St Petersburg
Built between 1741 and 1751, with input from a slew of architects, including Rastrelli and Rossi, the Anichkov Palace is now officially known as the St…
Must-see attractions in Russia
St Petersburg
Created by Carlo Rossi in the 1820s and 1830s, this square is named for Alexander Ostrovsky (1823–86), a celebrated 19th-century playwright. An enormous…
Vladivostok
This massive new development on Russky Island is one of Vladivostok's planned key attractions and opened with great fanfare in 2016. It's a vast space in…
St Petersburg
Named after the great scientist Mikhail Lomonosov, this small square forms the southwestern end of the Carlo Rossi–designed ensemble and is the best spot…
Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines
St Petersburg
Giving new meaning to 'back in the USSR', this 'museum' is sure to be one of the most entertaining ones you will visit in St Petersburg. Admission…
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
Excavations beneath the Hermitage Theatre in the late 1970s revealed remains of the principal residence of Peter the Great, including a large fragment of…
St Petersburg
Lenin’s wife’s family lived in this apartment-turned-museum and VIadimir Ilyich himself laid low here before the revolution while organising the workers…
St Petersburg
Evocative use of the original cells for displays about the former political prisoners of Trubetskoy Bastion – who included the likes of Maxim Gorky, Leon…
St Petersburg
Rebuilt in the 1970s in rectilinear Soviet style, the Finland Station (Finlyandsky vokzal) endures as a place of historical significance, where Lenin…
Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Our Saviour
St Petersburg
The interior of this marvellous 1743 cathedral, which has been beautifully restored and repainted both outside and in, is one of the most gilded in the…
St Petersburg
Right outside the Moskovskaya metro station you’ll see the House of Soviets, a staggeringly bombastic Stalinist beauty. Planned to be the central…
St Petersburg
This excellent museum displays the traditional crafts, customs and beliefs of more than 150 cultures that make up Russia’s fragile ethnic mosaic. It’s a…
Moscow
This monastery was founded by Boris Godunov in 1600, although the church was built in 1660. The name means ‘Behind the Icon Stall’, a reference to the…
St Petersburg
One of the city’s loveliest baroque exteriors, the salmon-pink Stroganov Palace was designed by court favourite Bartolomeo Rastrelli in 1753 for one of…
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…
St Petersburg
This grand old Petersburg residence was the home to court poet Gabriel Derzhavin (1743–1816), one of Russia's greatest early writers, who recognised the…
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,…
St Petersburg
Moored on the Bolshaya Nevka, the Aurora had a walk-on part in the communist revolution. On the night of 25 October 1917, its crew fired a blank round…
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…
St Petersburg
The biggest of the three northern islands, Krestovsky consists mostly of the vast Maritime Victory Park, dotted with sports fields; at the far western end…
St Petersburg
This now legendary locale is a former apartment block – affectionately called by its street address despite the fact that the public entrance is actually…
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…
St Petersburg
This striking red-and-white 18th-century Gothic church is east off Moskovsky pr. Designed by Yury Felten, it was built between 1777 and 1780 in honour of…
Museum of the History of Political Police
St Petersburg
In the very same building that housed the tsarist and the Bolshevik secret police offices, this small museum recounts the history of this controversial…
St Petersburg
The former headquarters of the Singer sewing machine company, which opened a factory in the Russian capital in 1904, is one of St Petersburg’s most…
St Petersburg
This leafy park, laid out in 1845, wraps in an arc around the Kronwerk moat and Artillery Museum. It's too close to traffic to ensure a peaceful escape…
Moscow
The obelisk in Alexander Garden has been restored to its original purpose, as a monument to the House of Romanovs, erected to commemorate the tercentenary…
St Petersburg
Tucked in a recess between Bolshaya and Malaya Konyushennaya uls is this lovely church, in the Romantic-Gothic style, built for St Petersburg’s thriving…
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…
St Petersburg
This stunning 1895 neo-Byzantine church was built by architect Vasily Kosyakov on the site of a former monastery. It was closed during the Soviet period,…
Moscow
The little church occupying this site is a 1993 replica of the original 17th-century beauty, which was built in thanks for the 1612 expulsion of Polish…
Moscow
At the northwestern corner of Red Square, Resurrection Gate provides a great vantage point for your first glimpse of the square. With its twin red towers…
St Petersburg State Museum of Theatre & Music
St Petersburg
This museum is a treasure-trove of items relating to the Russian theatre including model sets, posters and costumes. You'll have to buy separate tickets…
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…
St Petersburg
This beautiful working mosque (built 1910–14) was modelled on Samarkand’s Gur-e Amir Mausoleum. Its fluted azure dome and minarets are stunning and…
St Petersburg
Alexander Pushkin, Russia’s national poet, had his last home here on one of the prettiest curves of the Moyka River. He only lived here four months, and…
Museum of the History of Religion
St Petersburg
Back in the day, this was called the Museum of Atheism; it had a very strong anti-religious bent and was housed in the Kazan Cathedral. Now the name has…
St Petersburg
Housed in the fort’s original arsenal, across the moat from the Peter & Paul Fortress, this fire-powered museum chronicles Russia’s military history, with…
St Petersburg
For an idealised view of what parts of St Petersburg looked like back in the early 18th century, this interactive model village is a small revelation. The…
