RUSSIA

From the windy Baltic Sea to the Pacific coast, from the Arctic ices to the wild steppe, expands a country, occupying one sixth of the world's landmass - Russia. Covering an expanse of over 6.6 million square miles, Russia is the world’s largest country by landmass. This is a country of rustling birch woods and silent pine forests, frosty winters and spectacular summers, mighty Siberian rivers and desolate marshes, frozen tundra and never-ending steppe, golden wheat fields and enormous blue skies, sprawling cities and forgotten villages, onion-domed churches and picturesque Mosques, white-walled monasteries and Imperial palaces, heroic past and thrilling legends, enigmatic icons and stirring symphonies, the home land of Anna Karenina and Doctor Zhivago, Peter Tchaikovsky and Wassily Kandinsky, the Maryinsky opera and the Bolshoy ballet. These are just some of the attractions of this vast and romantic land. Russia has changed a lot over the past fifteen years. Overcoming the difficulties of transforming itself into a modern capitalist nation Russia is a country with a great potential.

Moscow, on the Moskva River in western Russia, is the nation’s cosmopolitan capital. In its historic core is the Kremlin, a complex that’s home to the president and tsarist treasures in the Armoury. Outside its walls is Red Square, Russia's symbolic center. It's home to Lenin’s Mausoleum, the State Historical Museum's comprehensive collection and St. Basil’s Cathedral, known for its colorful, onion-shaped domes.

One of the world's most beautiful cities, St. Petersburg is a Russian port city on the Baltic Sea. It was the imperial capital for 2 centuries, having been founded in 1703 by Peter the Great, subject of the city's iconic “Bronze Horseman” statue. It remains Russia's cultural center. St. Petersburg has all the ingredients for an unforgettable travel experience: high art, lavish architecture, an extraordinary history and rich cultural traditions that have inspired and nurtured some of the modern world's greatest literature, music, and visual art. From the mysterious twilight of the White Nights to world-beating opera and ballet productions on magical winter evenings, St. Petersburg charms and entices in every season.