Today, in the world there are only about 800 representatives of the indigenous Siberian nation of the Tofalars. Once nomads, most of them live compactly in three villages in the Nizhneudinsky district of the Irkutsk region.

This very beautiful and isolated mountainous region located in the Eastern Sayan mountain system in the south of Siberia is called Tofalaria. You can get to it only by air. Tofalaria on Google Maps. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

fly over Tofalaria

Tags: Irkutsk oblast

Surgut is a city with a population of about 350,000 people located in the Khanty-Mansi autonomous region – the main oil and gas producing region of Russia.

This city is known as the unofficial oil and gas capital of Russia, the headquarters of such large oil and gas companies as “Surgutneftegas”, “Gazprom transgaz Surgut” and “Gazprom Pererabotka” are located here. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

fly over Surgut

Tags: Khanty-Mansi okrug · Surgut city

If you’re visiting Russia for the first time, I envy you! You’re about to go on one of the best adventures of your life. There’s so much culture to be experienced, as well as historical sights, fun activities, and unbeatable nightlife.

Of course, visiting a new country is also intimidating, and Russia has a reputation that might make you slightly wary. The Russian people are hardened, in a good way. They don’t suffer fools, and live in an admirably self-sufficient manner. For those who don’t know any Russians, however, this can come across as cold or rude.

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Geyzernoye Lake, also known as Blue Lake, is a unique body of water in Siberia located in the Ulagan district of the Altai Republic, near the village of Aktach.

The main feature of this clean and ice-free lake is thermal springs that bring the blue silt to the bottom forming colorful and bizarre pictures – various concentric circles. Geyzernoye Lake on Google Maps. Photos by: Andrei Kireev.

lake with geysers at the bottom

Tags: Altay Republic

Kolomenskoye, a former royal residence located south of the center of Moscow and occupying an area of about 390 hectares, is an interesting art, historical, architectural, and natural museum-reserve.

The main exhibit of Kolomenskoye is a beautiful park with numerous buildings of different times – one of the most popular parks in Moscow. It looks especially picturesque during the golden autumn. Kolomenskoye on Google Maps. Photos by: Vladimir d’Ar.

stroll through the autumn park

Tags: Moscow city

Vyborg is a large town located in the north-west of the Leningrad region on the shore of the Vyborg Gulf, in the north-eastern part of the Gulf of Finland, about 135 km from St. Petersburg.

Founded in the Middle Ages by Swedes, Vyborg is the only historical settlement on the territory of the Leningrad region. Until 1940, it was the second largest town in Finland. Photos by: Andrei Kireev.

Vyborg from the tower of the Vyborg Castle.

explore Vyborg

Tags: Leningrad oblast

The Northern Urals is one of the most hard-to-reach areas of the Urals, but it gradually becomes more popular among tourists primarily thanks to two main attractions: the rock formations on the Manpupuner Plateau and the Dyatlov Pass.

Both of these places are covered with legends. Although one of them was created by nature, and the second – by human tragedy that is still an unsolved mystery. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

fly over the Northern Urals

Tags: Komi Republic · Perm krai · Sverdlovsk oblast

Nelazskoye is a small village with a population of about 200 people located in the Cherepovets district of the Vologda region, about 30 km north-west of Cherepovets.

The main attraction of the village is the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady – a wooden church of unique shape built in 1694. Nelazskoye on Google Maps. Photos by: Denis Spirin.

beautiful monument of wooden architecture

Tags: Cherepovets city · churches · Vologda oblast

Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery is a monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church located in the town of Dzerzhinsky in the Moscow region, to the southeast of Moscow in the immediate vicinity of the Moscow Ring Road.

The monastery was founded by the Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy on the site of the phenomenon of the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in 1380.

explore the monastery

Tags: Moscow city · Moskovskaya oblast

Krutitskoye Podvorye (Krutitsy Patriarchal Metochion) is a picturesque preserved fragment of old Moscow located almost in the very center of Europe’s largest metropolis.

This is an excellent example of when the natural landscape allowed to preserve the look of a street of the 18th-19th centuries. Krutitskoye Podvorye on Google Maps. Photos by: Kirill Moiseev.

walk around old Moscow

Tags: Moscow city