Tourist Places

Visitors to Moscow usually start exploring in the center, where the Kremlin, Red Square, and the colorful St. Basil's Cathedral are located.

The shopping mall GUM, with its glass and steel roof, is also a popular destination—even by tourists who can't afford the luxury brands sold here, and a great place to try authentic Russian food.

Although smaller than Moscow, St. Petersburg actually has so much to offer, it's often impossible to see it all in one day.

The Hermitage Museum, perhaps St. Petersburg's most famous tourist attraction and the second largest art and culture museum in the world

Peterhof might be home to a university and a major Russian watch manufacturer, but this relatively small city's call to fame is the Peterhof Palace.

There are 173 garden fountains around the palace—some, like the Grand Cascade fountains, with special features that activate water jets when people get close. The lower gardens, designed in French formal style, offer marble statues, shaded walking paths, and even an aviary pavilion.

if you want to breathe more natural air . . .

One of the world's largest lake islands, Olkhon is covered in steep mountains, lush forests, and taiga.

Tourism has become a growing industry on Olkhon Island, with visitors coming over to explore places such as the coastal sand dunes and the abandoned Peschanaya Village and former Soviet labor camp nearby.

The Russian tundra is home to polar bears, seals, gray wolves, and rich birdlife during nesting season. Over the past few decades, ecotourism has become more and more interested in the tundra areas.

The tundra is a unique biome that only exists in or near the Arctic Circle. Here, temperatures are so cold that trees can't grow, and only moss, shrubs, and certain types of grasses can get through the winter.