Boutique Hotels in Russia

Most first trips to Russia are built around Moscow and St Petersburg, and with good reason — they are among the great cities of Europe and a study in contrasts. Moscow is the older, more Russian and more monumental: the Kremlin and Red Square, St Basil's, the palace-like metro, the Bolshoi and the Tretyakov, a capital that wears a thousand years of power openly. It is grand, fast and a little overwhelming, with quieter merchant quarters tucked between the landmarks for those who look.

St Petersburg, three hundred miles north-west and a few hours by fast train, is its opposite — the planned imperial capital Peter the Great raised on the marshes to face Europe, a city of canals, pastel palaces and the vast Hermitage, one of the world's greatest museums. Lighter, more European and more elegant than Moscow, it comes into its own during the midsummer White Nights, when the sun barely sets. Between them the two cities hold most of what draws visitors to Russia.

Russia repays those who go further, though distance quickly becomes the defining factor. The Golden Ring, a loop of ancient towns north-east of Moscow — Suzdal, Vladimir, Sergiev Posad among them — holds the onion-domed churches, kremlins and monasteries of old Muscovy within day-trip or short-tour reach of the capital. The Volga, Europe's longest river, carries cruises past historic river cities. And the Trans-Siberian Railway, the longest in the world, runs from Moscow across the Urals and Siberia to the Pacific, through Lake Baikal country — one of the world's great train journeys, and for many the real reason to come.

These are large undertakings. Even the Golden Ring is a proper excursion rather than an afternoon, and anything beyond the western cities means serious distances, internal flights or long rail legs, and a good deal of planning. The west is where the art, the history and the infrastructure are concentrated; the rest is for the time-rich and the determined.

The classic season is late spring to early autumn, roughly May to September: warm, long-lit days, the parks and waterfronts in use, and St Petersburg's White Nights around midsummer. Winter is long, dark and bitterly cold, but it is also the Russia of snow-domed churches, the ballet season and warm interiors — spectacular for those prepared for the temperatures and short days.

A frank practical note is essential here. Travel to Russia has become considerably harder for visitors from much of Europe, the UK and North America: direct flights from those regions are largely suspended, so journeys route via third countries; visas are required and the process can be involved; and Western credit and debit cards do not currently work in Russia, so spending money must be arranged in advance. Government travel advice for many Western countries currently counsels against non-essential travel. Anyone considering a trip should check their own government's current guidance and entry requirements carefully before making any plans. None of this changes what Russia holds; it changes considerably how a visit must be approached.