Russia

This is the Eastern Siberia chapter from Lonely Planet’s Russia guidebook.

Endless ice-bound winters, kiln-hot summers, a history of imperial exile and Stalinist savage-ry – Eastern Siberia may not sound like everyone’s first choice of holiday destination, but there’s much more to this vast region than blood-craving mosquitoes and blizzard-lost Gulag camps.

• marvel at ancient Scythian gold at the National Museum in Kyzyl, and the uncanny sounds a human voice can make during Tuvan throat singing
• maps
• trek, cycle or hitch a lift across frozen Lake Baikal
• transport
• wander boulevards of haughty 19th-century architecture in Irkutsk, the city once known as the ‘Paris of Siberia’
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Krasnoyarsk Territory & Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk, Divnogorsk & Ovsyanka, Abakan & Around, Tuva, Kyzyl & Around, Western Tuva, Kyzyl to Mon-golian Border, Western Bam, Tayshet, Bratsk, Severobaikalsk & Around, Lake Baikal, Irkutsk, Listvyanka, Port Baikal, Olkhon Island, Slyudyanka, Arshan & Tunka Valley, Eastern Baikal, Southern Buryatiya & Zabaikalsky Territory, Ulan-Ude & Around, Chita.

This is the Golden Ring chapter from Lonely Planet’s Russia guidebook.

Touring the Golden Ring, a string of medieval towns northeast of Moscow, is like settling into the comforting arms of Mother Russia: it’s a bucolic realm of whitewashed churches with golden onion domes, flower-covered meadows, and samovars bubbling away in colourful gingerbread cottages.

• ramble through bucolic beauty while church bells sigh in the distance in Suzdal
• maps
• stroll alongside the Volga River in an artist’s serene dream in Plyos
• transport
• feed carrots to elk and tasting their milk at Sumarokovskaya Elk Farm
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Vladimir, Suzdal, Plyos, Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Ros-tov-Veliky, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Sergiev Posad.

This is the Kaliningrad Region chapter from Lonely Planet’s Russia guide-book.

For all of its chaotic history and cultural foibles – or perhaps because of them – ‘Little Russia’ is a fascinating place to visit. The city of Kaliningrad teems with interesting sights and surprising-ly sophisticated accommodation and dining options; seaside towns, pine forests and tranquil vil-lages make for a serene sojourn.

• pay your respects at philosopher Immanuel Kant’s grave, then attend an organ concert in Kaliningrad Cathedral
• maps
• explore Russia’s maritime history on former expedition vessels and a submarine at Kali-ningrad’s Museum of the World Ocean
• transport
• soak up the beauty of the Curonian Spit in Kurshskaya Kosa National Park, where the for-est dances and the dunes roll on as far as the eye can see
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Kaliningrad, Yantarny, Svetlogorsk, Zelenogradsk, Kurshskaya Kosa.

This is the Moscow chapter from Lonely Planet’s Russia guidebook.

Moscow keeps getting cooler, more cosmopolitan and more creative. The capital is bursting with energy, as warehouses are converted into art galleries and post-industrial nightclubs; parks are overrun with healthy, sporty types; and chefs experiment with their own interpretations of in-ternational cooking.

• be awestruck by the Kremlin’s tall towers and St Basil’s domes on Red Square, the city’s central square
• maps
• hang out with Moscow’s hipsters in Gorky Park – riding bikes, admiring art, playing ping-pong or dancing under the stars
• transport
• splurge on a Russian feast amid faux 18th-century opulence at Cafe Pushkin
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: History, Sights, Activities, Tours, Festivals & Events, Sleeping, Eating, Drinking & Nightlife, Entertainment, Shopping, Around Moscow.

This is the Northern European Russia chapter from Lonely Planet’s Russia guidebook.

Russia’s far north, with its stunning and often harsh natural beauty, is a place of startling ex-tremes, best typified by the perpetual darkness of polar night and the midnight sun of polar day.

• hunt for the aurora borealis amid the sprawling Arctic wilderness on the Kola Peninsu-la
• maps
• discover the Solovetsky Islands’ long history, from ancient labyrinths to Stalin’s prisons
• transport
• wander the Arctic coastline in the ever-evocative fishing village of Teriberka
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Republic of Karelia, Petrozavodsk, Kizhi, Northern Lake Ladoga, White Sea, Kem & Rabocheostrovsk, Solovetsky Islands, Arkhangelsk, Kola Pen-insula, Apatity, Kirovsk, Lovozero, Teriberka, Murmansk, Vologda, Kargopol, Kenozero National Park.

This chapter contains the Welcome to Russia, Russia’s Top 20, Need to Know, First Time Russia What’s New, Getting Your Visa If You Like..., Month by Month, Itineraries, Great Train Journeys Russian Adventures, and Regions at a Glance chapters from Lonely Planet’s Russia guidebook.

Your journey to Russia starts here. You’ll find the tools to plan your adventure: where to go and when, how much to budget, plus in-depth info on getting a visa and travelling Russia's trains, including the Trans-Siberian.

• tailor-made itineraries, arranged by region, themes and events
• list of highlights and best experiences
• detailed information on adventure travel in Russia
• user-friendly country overview ensures you won’t miss a thing

Coverage includes: Welcome to Russia, Russia’s Top 20, Need to Know, First Time Russia What’s New, Getting Your Visa, If You Like: Arts & Crafts, Epic Journeys, Impe-rial Grandeur, Literary Titans, Off the Beaten Track, Quirky Places & Experiences, Religious Buildings, Soviet Relics, Month by Month, Itineraries, Great Train Journeys Russian Adventures, and Regions at a Glance.

This is the Russian Caucasus chapter from Lonely Planet’s Russia guide-book.

For most Russians, the word Caucasus summons up images of fiery mountain folk, the high-tempo lezginka dance and the troubled history of volatile regions such as Chechnya. But there’s more to this ethnically rich region than the stereotypes and the horror stories.

• stroll along the promenade of the post-Olympic Black Sea resort of Sochi
• maps
• soak up scenery and check out the ski slopes at Krasnaya Polyana
• transport
• walk in the footsteps of Stalin at the Soviet dictator’s former dacha, Zelenaya Roscha
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Kuban Steppe, Rostov-on-Don, Starocherkasskaya, Krasnodar, Black Sea Coast, Sochi, Adler, Krasnaya Polyana, Mineral Water Spas, Mineralnye Vody, Pyatigorsk, Kislovodsk, Central Caucasus, Dombay & Teberda, Arkhyz, Nalchik, Elbrus Area.

This is the Russian Far East chapter from Lonely Planet’s Russia guidebook.

Russia’s distant end of the line, the wild wild east feels likes its own entity. ‘Moscow is far’ runs the local mantra, and trade and transport connections with its Asian neighbours are growing fast.

• spend a day exploring some of Kamchatka’s most stunning scenery, the Valley of the Geysers, by helicopter
• maps
• discover the Russian Far East’s most interesting and cosmopolitan city, Vladivostok
• transport
• hike through gorgeous alpine scenery followed by a soak in a geothermal pool in Kam-chatka’s most accessible village, Esso
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Eastern Trans-Siberian, Blagoveshchensk, Birobi-dzhan, Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, Eastern Bam, Tynda, Komsomolsk-na-Amure, Sakha Republic & Magadan Region, Yakutsk, Magadan, Sakhalin, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Kamchatka, Petropav-lovsk-Kamchatsky & Around, Valley of the Geysers, Lake Kurilskoe, Mt Mutnovskaya, Esso.

This is the St Petersburg chapter from Lonely Planet’s Russia guidebook.

Beautiful, complex and imperious, with a hedonistic, creative temperament, St Petersburg is the ultimate Russian diva. From her early days as an uninhabited swamp, the 300-year-old city has been nurtured by a succession of rulers, enduring practically everything that history and na-ture’s harsh elements could throw at her.

• spend a day (or more!) in the Hermitage, one of the world’s most unrivalled art collec-tions
• maps
• witness the amazing kaleidoscope of colours that is the Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood
• transport
• climb the enormous dome of St Isaac’s Cathedral for the best view over the imperial city
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Sights, Activities, Tours, Festivals & Events, Sleeping, Eating, Drinking & Nightlife, Entertainment, Shopping, Around St Petersburg, Peterhof and Pushkin (Tsarskoe Selo).

This is the Urals chapter from Lonely Planet’s Russia guidebook.

Marking the border between Europe and Asia, the Ural Mountains stretch from the Kara Sea in the north to Kazakhstan in the south. When Russia stumbled onto this Aladdin’s cave full of lustrous treasures many centuries ago, its mineral riches allowed her to expand into Siberia be-yond.

• experience ice and a moment of pitch darkness in Kungur’s ice cave
• maps
• hike into the Zyuratkul mountain range or stroll the shoreline of Lake Zyuratkul
• transport
• visit Perm-36, the former labour camp and today a haunting Gulag memorial
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Perm, Kungur, Yekaterinburg & Around, Ufa & Around, Chelyabinsk & Around.

This chapter contains the Russia Today, History, Russian People, Religion, Performing Arts & Music, Literature & Cinema, Architecture & Visual Art, Food & Drink, Landscape & Wildlife, Di-rectory A–Z and Transport chapters from Lonely Planet’s Russia guidebook.

All the info you need on everything from history of the formation of the country and Russia’s world-famous arts and culture, to flights, public transport, climate, money, the internet... you name it. Get tips for women travellers, gay and lesbian travellers, travellers with disabilities, and travel-lers with kids. And get the most out of your conversations with a handy language guide and glossary.

• a rundown on how Russia evolved from a collection of small European trading towns to the biggest country on earth
• info on performing arts & music, from ballets and symphonies to folk tunes and pop leg-ends
• full coverage of Russia’s diverse food & drink
• details on the creative works of the country’s legendary writers and award-winning mov-ie-makers

Coverage includes: Russia Today, History, Russian People, Religion, Performing Arts & Music, Literature & Cinema, Architecture & Visual Art, Food & Drink, Land-scape & Wildlife, Directory A–Z, and Transport.

This is the Volga Region chapter from Lonely Planet’s Russia guidebook.

The Volga, one of Europe’s great rivers, winds for some 3530km through Russia’s heartland and has been a part of the continent’s longest ‘highway’ since time immemorial. The stretch of the Volga between Nizhny Novgorod and the Caspian Sea forms a rich and fascinating cultural region.

• explore the marshy waterways of the Volga Delta as the river approaches the Caspian Sea
• maps
• climb the stairs and paths of Volgograd’s magnificent memorial to the Battle of Stalingrad, Mamaev Kurgan
• transport
• sail the Volga on a short excursion or cruise, from any major city on the river such as Sara-tov
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Ulyanovsk, Samara, Sa-mara Bend, Tolyatti, Saratov, Volgograd, Astrakhan, Elista.

This is the Western European Russia chapter from Lonely Planet’s Russia guidebook.

This ancient, Arcadian region showcases Mother Russia at her most fertile: Tolstoy, Turge-nev, Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov and nothing less than the modern country itself were all born here. It’s a lofty legacy and nowhere does Western European Russia let you forget it.

• return to rural 19th-century Russia at Yasnaya Polyana, the leafy estate and final resting place of Leo Tolstoy
• maps
• explore Stary Izborsk, the country’s oldest stone fortress, and get a taste of Russian rural life while staying at a country guesthouse
• transport
• admire Smolensk’s stunning Assumption Cathedral and go on a museum crawl in the hilly Hero City
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: South of Moscow, Tula, Yelets, Voronezh, Oryol, North & West of Moscow, Smolensk, Tver, Torzhok, Veliky Novgorod, Staraya Russa Pycca, Pskov, Stary Izborsk, Pechory.

This is the Western Siberia chapter from Lonely Planet’s Russia guidebook.

Heading east from the Ural Mountains, the influence and reach of Moscow noticeably begins to wane as one enters Western Siberia. Unforgiving winters and a history of gulags give the re-gion a bad rap, but Western Siberia is surprisingly friendly, with plenty to offer the passing travel-ler.

• hike over the glacier that leads to the sublime and oft-frozen Blue Lake halfway up the daunting Mt Aktru
• maps
• feel Russia fade away and Central Asia come into play as you drive one of Russia’s most spectacular roads, Chuysky Trakt
• transport
• explor Siberia’s old capital, Tobolsk, with its glorious snow-white Kremlin and old town
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Tyumen, Tobolsk, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Novo-kuznetsk, Sheregesh, Altai, Barnaul, Biysk, Gorno-Altaisk, Lake Manzherok, Lake Teletskoe & Artybash, Chemal, Chuysky Trakt.