According to VCIOM surveys, 95% of Russians dream of going somewhere, but
only 36% plan to spend their vacation in their home country. They say, what haven’t we seen here? In
reality, Russia is a whole universe with the gentle sea in the south, the dense
forests of the Sayan Mountains, and the harsh ice of the Putorana Plateau. And
all this can be seen without millions in your account, a foreign passport, or long flights. Just
like Vera Bashmakova — a brave young mother who took her three kids, loaded them into her Lada, and
drove 20,000 kilometers across the country. We've selected and described some interesting places worthy of
your vacation.
Here, amid forests and sand dunes, you can see two water horizons — the calm
Curonian Lagoon on one side and the rippling waves of the Baltic Sea on the other. A unique natural area on
the edge of Russia’s enclave.
But that’s not all of the Kaliningrad Region. For travelers and explorers, nearby is
also Russia’s westernmost point, the Baltic Spit, and the German heritage of many small coastal towns. The
atmosphere here invites peace and quiet, immersing you in the calm of nature and the scent of cool
steel-colored sea.
Almost the entire peninsula lies above the Arctic Circle. The Sami tundra, from
which to the south lies the taiga, and to the north — the Arctic Ocean disguised as the Barents Sea.
Maybe you’ve seen Zvyagintsev’s films or heard about the Arctic festival in
Teriberka. Maybe “Khibiny” didn’t get buried under the snow of geography lessons. Maybe you weren’t interested
in the ultra-deep borehole that pierces the Earth’s crust, and apatite doesn’t give you apathy. But your dream
of seeing the northern lights starts with a ticket to Murmansk.
Altai is one of the most beautiful places in Russia. Mainly because of its
mountains: drive along the ridge and you’ll see pine-covered slopes, mountain rivers, and lakes. And if you
open your car windows, you’ll meet the invisible miracle of the region — mountain air.
Altai has a moderate climate, so summer is the best time to visit. You’ll witness
the full variety of local flora and fauna. Moose roam the forests, eagles soar above the ridges, and deer
graze on the plains. The famous Pallas’s cats also live in the Altai region.
Everyone knows Baikal as the world’s largest lake. Many also know it’s the biggest
source of fresh water and one of the most beautiful places in Russia.
That’s all true. But Baikal is also the perfect venue for skijoring competitions.
It’s a sport where a skier ties themselves to a motorcycle and the duo tries to reach the highest speed on
ice. In March 2019, at the Baikal Mile festival, a world record was set — 197.011 km/h.
Siberia doesn’t end at the Urals, but in Karelia: the Siberian larch that forms the
taiga doesn’t grow west of Vodlozero. But here it reaches up to 30 meters — the forests of Karelia’s national
parks have never known the axe due to impassable swamps. Some pines here are over half a thousand years old.
Touch a living being that saw the sun before Ivan the Terrible did. In the virgin forest, you won’t find a
path for hundreds of kilometers. And on the rare trails, trees just a couple of meters off the ground are
marked by bear claws. So everyone knows who’s boss.
