Russia Pictures
Photos

Intrepid offer various small group Russia vacations ranging from overland tours and trains to culture holidays. e.g. Top Trips in Russia | Special Deals | Russia and Beyond | Taste of Russia | Footsteps of the Tsars

Red Square starring St Basil's Cathedral on the left, Moscow, Russia.

Click on the image to see twelve pages of Russia photos, starting with St Petersburg.

Not an easy travel option, Russian tourism is hampered by bureaucracy, erratic hotel quality, petty crime and bad press. Nevertheless, these liabilities can be overcome and if you take the trouble this is a fascinating country with a mega-history and massive land offering monster contrasts - glittering excess and neglected poverty, witless, self-important officials and lively, hospitable locals, magnificent gilded churches and concrete apartment blocks, vast mountains and endless plains, Tsar and Stalin, cold war and hot girls, boiling baths and freezing vodka...

Russia's size is intimidating, but the average traveler could start with St Petersburg, the most spectacular traditional option, and follow that with Moscow, doing short trips out of town to experience a very different, ex-urban Russia.
The Trans-Siberian train journey is another popular travel target in Russia, but it should be noted that it's a far better trip if you actually want to get somewhere specific - such as China or Japan - rather than just ride the rails for six days and then get a plane home.
This gallery of Russia pictures presents some of the sights of the two main urban centres, St Petersburg and Moscow, and a few images of what is visible if you catch the Trans-Siberian choo-choo.

Russia Travel Guide | Moscow Travel Guide | St Petersburg Travel Guide | Russia Map | Russia Tours