The world's largest country offers it all, from  historic cities and idyllic countryside to artistic riches, epic train rides and  vodka-fuelled nightlife.
Russia’s vast geographical distances and cultural  differences mean you don’t tick off its highlights in the way you might those of  a smaller nation. Instead, view Russia as a collection of distinct territories,  each one deserving separate attention.
Rather than transiting via 
Moscow, consider flying direct  to a regional centre such as Irkutsk, 
Novosibirsk or  Yekaterinburg and striking out from there. With a welcome spread of  Western-style hostels along the Trans-Siberian route and the ease of booking  trains and flights online, it's never been easier to organise this kind of  trip.
Whether you're a culture vulture in search of inspiration  from great artists and writers or an adventure addict looking for new horizons  to conquer, Russia amply delivers. Tread in the footsteps of literary greats,  including Tolstoy and 
Pushkin,  on their country estates. Arrange a ski holiday in 
Krasnaya  Polyana, newly spruced up for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, go trekking in  the Altai, or even climb an active volcano in 
Kamchatka –  the varied possibilities will make you head spin.
 
If ancient walled fortresses, glittering palaces and  swirly-spired churches are what you’re after, focus on European Russia. Here  Moscow and St Petersburg are the must-see destinations, twin repositories of  eye-boggling national treasures, political energies and contemporary creativity.  Within easy reach of these cities are charming historical towns and villages,  such as Veliky Novgorod, 
Pskov and 
Suzdal,  where the vistas dotted with onion domes and lined with gingerbread cottages  measure up to the rural Russia of popular imagination. 
 

One of the great joys of travel in Russia is the boundless hospitality of the people.
 
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn put it best when he talked about  Russia’s ‘ancient, deeply rooted autonomous culture…full of riddles and  surprises to Western thinking’. You, too, will be beguiled by the beauty of its  arts and the quixotic nature of its people.
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