Tourist Attractions & Monuments Russia

Following the Kouznetsov Street, we arrive at Pereslavl-Zalesski beach. In summer, you can stay here on the lake Plescheevo. Another beach at the exit of Pereslavl, not far from the museum of the boat of Pierre the Great.

The large national park extends around the Przhevalskoye resort, named after the great Polish-Russian explorer and naturalist Nikolai Przewalski, born near Smolensk in 1839. It is a haven where you can go for long walks and camp by the lakes or in the forest. It is about 60 kilometres north of Smolensk. To get there, it is best to ask at the tourist office in Smolensk, as some agencies organize excursions.

This museum is entirely dedicated to the sculptor Sergey Konenkov (1874-1971) who lived at Smolensk. In a beautiful house decorated with stucco stucco, you will see 80 of his works carved on stone, metal and wood.

Especially if you come from the north and Rostov, you can see the first beaches on the Black Sea. The center of the centre is sometimes a bit dirty, but when you get away from the city, you find beautiful pebble beaches, especially after the tip of love (Mys Liubvi).

Proval, in Russian, literally means... "crevice". It's a kind of natural tunnel that leads to a small underground lake of sulphurous blue water... beware of the smell! The place is very curious even if the "lake" (actually the size of a pond) is a bit dirty. In front of the entrance stands a bronze statue representing the mythical Ostap Bender, a character from the book adapted by Leoni Gaïdaï Les Douze Chaises, a classic of Soviet cinema. Russian tourists are systematically photographed in front of it.

The starting point of the cable car is on Boulevard Gagarine, a little higher than Le Proval (see below). For the ascent on foot, the path starts behind the Pyatigorsk Narzan Sanatorium, also located on Gagarin Boulevard. From the top, on a very clear day, you can see the Caucasus Mountains with Mount Elbrus. The Mashuk is not very high and can be climbed easily, it is a must do. For the most intrepid, you can descend by paragliding (spring and summer). Professionals accompany you and jump with you.

The park is especially noteworthy for its Lermontov gallery, built at the beginning of the century, which offers a beautiful Art Nouveau architecture that intertwines floral scrolls with the fine wooden panels typical of the "kourort" towns of the late 19th century. The result is absolutely striking. Formerly a place for tasting mineral water, it is now a concert hall. Around the gallery, a very pleasant park allows you to rest, the real dolce vita à la russe.

This church is one of the oldest in Russia since it dates back to the th century. Built in brick, it was thought to be part of a princely residence because, at that time, the city extended only on the left bank of the Dnieper.

This large 60-hectare park is reminiscent of the Kislovodsk park, although to a much lesser extent. The entrance is just below the station. Walking through the park, one comes across beautifully decorated wrought-iron kiosks from the 19th century, colonnades, statues, healing water fountains, and bathing establishments. There is even a tasting gallery where you can taste the various waters, both carbonated and non-carbonated, whose springs are located in the park.

Overlooked by Mount Maloe Sedlo, this immense park contains forest roads and circuits marked out with bollards for the use of sanatorium clients. You can climb to the top by cable car. A café (Maloe Sedlo) serving chachliks and mulled wine offers a splendid view of the Caucasus chain. On the way down, admire the planted paths and beautiful flowerbeds, including the "Valley of Roses". Typical of the chic water cities of that time!

You can easily visit the city and the seaside park in 3 or 4 hours, during a pleasant walk between the pedestrian streets and the park's alleys. Leave the central square (October Square where the post is located) and go back to Kourortny Boulevard. After crossing UL. Vokzalnaya on your right, the establishment of the Narzan bath, built in 1903, in an oriental style that its architect learned during a stay in India. Continuing the "boulevard", always on the right, as a response to the baths of Narzan bath, the Oktiabrskyi baths. Architecture is this time constructivist style, the building being built in the 1930 s. At the end of Kourortnyi Boulevard, we enter the park and Narzan Gallery (open daily from 7 a. m. to 9 a. m., from 11 a. m. to 2 p. m. and from 4 p. m. to 7 p. m., free entrance). This mid-nineteenth century building is well preserved. Inside, you can taste the different mineral waters that flow in the region and bear the generic name of "Narzan". You can buy a cup for a few rubles and move from fountains to fountains. Their taste is generally bad, but all Russians will tell you that this is excellent for health. Leaving the gallery, this is the beginning of the park. Going full is (even though it's not always easy to locate), you arrive in front of an eagle sculpture, which is the symbol of KMV, mineral waters of the Caucasus. A little further away, the cable car allows you to dominate the park and the city.

On the right of the Église church, there is a part of the monastery belonging to the seminar, which can only be entered with a special invitation. This part also includes a church and the Academy of Theology.

Both are fully restored. The church is dedicated to the holy fathers of a monastery, in the islands of Solovki, with which the Laure maintained relations. This is the only one of the monastery of pyramid form.

Extending over 50 ha, the park offers, in the centre of the city, an area of calm and freshness but also of attractions, games, sleigh rides and sports activities. There are cafés, a video games room, the Cosmos sports stadium, the ski jumping and the oldest railway in the country, which still operates in the park's territory for the greatest joy of children.

Tsnetrosoyuz is absolutely massive and immediately imposes its presence in its street. It is difficult to describe this building which combines roundness and large straight facades, concrete, paint, an impression of great modernity and at the same time unfinished. It is the only building in Moscow (and in Russia) by the famous Le Corbusier. Commissioned at the end of the 1920s to be an office building, it now houses part of the Federal Finance Service and Rosstat, the statistical agency. Visits are not organized there.

Built in the 18th century, this building reflecting the neo-classical spirit is the heart of the Kremlin complex. Its triangular architecture with a central rotunda is quite surprising. During the whole Soviet period it housed the government. Lenin's office and his apartment were located on the top floor. The Supreme Command of the Red Army under Stalin was based there during the Second World War. Since 1991 it is the official seat of the President, visible during televised speeches.

Deliciously creepy, this museum will delight aficionados of old-fashioned dolls, from the time when plastic was not omnipresent in the hands of our toddlers. Here you will certainly see some very beautiful pieces, but the museography also highlights the role of the environment of the young players and restores dresses, furniture, household utensils in a vast mess. The result is a little dizzying and may confuse the inexperienced observer, while those who know about it will be totally at home here.

The old Arbat is a place where past and present meet. Tsoi's Wall" has been almost a permanent contemporary art event since its appearance in 1990 following the death of the musician and founder of the Soviet rock band Viktor Tsoï in a car accident.

The famous protest band Viktor Tsoï has left behind a rich rock heritage for its many fans who come today to remember its music and poetry, look at the graffiti on the wall (and sometimes contribute to it) and meet their fellow sufferers.

Moscow's Tsoi Wall itself has an unusual history. In the tense and uncertain atmosphere of the last year of the Soviet Union's life, on the day of the fatal road accident, a sober "Tsoï is dead" appeared on the façade of one of the posh houses on Arbat Street in the city centre. Someone objected that "Tsoï is alive", since it still exists, at least on this wall. Since then, the discussion has not stopped, with a great deal of technically illegal but tolerated graffiti. The place has gradually become a wall of homage to the artist, and candles and photos of him can be found in the vicinity. In 2006, the object was sabotaged by members of the Art Destroy45 movement, but the activity of his fans simply picked up again. Today, this Rock'n'Roll place is not only Victor Tsoi's mausoleum but also the mausoleum of the Russian punk movement that used to meet there.

This small museum is located on the territory of the Collège de la Communication and brings together unique artifacts: collective radio stations, home-made transceivers, amateur radio designs, equipment kits for sports direction finders. The exhibition includes pennants, cups, insignia and medal of amateur radio, QSL card forms issued by the Central Executive Committee of the USSR. A must for every amateur...

Undoubtedly one of the most beautiful exhibition venues in Moscow, this private contemporary art centre compares itself to the Tate Modern or the Centre Pompidou in its ambition to place Russia in the global contemporary art network. Located in the former bus terminal (Bakhmetevsky), this vast space includes several exhibition rooms, a bookshop, a cinema and a good restaurant. The garage is a masterpiece of architecture by the architect K. Melnikov and the engineer V. Shukhov.

The great Russian baritone Fedor Shalyapin (1873-1938) lived in this building in a residential area north of the Peter and Paul Fortress before the revolution forced him into exile in Paris. In 1922, he took advantage of a tour of Europe and France to disappear and settle in France where he lived until the end of his days. During the latter, he also fell in love with the Basque Country, spending much of his time in a beautiful villa on the hill of Sainte-Barbe, in Saint-Jean-de-Luz (the neighbouring Biarritz welcomed many exiled Russians in the early years of the Revolution). However, he had not taken everything with him to France. As proof, the museum, which was set up in 1975 in the artist's former apartment, to the sound of Boris Godounov's brilliant interpretation, has done so much to promote Russian lyric art. His interpretation of Salieri in Mozart and Rimsky-Korsakov's Salieri will remain forever engraved in opera history. Visitors will evolve in the environment of the great singer before his Parisian exile, accompanied by his sound recordings, among his furniture, his personal belongings, photos, scores and other objects dear to his heart. Fascinating and particularly touching for those interested in lyric art. It is not uncommon to attend performances, readings, and other performances. Consult the website for programming.

This beautiful classical building was built between 1764 and 1788, during the reign of Catherine II. The Academy trained state-commissioned artists and censored works deemed subversive. The children entered at the age of 6 and graduated at the age of 21, looking for a rich patron of the arts. The collection of some 600 copies of a rare delicacy of masterpieces of sculpture, painting and drawing alone is worth a small visit. We will also see the studio of Taras Shevchenko, the famous Ukrainian poet, who worked here during the last years of his life. The work of today's students is exhibited each year in September in the large parade hall. The Academy also administers several museums in the city:

Museum-apartment of the painter Isaac Brodsky. Ploschad' iskusstv, 3. open from Wednesday to Sunday from noon to 7 pm (300 RUB)

Museum-ownership Les Pénates d'Ilya Repine. Poselok repina, Primorskoe shosse, 411. Open Wednesday to Sunday from 10.30am to 5pm in summer and 10.30am to 4pm in winter, from 15 September to 15 May (350 RUB).

Chistyakov House-Museum. Moskovskoye shosse, 23. open Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 to 17h (150 RUB).

Museum-Apartment of Arkhip Kuindzhi. Birzhevoy pereulok, 1/10, app. 11. open on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from noon to 5 p.m., cash desks close 30 minutes before (150 RUB).

The memorial workshop of T. G. Shevchenko. Naberezhnaya University 17. (150 RUB)

Set up in 1709, by special decree of Peter the Great, under the high golden spire of the Admiralty (which cannot be visited), the Musée de la Marine has since moved into the neoclassical building of the former Stock Exchange, dating from the early 19th century, as have the famous rostral columns erected in front of the building. Already more than 300 years old, it is nevertheless the world's first museum complex devoted to the navy, and one of the largest on the planet. This is yet another example of the Tsar's deep curiosity about the maritime issue and the extremely proactive policy pursued by Peter the Great to ensure that Russia catches up with the rest of the world in this area. The museum has a rich collection of some 2,000 model ships (including the famous grandfather of the Russian Navy, the small ship built by Peter the Great), as well as 5,000 marine paintings, 7,000 pieces of armament and more than 3,000 flags and standards, all related to the maritime history of St. Petersburg and Russia. After the first grasp of the technical prowess of building the models, one will get tired of the endless parade of portraits of admirals, all engrossed in their costumes... The explanations, untranslated, will only suit Russian speakers and especially connoisseurs of naval history. Not to be missed, however: the majestic (and truly impressive) bows adorning the wide staircase leading to the upper floor.

A delicious and warmly recommended place for a walk in the greenery in the heart of the city. Founded in 1714 by order of Peter the Great, the botanical garden is particularly beautiful in spring and autumn. The greenhouses are interesting, but you will especially appreciate the park, with its paths and lawns where you can settle down. On 16 May (city festival), the gates are open in the evening for a night walk.

This aperitif-friendly museum, located in a historic building close to the Saint-Isaac cathedral, offers to educate you about invention, manufacturing secrets, history, traditional consumption patterns and the great producers of the national beverage. Imperial tasting services and bottles from the 19th century to the present day are on display. Guided tours are organized in English but you can opt for the audioguide in French.

The crates close one hour beforehand. Closed every last Monday of the month, January ¹, 2 and 7 and May 9.

The revolution did not wait two years to set up a museum. As early as 1919, the Museum of the Revolution set up its quarters in the Winter Palace, symbolizing the victory over the imperial regime. It was only with the de-Stalinisation in 1957 that it moved to a more anonymous but nevertheless aristocratic residence, the private mansion of the great ballerina Mathilde Kschessinska (1872-1971), built in 1904-1906 by the architect Alexandre Hohen and known as the "ballet star's castle". A place to see for people nostalgic for the red flags and the International sung in all languages. Otherwise the interest is still very limited. Since the fall of the Soviet regime, however, the museum has broadened the horizons of political culture and debate. It is a beautiful, modern and interactive museum with many, sometimes unexpected pieces, such as the famous cap of a great director Andrei Tarkovsky or the shirt of Andrei Sakharov, a famous nuclear physicist and one of the creators of the first Soviet hydrogen bomb.

Kshessinska Mansion: part of the museum is dedicated to the former owner of the building, the famous dancer who had to go into exile in 1920 in Paris and spent the rest of her life there until her death. She is buried in the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois.

This is where it all began for St. Petersburg. Indeed, it was from this initial "palace", near the Neva River, that Peter the Great liked to direct the construction of his capital. Built in 1703, the Peter's House is quite simply the first and oldest building in the imperial capital. Today, the Dutch-style wooden house, with its small garden, is protected by a stone wall. The rusticity of the place recalls a particular trait of the character: its simplicity. Pierre did not like pomp, and many foreign sailors were aghast to learn that the man in the holed-up shirt who had just offered them a drink was none other than the tsar. Some of the great ruler's personal belongings are on display inside, including his boxwood pipe (a gift from his great friend Menchikov), simple clothes and his cane covered with skate skin. A place full of symbols that the Peter's House, which saw the birth of Saint Petersburg, is full of... This humble building was therefore the first summer palace of Peter the Great, who spent the summer of 1703 there, monitoring the progress of the vast construction site next to the Peter and Paul Fortress. The very first imperial residence of the new capital, simply named Maisonnette de Pierre, was this wooden shed, whose construction, entrusted to soldiers on May 16, 1703, took just three days. One thus goes there as if on a pilgrimage in the footsteps of the creator of the city.

The visit to the apartments of the great prince Constantin Constantinovich (the poet K. R.) is subject to a charge and can only be done in a group. Situated in a street parallel to the Palace Quay, a majestic backyard lined with Baroque palaces where the Petersburg aristocracy resided, the Marble Palace was built for Count Orlov from 1768 to 1785 by the architect A. Rinaldi, on a commission from the very generous Catherine II. It bears his name well, if it is declined in the plural, since its facade is covered with 30 kinds of marble. The Soviet regime will make a marble sarcophagus for Lenin, whose palace will house the local museum from 1937. In 1991, the building will also be assigned to the Russian Museum and, on the occasion of the exhibition devoted to official Russian portraits, will return to its past of luxury and pomp. A sculptural foretaste is given with the monument to Alexander III, by P. Troubetskoy, which stands in the square adjoining the palace. The emperor's disproportionate size compared to that of his horse made the sculptor himself (who had only conformed to the tsar's expectations) laugh. In 1937, the Soviets took the statue down into the basement of the palace, and it did not come out again until 1994. Architecturally, the palace is a mixture of the Baroque style favoured by Catherine II and the neoclassicism that Alexander I loved

Built in the mid-18th century, the Sheremetiev Palace stretches its baroque façade along the Fontanka canal. The museum will delight music lovers of all stripes. It is indeed dedicated to musical instruments (some 3,000 pieces on display!) and retraces the musical culture of Saint Petersburg from the 18th to the beginning of the 20th century. Concerts are regularly given in the restored rooms.

On the ground floor, a large part of the instruments are on display. Dating back several centuries, they are often strange and amusing, to say the least. Glass harmonica, pocket violins, lyre-shaped guitars... you sometimes observe some of them for a long time before understanding how they work. You will notice the set of 18th century horns, each of which produces only one sound, audible at more than 7 km !

Upstairs, you will pass through a string of beautifully restored rooms decorated with musical instruments. At the end of the row are a few pianos, "working tools" and personal effects that belonged to great composers such as Shostakovich, Glinka, Rimsky-Korsakov and Rubinstein. Some rooms display the magnificent stage costumes, which belonged to the legendary Fedor Shalyapin, the most famous Russian opera singer, and photos of famous Russian female singers. There are also works on the theme of music and the performing arts by great names in the pictorial arts such as Casimir Malevich and Ilia Repin.

Completed in 1783, the church bears witness to the importance of a community that had its gable on the street when the former capital was courting the West. It has an attractive pastel yellow baroque facade with an arch resting on free columns, due to Vallin de la Mothe and Rinaldi. It is here that the last King of Poland, Stanislas Poniatowski, a favourite of the Great Catherine and General Moreau, who died in 1813, has been buried here since 1798. Mickiewicz, Honoré de Balzac, Dumas Sr., Liszt prayed there

Anna Akhmatova lived in this outbuilding of the Sheremetyev Palace between 1924 and 1952. It was a princely setting that she would not abandon until the Second World War. This beautiful apartment became a communal one during the Soviet era, and Akhmatova was relegated to a small room. Hunted by microphones, watched over by guards posted every morning under her windows, she nevertheless continues to write. When she receives her friends, she gives them her poems while conducting a most harmless conversation. As soon as they have learned them by heart, she burns her verses in an ashtray that you can still see, so that there is no trace of them. She lived in this apartment with two of her three husbands, the poet Shileiko and the painter Pounin.

In 1989, this museum-apartment opened, and today you can visit the poetess' bedroom and study, which have been completely reconstructed. Numerous objects from her daily life, family albums, portraits are on display, as well as a collection of rare books gathered by the bibliophile M. Lesman, and the poet Brodski's library. One room contains photographs of Russian intellectuals who were victims of the Stalinist period. Exile or death often form their tragic destiny.

Don't miss the documentary on the ground floor. Even if you don't understand Russian, you will remember the very inspired reading of her poems and the moving images of her funeral, attended by thousands of people.

The complex includes a landscaped park of almost 200 hectares near the Alexander Palace, with elegantly curved ponds, a huge forest plot (the former animal reserve where the Tsar hunted at ^{XVIIIe siècle}), the new garden, on a regular plan, the territory of the Chinese village and finally the orangeries. All of this is especially interesting for long walks, especially during "sleepless nights". The people of St. Petersburg also like to go there with their families on weekends. It was in this park that Pushkin walked during his studies and discovered romantic melancholy.

The white tower:the white fortress, which looks like a knight's castle, is surrounded by four knights: an Englishman, a Frenchman, a German and a Russian, the first three representing the Allied States of the time. It was built by Emperor Nicholas I for his children - the great princes Alexander (the future Alexander II), Constantine, Nicholas and Michael. It was here that the young heirs received their general education and practiced their physical and military exercises. From here one can reach the observation point of the tower (only for a few people at a time) with a view of Tsarskoye Selo.

Museum of the First World War: the history of this unique museum in Russia is more than 100 years old. Completely renovated in 2011, it is a modern center dedicated to the Great War. The museum was inaugurated as a "War Chamber" in 1913 to display relics, weapons and souvenirs of the great victories of the Russian armies. After the First World War and the Revolution, the place was renamed and reassigned. It was affected during the Second World War by suffering many thefts and degradations of the Nazi occupiers during the terrible siege of St. Petersburg. Its collections were gradually reconstituted and the building renovated, so it reopened its doors in 2011.

The Chinese Theatre was built in 1778 according to the project of Antonio Rinaldi in the Far Eastern style popular at the time. The first Opera Theatre built in stone in Russia is now in ruins and awaits its turn to be rebuilt.

The chapel finally reopened in 2018 after restoration work. Built in the image of a Gothic chapel, it had been degraded by time. The building consists of two square towers connected by a vault, one of the two towers remained "semi-destroyed".

The "Junost" Sports Center is a museum located in Saint Petersburg.

It was in the greenery of the small island of Yelagin, then isolated in the far north of St. Petersburg, that the imperial family liked to retreat, in this neoclassical-style palace whose construction was entrusted to Carlo Rossi, one of the great architects of St. Petersburg, in the first third of the 19th century. Both near and far from the centre of the new capital, Yelagin Island was the ideal location for imperial receptions. They were held in the luxurious halls on the ground floor where you can admire today furniture and works of art dating from the first half of the 19th century. The museum's collections are also rich in porcelain, glassware, furniture, fabrics, goldsmith's and woodwork from the late 18th to early 20th centuries. Unfortunately today the aсcès in the Palace is impossible due to renovation work, but the whole park, which is listed as a UNESCO cultural heritage site, is still worth a detour. The Glass Museum (more than 700 glass and crystal works of art) as well as temporary exhibitions in the former stable hall do welcome visitors. As for the park itself, it is impeccably maintained. It is adorned with sublime golden colours in autumn. On sunny days, it is a spot that lends itself particularly well to small family or couple picnics, as well as walks with a taste for time travel.

This palace designed by the architect Ivan Starov in 1783 was built for one of Catherine II's many lovers, Grigori Potemkin, Prince of Tauride (the name given to the Crimea). It is one of the largest palaces in the city. After Potemkin's death, the palace became state property and was transformed into barracks. Restored at the beginning of the 20th century, it hosted the Duma as well as meetings of the provisional government and the first Council of Soviets. Today, the Palace is the seat of the non-parliamentary Assembly of Independent States. The simplicity of its façades contrasts with the splendour of its adjoining salons, perpendicular to the central façade. A rotunda decorated with mouldings leads to the White Hall. This large reception hall, the first in the history of Russian architecture to have white columns, was to become a model for many palaces and properties of the nobility. In the 18th century, a winter garden, located behind the colonnade of this room, overlooked the park. Some rooms, such as the painting gallery, the Chinese salon or the Gobelins room, have retained their original decor.

The charming garden of Tauride's palace, once adorned with a statue of Venus, was the scene of grandiose celebrations in honour of Catherine II. You can still see an artificial pond, canals with footbridges, hills and exotic plants. We advise you to organize a guided tour of the site via a French-speaking agency.

In 1971, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of his birth, this museum dedicated to the great Russian writer was opened in the last of the many apartments where he lived in St. Petersburg. From 1878 until his death in 1881, Fedor Dostoyevsky lived at No. 5 of this alleyway, not far from the beautiful Church of the Icon of Vladimir, in the heart of a district where he set the scene for many of his novels. It was here that he wrote his Diary of a Writer and finished The Brothers Karamazov, amidst the few personal objects, books, manuscripts, trinkets collected in part by his descendants, which made it possible to reconstruct the modest and austere environment of the brilliant writer. The museum exhibits the writer's complete works, published during his lifetime, as well as books and photos bearing his dedications. It organizes international symposia and seminars dedicated to Dostoyevsky's work.

Yet it is not in this apartment that you will be able to find the most revealing clues to Dostoyevsky's personality; the author could not allow himself to be locked up in a museum, just as he could not allow himself to be locked up in the walls of an apartment during his lifetime. It is true that it is at this address that he ended his days, but isn't the only Dostoyevskian place, his real museum, rather the city of Saint Petersburg itself, whose hidden side he has worked hard to explore, far from the carelessness and splendour of the palaces?

The zoological garden of St. Petersburg has been installed since 1865 in this small portion of Alexandrovski Park along the Kronwerski River. Its occupants are 1,500, with giraffes being the great pride of this zoo and polar bears. Indeed, they rarely reproduce in captivity, but the St. Petersburg Zoo managed to give birth to 16 small (December 1, 2015). It became such a brand that a beautiful polar bear now adorns the zoo logo. The institution is constantly seeking sponsors and patrons to ensure infrastructure development and improve animal welfare. To do this, the Guardianship Program allows donations and sponsorship of an animal. An excellent opportunity to do a good job for one or other of these animals, such as a small raccoon or a Steller Pygargue (majestic bird of prey from the Bering Sea, living up to 50 years old and whose couples remain faithful all their lives), depending on your means and your desires!

Set in 1830 on two natural terraces, it features a centuries-old promenade of oak trees, to which the Pierre fir competes. In the spring, the Rossignol song competes with the children's cries, which engage in echoes under the stone arch of the park.

A beautiful park, located on this northern island of St. Petersburg, with rides for children, boats and catamarans, mini zoo, tennis and badminton courts. Costumed balls are organised frequently for tourist groups and individual visitors. You can rent ski in winter for a small dip in its aisles. Also in this park, the palace (s.) offers a beautiful collection of decorative and applied art.

Created in 1945 on 115 ha of Krestovskiy Island, it is one of the largest green spaces in St. Petersburg. It is situated on a historically heavy site as it was used as a gigantic crematory furnace to burn the bodies of thousands of victims of the Leningrad blockade. It contains 4 bridges and the brand new Gazprom Arena, which was inaugurated for the 2018 World Cup. Today it is one of the most high-tech stadiums in the world and its construction will have cost more than a billion dollars.

The magnificent Orangery transported from Tsarskoye Selo was installed in the Tauride Garden in 1935. This lush island, as if in an eternal summer, is today one of the favourite cultural places of the locals. Equipped with numerous artistic spaces, the Orangery organizes concerts, a festival of ambient electronic music, Abstrasentsia (abstrasension.ru), as well as conferences. During the day, you can enjoy the peace and quiet of its charming Orangery café and flower shop.

These offices, which can be found in several places in the city, have long been the showcase of the total lack of consideration for foreign tourists. This has changed since the city's tercentenary and the World Cup. Now polyglot hostesses are handing out maps, leaflets and information. Other addresses: Sadovaya 37, Milionnaya 25, Ploshchad' Rastrelli 1A, Dvortsovaya ploshchad' 1A, Ligovskiy prospekt 1-k1, Peter and Paul Fortress, Pulkovo Airport.

Welcome to the paradise of grown-ups, geeks and nostalgic for the USSR! This playful museum is an Ali Baba's cave dedicated to Soviet arcade games created between 1974 and 1991. Some 50 different games are gathered together and made available to the visitors-players. The idea is that the visitor becomes a gamer and can therefore switch from one machine to another as in a large games room. Love at first sight guaranteed!

The Shchusev Museum of Architecture is the largest museum of architecture and urban planning in Russia. It would need more space than what is proposed, given the long history of leaders in the country's urban planning vision: from Catherine II to Peter I and the great Soviet plans. Inside, we will be able to see many scale models, well contextualized and sometimes quite surprising (including some rather crazy projects for a total overhaul of the Kremlin).

Once a haven of nature and peace off the coast of Vladivostok (Empress Eugenie Archipelago, Gulf of Peter the Great), Russkiy Island served until the end of the 20th century as a large military station protecting the Russian border from Japanese invasions. In Soviet times, as a closed territory, it was home to several naval training/training units. Then, in 1992, four soldiers on duty, forgotten by their officers, died of hunger there (one of the biggest military scandals after the USSR). The military installations were destroyed.
Charming and forested, Russkiy Island is one of Vladivostok's favourite summer resorts. It is also home to the former gigantic business complex, built to host the 2012 APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Forum) summit at high speed. A building whose faults have been denounced time and time again... After the forum, the decision was taken to convert it into a "Federal University of the Far East" and to develop the island's tourism potential. Since then, it has been inviting travellers to laze on its beaches and explore its forests. In 2016, Russia's largest aquarium, the Oceanarium, was inaugurated there. Also since 2012, the island is connected to the continent by the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world. It will always be interesting to borrow the structure, at least to photograph it. Its tricolour stays are in the colours of the Russian flag.

The tour of the old Circum-Baikal railway by train is a collective excursion. It lasts a long day (about 10 hours) and is organised from Irkutsk (the trips are included in the ticket). If you have large luggage, charge an extra 250 RUB per piece). This is an excellent option if you are short of time, as you pass through several points of interest on the Baikalian coast.

First you reach Slioudianka (by bus or train, about 2h30). From there, after visiting the station, you climb into a steam railway convoy (Soviet period locomotive) or matanya type (a modern regional train). Direction Port-Baïkal, i. e. some 90 km on the old Circum-Baïkal railway line. The train stops at several stations, with a guided tour and exit at the station (you are walking around): in particular at the village of Angasolka, at the Kirkirei complex (one of the most difficult parts of the circumbaïkalien construction site), at Ulanovo station. During this trip, which lasts about 5 hours, you can eat. You will be offered the option to purchase the tour (breakfast 350 RUB, lunch 800 RUB, dinner 700 RUB). Arrival at Port-Baïkal station scheduled around 6:30 pm: after a short visit of the station and its surroundings, you board for Listvianka by ferry (summer) or hovercraft (winter). Disembarkation at the seaside resort around 8pm, quick visit, then departure for Irkutsk (by bus, about 1 hour drive).

The reservoir of the Novosibirsk power plant, inaugurated in 1959. The old historical centre of Berdsk was sunk there. The Ob Sea is a favourite resting place for city dwellers: you can relax on the beach or go kytesurfing. Every year, in mid-July, an amateur sailing regatta is held here. Restaurants and hotels. From Novosibirsk: by train (Obskoye More station / Обское Море), marchrutka 332, 321 and bus 576 via the Rechnoy Vokzal metro (red line).

Today's village, with a population of less than 100 inhabitants, was once an important fishing port. The traces of the old installations have disappeared. If Kharantsy is the first stop on the great northern tour in UAZ, it is quite possible to get there by bike (or on foot. Be careful, the road is long). You will find several accommodations: campsites (with yurts) and guesthouses. Up there, expect a 360-degree heavenly landscape, on a land peeled by the sun and wind. You can explore the coast by bike or on foot, go down to the water's edge, unpack your picnic, enjoy an unlimited space. You can also try to discover the shamano-Buddhist oratory hidden in the forest... Opposite is the small island of Kharantsy. It is very popular in winter for its superb ice cascade (accessible by boat in summer). Also, several scenes from the film In the Forests of Siberia were shot there. Continuing north towards the village of Ulan Khushin (Улан Хушин), you can admire an extraterrestrial landscape, strange shaped trees on a sandy perimeter and wild thyme fields as far as the eye can see. Be careful, uneven track and increased difficulty. It is here that Pribaïkalsky National Park opens, recognizable by its forest checkpoint: it is perfectly authorized to enter it alone, subject to paying the entrance fee (300 RUB per day and per person). Entry by vehicle is only possible if the vehicle is off-road.

One of the city's most mystical buildings is located a stone's throw from the Chernishevskaya metro station. It is called "Yegipetskiy dom", or the "Egyptian House", by the people of St. Petersburg. Built in modern Russian style between 1911 and 1913, it is richly decorated with Masonic and Egyptian signs, symbols of the god Ra, multiple faces of the goddess of love Hathor, as well as two statues of Ra himself who guard the main entrance of the building. Despite its mysterious appearance, the story of the creation of this building is more prosaic. The wife of State Councillor Nezhinsky placed an order for an apartment building with the Polish architect Mikhail Sogailo, with the aim that its aesthetics should be totally unusual and never seen before. Sogailo certainly took this brief to the letter and probably went beyond the expectations of his extremely wealthy and eccentric client. Being deeply versed in mysticism, occultism and Freemasonry, his inclinations for these fields marked his creation with an unexpected impact. Rich in many details, frescoes of Egyptian pastoral and agrarian life, impassive gods, discs covered with hieroglyphs and strange signs, pilasters and columns carved on the facade where the Art Nouveau motifs join those of Ancient Egypt ... The result astonished the whole city. Perfectly preserved since its creation, it continues today to intrigue both locals and passing tourists.