A country · 384 places · 43 regions

Russia, all of it.

384 curated places across 43 regions — photographed, mapped, and noted with the season each is best in.

Lake Baikal · via Wikimedia Commons

The 4 biggest regions — Tatarstan, Leningrad Oblast, Kamchatka Krai and Novosibirsk Oblast — read below as chapters, with 39 more waiting past them.

Chapter I · Tatarstan · 15 places

Tatarstan

The capital of Tatarstan, where Orthodox and Islamic traditions meet in a lively riverside city on the Volga. Landmarks range from a walled kremlin to the modern Kul Sharif Mosque.

Kazan

Tatarstan, Russia

✦ May to September · $

Kul Sharif Mosque

Tatarstan, Russia

✦ May to September · $

Söyembikä Tower

Tatarstan, Russia

✦ May–September · $

All 15 places in Tatarstan →

via Wikimedia Commons

Chapter II · Leningrad Oblast · 14 places

Leningrad Oblast

Peterhof, commissioned by Peter the Great in the early 18th century on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, is an ensemble of palaces and gardens whose defining feature is a cascade of more than 150 fountains running from the Grand Palace down to the sea canal, powered entirely by gravity without pumps. The Grand Cascade's centrepiece is a gilded Samson fountain symbolising Russia's victory over Sweden. The gardens and fountains operate from May to October, and the reflection of the gilded facades in the fountain pools at sunrise provides a classic photographic composition.

✦ May to September · $$

Meet Peterhof Palace All 14 places in Leningrad Oblast →

Chapter III · Kamchatka Krai · 12 places

Kamchatka Krai

Kamchatka is a remote peninsula in Russia's far east that holds roughly thirty active volcanoes within its UNESCO-listed clusters of protected areas, making it one of the most volcanically active regions on earth. The Valley of Geysers, one of the world's largest geyser fields, is accessible only by helicopter from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The peninsula's rivers support some of the densest concentrations of Pacific salmon in the world, drawing Steller's sea eagles and Kamchatka brown bears to congregate at spawning sites in autumn.

Kamchatka Peninsula

Kamchatka Krai, Russia

✦ June to September · $$$

Volcanoes of Kamchatka

Kamchatka Krai, Russia

✦ May–September · $$

Valley of Geysers

Kamchatka Krai, Russia

✦ June to September · $$$

All 12 places in Kamchatka Krai →

via Wikimedia Commons

Chapter IV · Novosibirsk Oblast · 11 places

Novosibirsk Oblast

The largest theatre building in Russia is crowned by an enormous silver dome dominating central Novosibirsk. Completed in the 1940s, it remains the leading cultural landmark of Siberia.

✦ Year-round · $

Meet Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre All 11 places in Novosibirsk Oblast →