In his book “The Genius of Place”, the famous writer Pyotr Vail wrote: “The stereotypes where inevitably lies the route of any journey, if you are not a path breaker, of course, and you are not a path breaker, of course, are the clusters of human experience, the concentrate of historical wisdom”.
If St Petersburg’s Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood deserves a star on the tourist map, then surely the church around the corner, which does not, is no less of an attraction? No tourist should disregard guidebooks and their tips from experienced tourists, or they will be left disappointed at not having seen some spectacular sight or other which everyone else has.
Or in other words, you will have missed something significant that would help you better understand the place you’re visiting. That’s why it’s important to know which places to visit during your visit to Russia in order to ”get to know the Russian soul”, and make sure your visit is an unforgettable experience.
Since the collapse of the USSR, foreign travel around Russia has increased a lot, and visitors have already developed their own impressions and lists of places to visit. And there’s plenty that make Russia interesting and different from other countries besides “vodka-balalaika-matryoshka dolls”. The Russian National Tourist Office has listened to their preferences and compiled the following list of the most popular destinations.
1. St Petersburg - The cultural “Northern Palmyra”
2. Moscow – magnificence and poverty the Russian way
3. Kazan – the oldest capital city
4. The Golden Ring – onion-domed churches
5. Novgorod Veliky – its own architect
6. Volga cruise – music playing on board
7. Lake Baikal – the pearl of Siberia
8. Yekaterinburg – traditional churches and Soviet avant-garde
9. Sochi – from all-Union health resort to the Olympic capital
10. Trans-Siberian Railway – “I will come back!”
