Sakhalin Island
This extraordinary new addition to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk's otherwise ho-hum architectural ensemble is a staggeringly impressive golden-domed cathedral, which…
Must-see attractions in Russian Far East
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Zarya Centre for Contemporary Art
Vladivostok
The full renovation and repurposing of a former clothing factory into a giant creative complex containing offices, studios, cafes and work spaces is one…
Yakutsk
At Permafrost Kingdom, two neon-lit tunnels burrowed into a permanently frozen hill have been filled with dozens of fabulous, never-melting ice sculptures…
Vladivostok
A fully militarised zone for most of the past 150 years, this big island just offshore has been reinvented as a business and academic centre and is home…
Vladivostok
This massive new development on Russky Island is one of Vladivostok's planned key attractions and opened with great fanfare in 2016. It's a vast space in…
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Russian Far East
Tynda’s pride and joy has four rooms of BAM relics and photos – sadly all devoid of English labelling – as well as exhibits on native Evenki culture, WWII…
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Land of the Leopard National Park
Russian Far East
Created in 2012 by the merger of several smaller reserves, this vast tract of forest wilderness is still slowly developing as a tourist destination, but…
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Museum of Sakhalin Island: A Book by AP Chekhov
Sakhalin Island
Based on Chekhov’s seminal account of his few months working as a doctor on Sakhalin in the 1890s, this museum provides insight not only into life on…
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Yakutsk
This park, on the site of the original hunting settlement that later became Yakutsk, contains a series of excellently preserved historic buildings that…
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Yakutsk
This popular zoo is some distance from Yakutsk, but it's well worth the trouble of getting out here if you're interested in the fascinatingly hardy fauna…
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Yakutsk Regional History Museum
Yakutsk
A good place to delve deeper into Sakha culture, the Regional History Museum contains local minerals, information on the region’s first Russian settlers…
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Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
Housed in an attractive half-timbered building overlooking the bay, this museum features an imaginative mix of relics and murals that outline Kamchatka’s…
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Vladivostok
This recently redone museum dates from 1890 and offers three floors of galleries, although there's little in the way of English labelling. Exhibits delve…
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Yakutsk
If time is limited, don't miss this excellent museum, with Sakha-themed exhibits covering local craftmaking traditions (mammoth tusk carvings, reindeer…
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Vladivostok
Vladivostok was building a massive new cathedral on its central square at the time of writing, and it's set to be one of the city's most recognisable…
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Russian Far East
Run by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve is a unique slice of the Primorsky region and a vital remaining habitat for…
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Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
This new museum was just about to open during our last visit to Kamchatka, and a quick peek inside as they were putting up the display revealed an…
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Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
Petropavlovsk's largest and most impressive church is this golden-domed stunner, which sits on an outcrop from where it is visible from all over the city…
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Gaivoron Biological Research Centre
Russian Far East
The Far East is all about its Amur tigers, and you can see a couple here at the Russian Academy of Sciences biological research reserve, run by Dr Victor…
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Russian Far East
This iconic and rather aggressive looking statue is Tynda's most obvious sight. It's dedicated to the massive human effort (both voluntary and not) needed…
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Vladivostok
If you’re a bit of a car (or Soviet) nerd, the Antique Automobile Museum is an absolute classic. A room full of Sovietmobiles (motorcycles too) from the…
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Vladivostok
Of Vladivostok's multiple, numbered defensive forts, No 7 (14km north of the centre) gets our vote. It has 1.5km of tunnels, pretty much untouched since…
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Vladivostok
This gorgeous tsarist-era building in the centre of Vladivostok is the latest big cultural institution to open a Far Eastern campus. Once complete, the…
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Russian Far East
This wonderful mosaic devoted to nauka (science) can be seen at the Polytechnical Institute, a block east of Hotel Voskhod.
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Yakutsk
This mid-19th-century church with gorgeous golden domes in Yakutsk's old town is the city's most attractive.
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Sakhalin Island
The pagoda-roofed Sakhalin Regional Museum has a strong exhibit (sadly in Russian only) exploring the Japanese/Soviet overlap of the city’s history,…
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Vladivostok
Vladivostok’s well-oiled funicular railway makes a fun 60-second ride up a 100m hill every few minutes (unless the old girl is experiencing one of her…
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Russian Far East
Housed in a former tsarist-era trading house and Soviet-era HQ for the Communist Youth League (Komsomol), this impressive museum has 26 halls containing…
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Archaeology & Ethnography Museum
Yakutsk
These two separately run museums are in the same building; sadly, neither enjoys the luxury of signage in English. On the bottom three floors you'll find…
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Vladivostok
Perched near the waterfront, the S-56 submarine is worth a look. The first half is a ho-hum exhibit of badges and photos of men with badges (all in…
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Yakutsk
Khomus (Jew’s harps) play a big part in Sakha culture. Concerts occur year-round, when performers imitate natural sounds such as a horse neighing. The…
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Russian Far East
A five-minute walk west from the centre on ul Lenina is a complex containing Birobidzhan’s Jewish culture centre, Freud, and a synagogue with a small…
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Vladivostok
Just beyond Russky Island, Popov Island is better regarded for its beaches and filled with many guesthouses and dachas. You’ll probably need to stay…
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Treasury of the Sakha Republic
Yakutsk
Pay a visit to this unique museum for a look at Yakutia's rich mineral wealth combined with fine craft traditions. You'll see exquisite carvings in…
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Municipal Museum of Regional Studies
Russian Far East
This proud town museum has several rooms of photos and artefacts showing how Komsomolsk rose from a pioneer camp in 1932 to an industrial Soviet city. It…
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Yakutsk
True permafrost nerds might check out the Permafrost Institute, about 2km west of the city centre. It has a lab that stays a constant –6°C, but high…
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Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
Originally built in 1857 to commemorate the victory over the British and the French in the Battle of Petropavlovsk, this wooden chapel was destroyed in…
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Yakutsk
Despite its rather exciting-sounding name, this one-room museum is rather a let-down due to its total lack of signage in English. On the plus side, there…
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Vladivostok
This Soviet battery, now a military museum, was built in 1933–34 and housed 75 soldiers at its peak. Underground you can explore the guts of the battery,…
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Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
Yes, there are beaches in Kamchatka too, and this one has gorgeous views of the bay and the distant snow-covered mountains, though it's unlikely you'll…
![Western Siberian Eagle Owl [Bubo Bubo Sibericus] in full flight](https://lp-cms-production.imgix.net/2019-06/531770715_high.jpg?fit=crop&w=360&ar=1%3A1&auto=format&q=75)
