Moscow, the Russian capital, is one of the world's most vibrant, and expensive, cities. Here you'll find the magnificent Red Square, home to the colorful onion domes of St. Basil's Cathedral; the State History Museum; and Lenin's mausoleum. New Arbat Street is where the rich shop, dine, drink and dance, and a walk through Gorky Park lets you get away from it all and surround yourself with green (or white, in the winter) in the heart of the city. The Pushkin Museum and Christ the Savior Cathedral are also not to be missed. Wherever you are in the city, it's hard to miss the 1,772-foot Ostankino Tower, which was the world's tallest freestanding structure from 1967 to 1976.
Founded by Peter the Great in 1703 and capital of the Russian Empire for two centuries, St. Petersburg is full of historical, cultural and architectural treasures. The city once known as Leningrad is home to more than 200 museums, including the world-famous Hermitage. Inhabiting six buildings, including the czar's own Winter Palace, the museum boasts countless works of art, ranging from ancient Egyptian works to the Impressionists and Van Gogh. There's also the Kunstkamera museum and the apartments of such famous past residents as Alexander Pushkin, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Vladimir Nabokov. St. Petersburg is also a city of the performing arts, with attractions like the Mariinsky Theatre, home to the Mariinsky Ballet, whose dancers have included Nijinsky, Pavlova, Nureyev and Baryshnikov.
If you want to go to the beach as the Russians do, then head down to the Black Sea coast, where an unusually warm micro-climate created by the Caucasian Mountains to the north allows you to see such un-Russian sights as palm trees and banana trees. The main resorts are the cities of Anapa, Gelendzhik and Sochi, the capital of "the Russian Riviera." While summer in Sochi means swimming, winter means skiing, and the skiing is so good that Krasnaya Polyana, a ski resort just east of the city, will play host to the 2014 Winter Olympics. Stretched out along the coastline, Sochi claims to be the longest city in Europe. And as a testament to the beach culture, Sochi made it into the Guinness Book of World Records in 2008 when 1,602 bikini-clad women gathered on the beach for a "Cosmopolitan-Russia" magazine commercial.
