©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd Russia Kaliningrad Region St Petersburg p263 p151 Russian Far ^#Northern European East p512 Moscow Russia p278 p52_ # Golden Eastern The Urals Western Ring p126 Siberia p450 European p389 Western Russia p226 Volga Siberia p410 Region Russian p318 Caucasus p353 THIS EDITION WRITTEN AND RESEARCHED BY Simon Richmond, Marc Bennetts, Greg Bloom, Marc Di Duca, Anthony Haywood, Anna Kaminski, Tom Masters, Leonid Ragozin, Tamara Sheward, Regis St Louis, Mara Vorhees PLAN YOUR TRIP ON THE ROAD Welcome to Russia . .. 6 MOSCOW . 52 Pereslavl-Zalessky . 147 Russia Map . 8 Around Moscow . 122 Sergiev Posad . 148 Russia’s Top 20 . .. 10 Country Estates . 122 ST PETERSBURG . 151 Need to Know . 20 Istra . 124 Borodino . 124 Around First Time Russia . 22 St Petersburg . 209 Getting Your Visa . 24 Peterhof . 210 GOLDEN RING . 126 If You Like… . 27 Oranienbaum . 213 Vladimir . 127 Strelna & Around . 214 Month by Month . 30 Suzdal . 131 Pushkin Itineraries . 33 Plyos . 136 (Tsarskoe Selo) . 215 Great Train Journeys . 37 Kostroma . 136 Pavlovsk . 217 Russian Adventures . 41 Yarosavl . 141 Gatchina . 218 Regions at a Glance . .. 47 Rostov-Veliky . 145 Kronshtadt . 219 PETE SEAWARD/LONELY PLANET © PLANET SEAWARD/LONELY PETE © IMAGES RENC/GETTY OLIVIER GUM DEPARTMENT STORE P114 PETE SEAWARD/LONELY PLANET © PLANET SEAWARD/LONELY PETE GRAND PALACE, PETERHOF P211 Contents Leningrad Region . 220 North & West of Apatity . 297 Vyborg . 220 Moscow . 240 Kirovsk . 298 Staraya Ladoga . 223 Smolensk . 240 Monchegorsk . 300 Tikhvin . 224 Tver . 245 Lovozero . 301 Ostashkov Murmansk . 302 WESTERN & Lake Seliger . 248 Vologda & Around . 309 EUROPEAN Veliky Novgorod . 249 Vologda . 309 RUSSIA . 226 Staraya Russa . 255 Totma . 314 South of Moscow . 227 Pskov . 256 Kargopol . 315 Tula . 227 Stary Izborsk . 261 Around Kargopol . 317 Yasnaya Polyana . 231 Pechory . 262 Yelets . 232 Kenozero National Park . 317 Voronezh . 234 KALININGRAD Oryol . 236 REGION . 263 VOLGA REGION . 318 Kaliningrad . 265 Svetlogorsk . 273 Nizhny Novgorod Region . 320 Yantarny . 275 Nizhny Novgorod . 320 Zelenogradsk . 276 Gorodets . 326 Kurshskaya Kosa . 276 Republic of Tatarstan . 326 NORTHERN EUROPEAN Kazan . 326 RUSSIA . 278 Sviyazhsk . 333 Republic of Karelia . 280 Ulyanovsk & Samara Regions . 333 Petrozavodsk . 280 Ulyanovsk . 333 Around Petrozavodsk . 284 Samara . 335 Kizhi . 284 Samara Bend . 339 Northern Lake Ladoga . 286 Shiryaevo . 339 Sortavala . 286 Saratov Valaam . 286 & Volgograd Regions . .. 340 White Sea . 287 Saratov . 340 Kem Volgograd . 341 & Rabocheostrovsk . 287 Astrakhan Region . .. 345 Solovetsky Islands . 288 Astrakhan . 345 Arkhangelsk . 292 Volga Delta . 348 Malye Karely . 297 Republic of Kola Peninsula . 297 Kalmykia . 349 LAKE BAIKAL, SIBERIA Elista . 349 P478 Central Kola . 297 ON THE ROAD RUSSIAN CAUCASUS . 353 © IMAGES HARVEY/GETTY LEE TRAVEL/PHILIP CULTURA Kuban Steppe . 356 Rostov-on-Don . 356 Around Rostov . 358 Starocherkassk . .358 Krasnodar . 359 Black Sea Coast . 361 Sochi . 361 Around Sochi . 367 Zelenaya Roscha . 367 Agura Valley . 367 Mt Fisht . 368 Adler . 368 Krasnaya Polyana . .. 369 Mineral Water Spas . 372 Mineralnye Vody . 372 Pyatigorsk . 373 Kislovodsk . 376 Central Caucasus . 378 Dombay & Teberda . 378 Arkhyz . 382 Nalchik . 383 Elbrus Area . 384 BUSKER, TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY P38 THE URALS . 389 Republic of Tobolsk . 415 Bashkortostan & Perm Territory . 392 Omsk . 418 Chelyabinsk Region . 404 Perm . 392 Novosibirsk . 419 Ufa . 404 Around Perm . .. 396 Tomsk . .. 425 Ufa to Chelyabinsk . 407 Khokhlovka . 396 Novokuznetsk . 430 Zyuratkul Kungur . 396 National Park . 407 Sheregesh . 431 Sverdlovsk Region . 397 Taganay Altai . 433 Yekaterinburg . 397 National Park . 408 Barnaul . .433 Around Yekaterinburg . 403 Chelyabinsk . 408 Biysk . 437 Ganina Yama . 403 Gorno-Altaisk . 438 Nevyansk & Around . 403 WESTERN Around Nizhnyaya Sinyachikha SIBERIA . 410 Gorno-Altaisk . 440 & Around . 404 Tyumen . 412 Aya . 440 Contents UNDERSTAND Manzherok . 441 South Baikal Russia Today . 562 & the Tunka Valley . 493 Lake Teletskoe History . 565 & Artybash . 442 Eastern Baikal . 496 The Russian People . 597 Chemal . 443 Southern Buryatiya Onguday . 446 & Zabaikalsky Religion . 603 Territory . 497 Aktash . 446 Performing Arts Ulan-Ude . 498 & Music . 606 Kosh-Agach . 447 Around Ulan-Ude . 505 Literature & Cinema . 611 Ust-Koksa, Tyungur & Mt Belukha . 448 Kyakhta . 506 Architecture Chita . 507 & Visual Art . 617 EASTERN Around Chita . 510 Food & Drink . 623 SIBERIA . 450 Landscape & Wildlife . .. 631 Khakassia Republic RUSSIAN & Southern FAR EAST . 512 Krasnoyarsk Eastern SURVIVAL Territory . 453 Trans-Siberian . 514 GUIDE Abakan . 453 Blagoveshchensk . 514 Around Abakan . 456 Birobidzhan . 516 Directory A–Z . 638 Usinsky Trakt . 457 Khabarovsk . 518 Transport . 649 Tuva . 458 Vladivostok . 524 Language . 664 Kyzyl . 460 Eastern BAM . 534 Around Kyzyl . .. 463 Tynda . 534 Index . 675 From Kyzyl to Erzin . 464 Komsomolsk- Map Legend . 694 Western Tuva . .. 464 na-Amure . 535 Krasnoyarsk Region . 466 Verkhnyaya Ekon . 538 Krasnoyarsk . 466 Sakha Republic . 538 Divnogorsk . 472 Yakutsk . 538 Western BAM . 473 Around Yakutsk . 545 Sakhalin Island . 545 Tayshet . 473 SPECIAL Bratsk . .. 473 Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk . 546 FEATURES Kholmsk . .. 550 Severobaikalsk . 474 Getting Your Visa . 24 Around Kamchatka . 550 Great Train Severobaikalsk . 477 Petropavlovsk- Journeys . 37 Lake Baikal . 478 Kamchatsky . 551 Russian Adventures . .. 41 Irkutsk . 479 Around Petropavlovsk- Kamchatsky . 558 Kremlin Listvyanka . 488 3D Illustration . 58 Port Baikal . 491 Esso . 559 Hermitage Bolshie Koty . 491 3D Illustration . 156 Olkhon Island . 492 ©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd 33 Itineraries St Petersburg •# •# Peterhof •# É Tsarskoe Selo É Veliky •# Novgorod É É Sergiev Posad •# •# Suzdal É É •# Vladimir É É É BELARUS É MOSCOW #_ 2 WEEKS Russian Capitals In Moscow don’t miss the historic Kremlin, glorious Red Square, classic Tretyakov Gal- lery, a performance at the Bolshoi Theatre, exciting contemporary-arts scene and exten- sive metro system with stations that are a sight in themselves. Stretch your legs in the revamped Gorky Park and along the embankments of the Moscow River. From Moscow it’s easy to make trips to the historic Golden Ring towns of Sergiev Posad, Suzdal and Vladimir, where you will be rewarded with a serene slice of rural Russian life. Practically a museum of architecture, the historic heart of St Petersburg offers the incomparable Hermitage and Russian Museum, as well as cruising the city’s rivers and canals. Enjoy some of Russia’s top restaurants and bars, and attend first-rate perfor- mances at the Mariinsky and Mikhailovsky Theatres. St Petersburg is ringed by grand palaces set in beautifully landscaped grounds, such as Peterhof and Tsarskoe Selo. Between the two big cities, tourist-friendly Veliky Novgorod deserves a couple of days too. It’s home to an impressive riverside kremlin, ancient churches and a wonderful open-air museum of wooden architecture. 34 FINLAND PLAN YOUR TRIP •# St Petersburg £# MOSCOW Ya roslavl •# #_ •#‚ Suzdal É Vladimir •# É £# Perm £# •#É •# Kungur É •# •#É Tomsk É Yekaterinburg É £# IT £# É Olkhon Lake •# •# Baikal Khabarovsk I É É Island NERAR •# Krasnoyarsk £# f# £# •# Irkutsk•# •# Ulan-Ude Vladivostok •# KAZAKHSTAN Ivolginsk I ES Datsan CHINA MONGOLIA 3–4 WEEKS Trans-Siberian Odyssey The classic Russian adventure is to travel the Trans-Siberian Railway, an engineering won- der that spans and holds together the world’s largest country. So you can finish up with a grand party in either Moscow or, better yet, St Petersburg, go against the general flow by commencing your journey at Vladivostok. Situated on a stunningly attractive natural harbour, the Pacific-coast port was spruced up for its hosting of the 2012 APEC summit. An overnight journey west is Khabarovsk, a lively city with a lingering tsarist-era charm located on the banks of the Amur River. Two more days down the line hop off the train at Ulan-Ude, the appealing capital of Buryatiya where Russian, Soviet and Mongolian cultures coexist; from here you can venture into the steppes to visit Russia’s principal Buddhist monastery, Ivolginsk Datsan. The railway then skirts around the southern shores of magnificent Lake Baikal. Al- low at least three days (preferably longer) to soak up the charms of this beautiful lake, basing yourself on beguiling Olkhon Island; also check out historic Irkutsk on the way to the lake or back. Flush with oil wealth, happening Krasnoyarsk, on the Yenisey River, affords the op- portunity for scenic cruises along one of Siberia’s most pleasant waterways. Detour slight- ly from the main Trans-Sib line to Tomsk, the ‘cultural capital of Siberia’, to hang with its lively student population and admire the city’s treasure trove of wooden architecture. Crossing the Urals into European Russia, spend a day or so in Yekaterinburg, a historic, bustling city well stocked with interesting museums and sites connected to the murder of the last tsar and his family. Perm is also doing an excellent job of reinvent- ing itself as a cultural centre; use it as a base from which to make trips to an ice cave at Kungur and the Gulag labour camp Perm-36, preserved as a museum. Finally, fortify yourself for the bustle of Moscow or St Petersburg by taking a reviv- ing break in the Golden Ring towns of Yaroslavl or Vladimir, which is also the access point for the idyllic village of Suzdal: all are stacked with beautiful, old, onion-domed