Which country can boast that its territory has Arctic deserts, tundras, taigas, forest steppes and steppes, semi-deserts and volcanoes? Of course it is Russia.
Unique lakes, Europe's longest rivers and highest peaks, world's highest active volcanoes, sea and ski resorts, healing mineral springs, ancient towns lost in the woods, vast expanses of forests attract tourists from all over the world. In Russia, everyone can find a place and climate to his liking.
Russia's rich cultural heritage and natural diversity explain the country's prominent position among countries with excellent potential for tourism growth. There are 24 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Different regions and ethnic groups in Russia represent a wide variety of traditions.
Main types of tourism in Russia:
Sightseeing or cultural tourism
Russia is rich in sightseeing routes and objects: white-stone Moscow, St. Petersburg, a city museum, the diverse Karelia, the monuments of ancient cities of the Golden Ring, the vast Baikal, Kamchatka volcanoes ...
Moscow is the most visited tourist destination in Russia. The magnificence of the Kremlin, the Red Square, St. Basil's Cathedral, Victory Park, unforgettable walks around Moscow will let the tourists feel the Russian spirit.Visiting the world famous museums and galleries will certainly give you a lot of vivid impressions.
One of the most beautiful and visited cities is St. Petersburg. This is a true open-air museum. Each building has its own history and its special architectural beauty. Here you can visit a vast number of museums: the Hermitage, Peter and Paul Fortress, Curiosities, Russian Museum. A short cruise along the city's channels and rivulets will be a tremendous aesthetic pleasure.
The most popular excursions are "The two capitals of Russia", "The Russian manor", "The Royal Palace," "The Golden Ring," "The Hero Cities", "The temples of Russia", etc.
Besides visiting popular cities. Russia is famous for its literary and thematic tours to places where famous people lived, who glorified the country, such as N.E. Zhukovsky, S.A. Yesenin, F.I. Chaliapin, M.A. Esambaev, R.G. Tsiolkovsky, I.I. Shishkin, M.V. Lomonosov, P.I. Tchaikovsky, A.S. Pushkin, A.N. Tolstoy, A.P. Chekhov and many others.
Adventure and extreme tourism
Most of the natural regions of Russia have archaeological monuments and culture that are not easy to reach, which is of great interest to tourists.
For each person, the word "adventure" has their own meaning For someone, it would be a trip to the Valley of Geysers in Kamchatka, a ski tour to the South Urals or a husky safari in Karelia, for someone else, rafting in the Altai, horseback riding in the Caucasus or jeep tours, another person would enjoy fishing tours in Astrakhan or treasure hunting on the Gulf of Finland.
Adventurers can choose any kind of unusual holiday from traditional yacht cruises to breathtaking supersonic jet trips.
Agritourism
The number of fans of ecological tourism in Russia is growing every year.This kind of tourism returns strength and energy during communion with nature and observing it to people who have grown tired from living in cities. In addition, it stimulates the preservation of the environment, making this kind of tourism beneficial to local residents.
Russia has 41 National Parks and 103 Reserves.In the UNESCO World Heritage list includes five Russian natural objects: Virgin Komi Forests, Lake Baikal, Kamchatka volcanoes, the golden Altai Mountains, the Western Caucasus.
Great opportunities are opened for ecotourism in northwest Russia - in the Karelia, Murmansk and Arkhangelsk regions. Karelia is often called "the lungs of Europe".
In Central Russia, aswell. there are many attractive places for ecotourists, such asthe Central State Forest Biosphere Reserve, located in the west of the Tver region - near the Valdai Hills.
Lake Seliger Popular is a popular ecotourism destination in the central part of Russia. About 30 species of fish inhabit it.
Kaliningrad region is the extreme western part of Russia. There is a wonderful place here: the national park on Curonian Spit. It is a narrow strip of land that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea. Its sand dunes sometimes grow to 60 meters in height.
South Russia has been long loved by Russian ecotourists.The Astrakhan State Biosphere Reserve protects about 20 species of rare and endangered plants.
The natural wealth of the North Caucasus is also unique. It is Russia's highest mountain range with five peaks above five thousand meters above sea level. The most famous of them are Mount Elbrus and Mount Kazbek.There are four reserves and two national parks that preserve for our descendants hundreds of sky-blue glacial lakes and mountain rivers with tinkling waterfalls, flowering alpine meadows, picturesque gorges.
Lake Baikal is Siberia's main tourism center, famous for its fantastic landscapes, amazing even for ecotourists.Here coexist taiga and semi-desert, tundra and stone steppe.
The Far East - Primorsky and Khabarovsk Krai - has virgin forests, scenic rivers and mountain spurs, wild animals and rare plants. It's the only place to find relict yew and Amur velvet, the precious ginseng root and Aralia, the only place where northern conifers meet southern vines, and where the lax (Siberian salmon) reigns in the depths of the Siberian taiga rivers. The Sikhote-Alin Nature Biosphere Reserve is home to the world-famous Siberian tiger.
Lots of wonderful places and wonderful encounters with nature awaits tourists on the island of Sakhalin. In the Kuril Islands you can see Tyatya, the most beautiful volcano in the world, the beautiful Boiling Lake and Cold Lake, the active Mendeleev volcano and hot springs whose temperature reaches 90 degrees.
Kamchatka attracts tourists from around the world. Here you can see 28 active volcanoes, hot and cold mineral springs. In this region people always visit the Valley of geysers, one of the few in the world.
Pilgrimage tourism
The direction in which most pilgrims sent it in the first place, North-West Russia and the Centre, the most developed part of the country, which was in the Middle Ages, during the rise of Christianity and its development in Russia. A lot of pilgrims on a journey along the Golden Ring, Zadonsk (Lipetsk region), Kursk and Diveevo (Nizhny Novgorod region) and, of course, in the North-West region.
North West - is not only Karelia (Balaam and Kizhi) and Arkhangelsk (Solovki) and Vologda land, Pskov and Novgorod.
Most of the cities included in the Golden Ring of Russia, is inextricably linked to the history of Orthodoxy in Russia: they concentrate many shrines, and almost every temple and monastery is a place of pilgrimage.j Most visited cities - Alexandria, Sergiev Posad, Pereslavl, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Tutaev, Uglich, Kostroma, Suzdal and Vladimir.
Monasteries of Moscow: Danilov, Don, Zachatievsky, Novospasskiy, Holy Virgin, Novodevichy.Shrine, located in Moscow: relics of Righteous Alexis of Moscow (Mechev) in the church of St. Nicholas on Maroseika Prostration "Kiya cross" with more than 300 relics of saints in the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh.
Monasteries and shrines of the Moscow region: Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Serpukhov Vysotsky The Virgin with the miraculous icon of the Mother of God "The Inexhaustible Cup" Sawin Storozhevsky Zvenigorod with relics of St. Sava Storozhevsky, Joseph of Volokolamsk, Resurrection in the New Jerusalem with a portion of the relics of Martyr Tatiana.
Monasteries of Saint Petersburg and - Holy Trinity Alexander Nevsky Lavra, which are the relics of Alexander Nevsky, of St. John, in which the relics of John of Kronstadt.Relics: the hallows of St. Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg in the chapel of St. Xenia of Petersburg in the Smolensk cemetery, the miraculous icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow with coins" in the temple in honor of the icon on Zelenetsky farmstead, the miraculous icon of the Mother of God "The Omen" of Tsarskoye Selo in the academic church of St. Petersburg Theological Academy.
Monasteries and shrines of other regions of Russia:
Altay region: Kazan Mother of God (Korobeynikovsky) monastery with the miraculous icon of Our Lady of Sorrows.
Kaluga region: Optina Hermitage, St. Paphnutius Borovsky Monastery, St. Tikhon Holy Assumption Hermitage.
Kostroma region: Holy Trinity Makarievo-Unzhensky Monastery.
Lipetsk region: Zadonskiy Virgin Nativity Monastery.
Nizhny Novgorod region: Seraphim Diveevsky monastery.
Beach and health tourism
Despite the fact that Russia is considered to be one of the countries with the coldest climate, its territory includes the area with mild maritime climate (Kaliningrad region, Taman), with semi-arid Mediterranean climate (the stretch of coast from Anapa to Tuapse), with humid subtropical climate (Sochi) and temperate monsoon climate (Primorye), where summer resort areas are organized.
The resorts of the Krasnodar Territory and the Baltic Sea coast are popular for family vacations. On the Baltic coast in the Kaliningrad region are known such resort towns as Zelenogradsk and Svetlahorsk. They are known for their beautiful seaside promenade, city promenade with a long beach, resorts, fascinating history, pre-war German buildings, well-groomed parks, the pine forest.
Krasnodar region is the warmest region of Russia. From the north-west and south-west it is washed by the Azov and Black seas. The most popular seaside resorts are Anapa, Tuapse, Sochi.
Also there is a number of resorts in the Caucasian Mineral Waters group (Mineral Waters, Pyatigorsk, Zheleznovodsk, Essentuki, Kislovodsk), and ski resorts (Krasnaya Polyana, Arhiz, Elbrus, Dombay, Abzakovo).
Cruises
In Russia there are cruises along the large rivers - the Volga, the Lena, the Yenisei.
It is a fascinating and at the same time varied tour that allows to get a lot of impressions, as well as rest from the city noise and bustle. During the river cruise, the travelers will be able to see ancient monuments, visit Russian ancestral villages and towns, admire diverse landscapes from the boat - from the northern boreal forest to the southern steppes.
The most popular cruises:
- Weekend cruises Moscow-Tver-Moscow, Moscow-Uglich-Moscow, Moscow-Myshkin-Moscow, Moscow-Konstantinovo-Moscow.
- Trip Moscow-St. Petersburg-Moscow.The trip can take 6 days to 2 weeks with a visit to the famous islands of Valaam and Kizhi.
- River cruises Moscow-Perm-Moscow.Duration: 16 days. A unique opportunity to see the Urals and the Kama.
- Long cruises along the Volga - from St. Petersburg to Rostov-on-Don, from Moscow to Astrakhan and back.
Business tourism
Three terms are used for talking about travel industry with business purposes: business travel, meeting industry and MICE industry.
Business tourism is gaining ground in the Russian travel market, each year attracting more corporate clients. Individual corporate tours, exclusive business tour, designed to make the trip as efficient and profitable - this is all about corporate tourism, an essential element of any successful company.
Services provided in the business tourism: hotel reservations, organization of seminars, conferences, business trips, corporate events, organization of environmental and scientific tours, team building, incentive tours, etc.