small museums by Lake Kaban.
• Temple of All Religions (Staroe Arakchino)
  An eccentric building blending domes and towers of many faiths.

Must-Haves

• Sviyazhsk (Sviyazhsk Island)
  An island town with a UNESCO monastery and rare frescoes.

Fun for Everyone

• Kremlin Embankment (Kazanka River)
  A long riverside promenade, lovely at sunset.

Off the Beaten Path

• Raifa Monastery (Raifa)
  A monastery on a forest lake about an hour outside the city.

Must-Haves

• Tatar Usadba (Old Tatar Quarter)
  Traditional Tatar dishes in a wooden house.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Tyubeteyka (Bauman Street)
  A local chain for echpochmak and Tatar pastries.

Great for Date Night

• Dom Tatarskoy Kulinarii (Bauman Street)
  Tatar food in a grand setting on the main street.

Fun for Everyone

• Chak Chak Museum (Old Tatar Quarter)
  Tea and chak chak with stories of Tatar customs.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Kazan Central Market (Vakhitovsky)
  Honey, dried fruit and Tatar sweets.

Fun for Everyone

• Peterburgskaya Street (Vakhitovsky)
  A pedestrian street of bars and restaurants.

Must-Haves

• Sabantuy (Mirny Park)
  A summer Tatar festival of wrestling, games and food.

Must-Haves

• 130th Quarter (Central Irkutsk)
  Restored wooden houses with restaurants and bars.
• House Museum of the Decembrists (Central Irkutsk)
  The story of exiled nobles in Siberia.

Off the Beaten Path

• Taltsy Museum of Wooden Architecture (Angara Road)
  Siberian wooden houses and a fort between the city and Baikal.

Fun for Everyone

• Znamensky Monastery (Central Irkutsk)
  A monastery by the Angara River.

Off the Beaten Path

• Angara Icebreaker (Irkutsk)
  A 19th century icebreaker turned museum.

Fun for Everyone

• Angara Embankment (Central Irkutsk)
  A riverside walk past the Alexander III statue.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Irkutsk Central Market (Central Irkutsk)
  Pine nuts, berries and smoked omul from Baikal.

Great for Date Night

• Rassolnik (130th Quarter)
  A Soviet themed restaurant with nostalgic decor.