1. Moscow

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.

1. The Kremlin

2. City square of Red Square

3. Saint Basil's Cathedral, a 16th century cathedral

4. Gorky Park

5. GUM, the famous shopping mall

6. Bunker-42 tunnel system

7. Old village of Sokol

8. Tsarytsino Open-Air History and Architectural Museum

9. Bolshoi Theatre, the oldest of its kind in Moscow

10. Lenin's Meuseum

2. Saint Petersburg

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, with venues such as the Mariinsky Theatre hosting opera and ballet, and the State Russian Museum showcasing Russian art, from Orthodox icon paintings to Kandinsky works.

1. Hermitage Museum

2. Winter Palace, a former residence of Russian Emperors

3. Peterhof Palace has a series of palaces and gardens

4. Peter and Paul Fortress

5. Church of the Savior on Blood

6. Saint Isaac's Cathedral

7. The famous plaza of Palace Square

8. State Russian Museum, housing a large collection of fine arts

9. Mariinsky Theatre

10. Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral the burial site of the Romanov dynasty

3. Kazan

1. The Kul Sharif Mosque located was reputed to be – at the time of its construction – one of the largest mosques in Russia, and in Europe outside of Istanbul.

2. The Kazan Kremlin

3. The Temple of All Religions, a shrine in Kazan

4. The Millenium Park for fun with kids

5. Black Lake, a city playground with fountains

6. Tsentral'nyy Park Kul'tury

7. The National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan

8. Cathedral of the Apostles Peter and Paul

9. Walk in the historic Bauman Street

10. Kazan Family Center, a great piece of architecture

4. Nizhny Novgorod

Russia’s fifth largest city began as a fortress in the 13th century on the banks of the Volga river. It was previously known as Gorky, after Maxim Gorky who was born here.

Things to see

1. Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevskiy, built in the honor of Alexander II

2. Church of Nativity of Most Holy Mother of God

3. The Kremlin, historical architecture

4. Fedorovsky Embankment

5. The Nizhny Novgorod Cableway

6. Chkalov Monument

7. The Chkalov Stairs

8. Spaso-Staroyarmarochny Cathedral

5. Mount Elbrus

Mount Elbrus is a dormant volcano in the Caucasus Mountains in Southern Russia, near the border Russia shares with Georgia. It is the highest mountain in Europe. It is also the tenth-most prominent peak in the world. Elbrus has two summits, both of which are dormant volcanic domes.

6. Irkutsk

Largest city in Eastern Siberia, Irkutsk and the most popular stop on the Trans-Siberian Railway runing from Moscow towards the east. A good base to explore the western shoreline of Lake Baikal only 45 km away. Decorated wooden houses stand beside standard Soviet block apartments. Also several churches, including Ascension Church, and geology and history museums. Known as the Paris of Siberia.

7. Vladivostok

The last stop on the Trans-Siberian Railway, Vladivostok is the country’s largest port on the Pacific Ocean. Surrounded by mountains and bays. With North Korea a short step away. Actor Yul Brynner was born here. Includes the park Minny Gorodok, which was once a military base. The city’s main square is Admiralsky Skver, with a submarine museum close by.

8. Veliky Novgorod

Veliky Novgorod on Lake Ilmen is on the of oldest cities in Russia's north and was founded in the 10th century

1. Saint Sophia Cathedral and Bell Tower the oldest in Russia

2. The Hanseatic Fountain, said to return 1,000 rubles for every one thrown into it

3. A host of museums, including ones on iron, porcelain and history.

9. Sochi

Sochi, on the Black Sea, is known as a summer beach resort, and was host of the 2014 Winter Olympics. Its parks include the palm-filled Arboretum. It's also notable for 20th-century neoclassical buildings such as the columned Winter Theatre. Forested Sochi National Park is a 1,937-sq.-km protected area in the nearby Caucasus Mountains. Some 70 km inland, Krasnaya Polyana is a prominent ski resort.

10. Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal is an ancient, massive lake in the mountainous Russian region of Siberia, north of the Mongolian border. Considered the deepest lake in the world, it’s circled by a network of hiking paths called the Great Baikal Trail. The village of Listvyanka, on its western shoreline, is a popular starting point for summertime wildlife-spotting tours, plus wintertime ice-skating and dog sledding.

11. Valley of Geysers

The Valley of Geysers is a geyser field on Kamchatka Peninsula, and has the second largest concentration of geysers in the world. Around 90 geysers in 6km valley

12. Kizhi

Kizhi is an island near the geometrical center of the Lake Onega in the Republic of Karelia. It is elongated from north to south and is about 6 km long, 1 km wide and is about 68 km away from the capital of Karelia, Petrozavodsk. Settlements and churches on the island were known from at least the 15th century.

13. Volgograd

Mamayev Kurgan is a dominant height overlooking the city of Volgograd in Southern Russia. The name in Russian means "tumulus of Mamai". The formation is dominated by a memorial complex commemorating the Battle of Stalingrad

1. Mamayev Kurgan memorial complex

2. Stalingrad memorial at the 'The Motherland Calls'

3. The Eternal Flame, a monumemt to those who died in World War II

4. Monumental Alley of the Heroes

14. Solovetsky Monastery

The Solovetsky Monastery is a fortified monastery located on the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea in northern Russia. It was one of the largest Christian citadels in northern Russia before it was converted into a Soviet prison and labor camp in 1926–39, and served as a prototype for the camps of the Gulag system.

15. Murmansk

Murmansk is a city in northwestern Russia, at the end of a deep bay off the Barents Sea. The Regional Museum of Local History has cultural and archaeological artifacts. The Murmansk Regional Museum of Art features 18th- to 20th-century Russian works. The S.M. Kirov Murmansk Regional Palace of Culture is a popular concert venue. The Lenin icebreaker is a decommissioned 1950s nuclear-powered ship, now a museum.

16. Dargavs City of the Dead

The village of Dargavs, or the City of the Dead, has an ancient cemetery where people that lived in the valley buried their loved ones along with their clothes and belongings. The valley stretches for 17 kilometers, and the cemetery contains almost 100 ancient stone crypts.