The largest country on the Earth, Russia stretches from the Eastern Europe borders to the Pacific Ocean. It's impossible to learn such a big country in one single trip, but there are some points on the Russian map you surely shouldn't miss when visiting this country.At first, of course, its capital ? Moscow.

With its population over 10 millions, Moscow is one of the largest metropolises on the planet and it's growing even bigger. A city with an ancient history, having celebrated its 850th anniversary not so long ago, Moscow keeps a lot of testimonies of the Russian historical events. In the centre of the capital there is the famous Red Square with the Kremlin, which has been destroyed and rebuilt several times during the centuries of its existence. Red Square is a symbol of Moscow and a lot of the important events were happened here. Red Square also houses mausoleum where one the Russian leaders ? Lenin ? is buried.

Now the square has become not only a tourist attraction but also the popular ground for the concerts.Nearby the Red Square there is located the building of the Russian Parliament ? Duma and the world-famous Bolshoy Theatre. Moscow also has a lot of parks where you can enjoy plesant walks. Izmailovo, Colomenskoe, Tzaritzino, Sokolniki ? are just some of them.

Some decades ago Moscow was a typical Soviet city where was impossible to buy something. Now shopping is not a problem in Moscow, here you can find the boutiques of the leading designers, but usually prices are higher than in Europe.The other Russian city, which attracts a lot of tourists and really worth visiting ? is its former capital Saint Petersburg. The city, which was built in 1703 on the marsh, for more than two centuries was the empire capital. Now it's the second largest city in Russia and is considered to be its cultural capital.

Due to the huge amount of the channels Saint Petersburg received the nickname of the "Northern Venice". It's beautiful city with a lot of architectural monuments ad the city centre there the city government is saving the historic buildings so, that the centre looks like in XIXth century. The best time to visit this city is June ? a period of the so-called white nights when the sun never sets down.The other popular tourist attractions in Russia lay within the "Golden Ring". It's a group of the ancient cities famous for its churches, architecture and the glorious history. They are situated not far from each other and usually are show during one tour lasting for approximately 4-6 days.

Vladimir, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Tver are just some of them. Another tour, allowing to know Russia better is a cruise along Volga. There is possibility to visit ancient Russian cities such as Samara, Kazan, Saratov, Nizhniy Novgorod, Volgograd and other cities on the Volga banks. Cruise can start from Moscow or Petersburg and usually takes about 20 days.

All the above-mentioned destinations lay in the European part of Russia, but its Asian part also has what to show. For example, the lake Baikal is still considered to be the clearest lake on the earth. Siberia and the Far East have less cultural attractions than the European part, but the nature there is really magnificent and unique. So, these places are perfect for eco-tourism.

All this is just a short description of what is worth seeing in Russia, but the list is not complete, so come there and make your own discoveries!.

By: Constance Blair