Moscow, on the Moskva River in western Russia, is the nation’s cosmopolitan capital. In its historic core is the Kremlin, a fortified complex that’s home to the president and tsarist treasures in the Armoury. Outside its walls is Red Square, the country’s symbolic center and site of Lenin’s Mausoleum, State Historical Museum and St. Basil’s Cathedral, known for its colorful, patterned, onion-shaped domes.
Area: 970 mi²
Local time: Wednesday 8:15 PM (7 hrs ahead of EST)
Weather: 39°F (4°C), Wind W at 13 mph (21 km/h), 87% Humidity
Population: 11.92 million (2012) UNdata
Hotels: 3-star averaging $50, 5-star averaging $170.
Getting there: 13 h 54 min flight, around $840.
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St. Petersburg is a Russian port city on the Baltic Sea. Founded in 1703 by Peter the Great, it was the imperial capital for 2 centuries, and it remains the country’s cultural center, with venues like the hypermodern Mariinsky Theatre hosting opera and ballet, and the Russian Museum showcasing Russian art, from Orthodox icon paintings to abstract works by Kandinsky.
Weather: 34°F (1°C), Wind NW at 22 mph (35 km/h), 65% Humidity
Local time: Tuesday 7:15 PM
Hotels: 3-star averaging $40, 5-star averaging $140.
Getting there: 15 h 24 min flight, around $690.
Population: 4.991 million (2012)
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Lake Baikal is an ancient, massive lake in the mountainous Russian region of Siberia, north of the Mongolian border. Considered the deepest lake in the world, it’s circled by a network of hiking paths called the Great Baikal Trail. The village of Listvyanka, on its western shoreline, is a popular starting point for summertime wildlife-spotting tours, plus wintertime ice-skating and dog sledding.
Local Time: 1:15am Thursday (12 hrs ahead of EST)
Weather: 40°F and sunny
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Chelyabinsk is a city and the administrative center of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located in the northeast of the oblast, 210 kilometers south of Yekaterinburg, just to the east of the Ural Mountains
Founded: 1736
Area: 323.2 mi²
Local time: Wednesday 10:15 PM (9 hrs ahead of EST)
Weather: 32°F (0°C), Wind S at 7 mph (11 km/h), 100% Humidity
Population: 1.15 million (2012) UNdata
Hotels: 3-star averaging $60, 5-star averaging $90.
Getting there: 18 h 9 min flight, around $1,365.
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Siberia is a vast Russian province encompassing most of Northern Asia, with terrain spanning tundra, coniferous forest and mountain ranges including the Ural, Altai and Verkhoyansk. Lake Baikal, in its south, is the world’s deepest lake, circled by a network of hiking paths called the Great Baikal Trail. The Trans-Siberian Railway passes Baikal on its routes between Moscow and the Sea of Japan.
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CLICK HERE FOR 34 FACTS ABOUT RUSSIA
