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• Head for the focal point of Moscow, Red Square, on one side of which is the Kremlin (website: www.kremlin.ru), surrounded by a thick red fortress wall containing 20 towers. Within its grounds, the Uspensky Cathedral (1475-79) contains three of the oldest Russian icons.
• Take a peek into St Basil's Cathedral, built 1555-60, which stands over the entrance to Red Square and is the ultimate symbol of Russia with its colourful onion domes and fascinating icons. Ivan the Terrible reportedly blinded its architects following completion to prevent them creating anything more beautiful.
• Pay your respects in Lenin's Mausoleum, which is still open to the public on most days. Look for the queues across Red Square and don't talk as you file past the waxy-green looking father of the Russian Revolution.
• Visit the ancient towns of great historical, architectural and spiritual significance known as the Golden Ring, extending northeast from Moscow. They are a rich collection of kremlins (citadels), monasteries, cathedrals and fortresses.
• Go to St Petersburg, Russia's most beautiful city. It is spread over 42 islands in the delta of the River Neva and is more Western in character than Moscow. Peter the Great built the city in 1703 and it remained capital for 200 years of Tsarist Russia.
• Marvel at the neoclassical ensemble of Palace Square and the Winter Palace, centerpieces to St Petersburg. The palace is also home to the world-class Hermitage art museum (website: www.hermitage.ru); its vast collection includes everything from ancient Egypt to Picasso.
• Let your jaw drop in the gorgeously decorated Yusupov Palace (website: www.yusupov-palace.ru), built for the Romanovs. Its rooms are sumptuously decorated in 19th-century style. The concert hall is now a venue for the arts. A waxwork exhibition also commemorates Rasputin, who died here.
• The grand Nevsky Prospekt, dominated by the spire of the Admiralty Building, is one of the city's main thoroughfares and is lined by opulent buildings. These include the Kazan Cathedral and the stunning Church on the Spilled Blood.
• Visit the extraordinary collection of tsarist-era palaces on the outskirts of St Petersburg. Peterhof (website: www.peterhof.ru) is a former summer palace of Peter the Great and is known for its beautiful cascades and fountains. The Grand Catherine Palace at Tsarskoye Selo (website: http://eng.tzar.ru/) was built for Peter the Great's wife.
• Locate some of Russia's wonderful wildlife. The Kursche Spit is a beautiful sand peninsula extending nearly 100km (63 miles) along the coast, and is a rich habitat for plants and animals. Near Vladivostok is the Ussuriysk Taiga, a unique habitat for plants of the pre-glacial period, as well as tigers, leopard, bison, boar and bears.
• Step back into a momentous time at Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad, which stands at the confluence of the Volga and Don rivers. The Victory Museum celebrates the victory over the Nazis, and the whole city is a monument to the year-long battle that took place there. Tours to the battlefields are available.
• Find utter isolation in Siberia, which covers an area of over 12.8 million sq km (4 million sq miles), containing unimaginably vast stretches of marshy forest (taiga). This ‘sleeping land' possesses a million lakes, 53,000 rivers and an enormous wealth of natural resources.
• See the world's deepest lake, Lake Baikal, which is accessible from Irkutsk by hydrofoil during the summer. With a depth of 1,637m (5,371ft), it is the world's deepest lake and has a 2,000km (1243-mile) shoreline. The purity of its water is maintained by millions of tiny crayfish, providing a habitat for a wide variety of fish.
See Contact Addresses for further tourist information.
• Take a peek into St Basil's Cathedral, built 1555-60, which stands over the entrance to Red Square and is the ultimate symbol of Russia with its colourful onion domes and fascinating icons. Ivan the Terrible reportedly blinded its architects following completion to prevent them creating anything more beautiful.
• Pay your respects in Lenin's Mausoleum, which is still open to the public on most days. Look for the queues across Red Square and don't talk as you file past the waxy-green looking father of the Russian Revolution.
• Visit the ancient towns of great historical, architectural and spiritual significance known as the Golden Ring, extending northeast from Moscow. They are a rich collection of kremlins (citadels), monasteries, cathedrals and fortresses.
• Go to St Petersburg, Russia's most beautiful city. It is spread over 42 islands in the delta of the River Neva and is more Western in character than Moscow. Peter the Great built the city in 1703 and it remained capital for 200 years of Tsarist Russia.
• Marvel at the neoclassical ensemble of Palace Square and the Winter Palace, centerpieces to St Petersburg. The palace is also home to the world-class Hermitage art museum (website: www.hermitage.ru); its vast collection includes everything from ancient Egypt to Picasso.
• Let your jaw drop in the gorgeously decorated Yusupov Palace (website: www.yusupov-palace.ru), built for the Romanovs. Its rooms are sumptuously decorated in 19th-century style. The concert hall is now a venue for the arts. A waxwork exhibition also commemorates Rasputin, who died here.
• The grand Nevsky Prospekt, dominated by the spire of the Admiralty Building, is one of the city's main thoroughfares and is lined by opulent buildings. These include the Kazan Cathedral and the stunning Church on the Spilled Blood.
• Visit the extraordinary collection of tsarist-era palaces on the outskirts of St Petersburg. Peterhof (website: www.peterhof.ru) is a former summer palace of Peter the Great and is known for its beautiful cascades and fountains. The Grand Catherine Palace at Tsarskoye Selo (website: http://eng.tzar.ru/) was built for Peter the Great's wife.
• Locate some of Russia's wonderful wildlife. The Kursche Spit is a beautiful sand peninsula extending nearly 100km (63 miles) along the coast, and is a rich habitat for plants and animals. Near Vladivostok is the Ussuriysk Taiga, a unique habitat for plants of the pre-glacial period, as well as tigers, leopard, bison, boar and bears.
• Step back into a momentous time at Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad, which stands at the confluence of the Volga and Don rivers. The Victory Museum celebrates the victory over the Nazis, and the whole city is a monument to the year-long battle that took place there. Tours to the battlefields are available.
• Find utter isolation in Siberia, which covers an area of over 12.8 million sq km (4 million sq miles), containing unimaginably vast stretches of marshy forest (taiga). This ‘sleeping land' possesses a million lakes, 53,000 rivers and an enormous wealth of natural resources.
• See the world's deepest lake, Lake Baikal, which is accessible from Irkutsk by hydrofoil during the summer. With a depth of 1,637m (5,371ft), it is the world's deepest lake and has a 2,000km (1243-mile) shoreline. The purity of its water is maintained by millions of tiny crayfish, providing a habitat for a wide variety of fish.
See Contact Addresses for further tourist information.