Flights to Europe
Everything in Russia is larger than life, from the museums to the churches to the rivers to the cities (and even the portion sizes). The country’s history is so huge that it can be witnessed everywhere, including in the architecture, the food, and the people. Mesmerizing, compelling, and utterly thrilling, Russia should be on top of everyone’s travel list.
Moscow, with its Soviet-era landmarks, gilded onion domes, and upper-crust populace, is a magnet for anyone interested in art, food, and life. You could (and should) spend days exploring the city’s glamorous nightlife venues and internationally renowned eateries. Of course, there are also the unmissable, iconic landmarks—the Kremlin, Red Square, the Bolshoi—there are too many to list. Muscovites work hard and play harder, so come here prepared to do the same.
Russia’s former capital, St. Petersburg, is so full of stunning cathedrals, world-class museums, royal palaces, parks, and historic buildings once inhabited by Russia’s great writers and politicians that it’s hard to find time for the other stuff, like strolling on the riverbanks and shopping in its food halls.
Outside Russia’s major cities are a host of smaller towns and villages, each imbued with a unique sense of history. Hop on the Trans-Siberian Railway to fly through time zone after time zone. Go skiing in the mountains, read Tolstoy in a 19th-century coffeehouse, check out subversive new art, steam out your troubles in a sauna, peruse the paintings in the Hermitage, dance the night away to world-class DJs, check out Pushkin’s country estate . . . the possibilities are endless. Russia’s history—the stuff in the past and the one it’s creating now—is enthralling.