About Russia
Russia is known as the largest country in the world, comprised of 6,592,800 square miles. Russia is so large that it spans 9 time zones. It has 101 nature reserves, 41 national parks and thousands of inland bodies of water and rivers. Russia provides one of the largest resources of surface water in the world and contains almost a quarter of the liquid fresh water in all of the world.
The agriculture in Russia has been steadily growing over past years. Once it was a grain importer and today it is the 3rd largest grain exporter, just behind EU and the US. Also the production of meat in Russia has increased significantly over the last 5 or 6 years. These increase has contributed to Russia’s expanding economy. Another interesting fact is that, based on per capita basis, Russia has more hospitals, healthcare workers and physicians than anywhere else in the world.
Historical Activities in Russia
Russia offers some of the world’s most historical sights for history buffs looking to experience some of the heritage sights of the world.
- Moscow
Moscow houses some of the most important historical events in the country since the thirteenth century. The Kremlin is one of those sites. The Kremlin was built between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries and was the home of the Great Prince. At this site, on the Red Square, lies St. Basil’s Basilica – one of the most gorgeous Russian monuments. Another site is the Novodevichy Convent which is linked to the Kremlin and was used by the women of family of the Tsar and aristocracy. It is rich with artefacts and paintings as well of Russian architecture.
- Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg has been called the “Venice of the North” as it has a plethora of bridges and canals, which were built around the early 1700s under Peter the Great. The Russian architecture shows its heritage in the sites such as the Winter Palace, the Hermitage, the Marble Palace and the Admiralty.
- Novgorod
Novgorod was Russia’s first capital in the nineth century. It was a center for Orthodox spirituality as it is surrounded by monasteries and churches. Novgorod houses medieval monuments that demonstrates cultural creativity and remarkable architecture throughout the city.
Historical Vacation Packages in Russia
All Russia Tours offers short sightseeing tours, spend a day in the top historical cities in Russia such as Saint Petersburg and Moscow, among other tours that you can customize to suit your wants. Rivers and canals tours through major cities and even nighttime tours as the cities will be very different at night as opposed to during the day. “Be Our Guest” tour is a fantastic 9 day tour that will hit all highlights in 3 of Russia’s major historical cities.
Hop on-hop off tours such as City Sightseeing Hop-on Hop-off are a great alternative to arrange, tour-guided tours. You can pick and choose which sights you would like to see.
Another option for seeing Russia is on a cruise and you can sail through all the highlights of the country. Do some research on the cruise line you are going on as some cruise lines offer a different kind of excursion that allows visitors to become “cosmonauts” for a day. This unique experience takes place in Moscow at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. This is a great excursion for history buffs as the base was a secret training base during the cold war.
How much will Russia cost?
Russia’s major cities, such as Moscow and Saint Petersburg are not cheap places to visit. Like many countries, once you get away from the major tourist sights, it can start to get more reasonably-priced. Russia isn’t as expensive as some international destinations such as the UK but prices are comparable to that of New York.
For food and drink, be sure to check the prices on the menu before choosing a restaurant to eat at. There are nice restaurants that cater more to the locals than tourists and if you find one of these, the prices will be much cheaper. For accommodations, consider renting an apartment by the day instead of staying at expensive hotels. Transportation is fairly reasonable, especially if you can haggle in Russian. But keep in mind there is also the metro that is quite affordable.