Contents
The lion’s share of foreigners do not consider Russia as a place to visit, but in vain. The country is clearly the leader in the wonders of nature, does not lag behind most European countries in terms of architectural monuments, and is the undisputed leader in terms of the number of cultural heritage sites. We offer to consider the tourist rating of Russian cities and personally appreciate the wealth of one of the greatest empires.
10 Barentsburg
This city can be put both in first and last place in the ranking of the leading tourist cities in Russia, depending on the personal preferences of each. Barentsburg offers extreme tourism for high income people. Groups are delivered by icebreakers, including the legendary Yamal, or by air via Norway (no visa required). This territory belongs to both Russia and Norway, and the rest of the world.
Barentsburg is a city of miners, the fruit of the ambitions of the communist party. Here is the northernmost bust of V. I. Lenin in the world. Many buildings are decorated with socialist mosaics. What is noteworthy: there is a school, a clinic, a shop, a post office, and the Internet. People never get ARVI – viruses and microbes do not survive here due to low temperatures.
Prices are expensive. Barentsburg Hotel – a Soviet-style hotel with a decent renovation inside, offers double rooms from $ 130 / night. The price for a weekly tour (hotel, snowmobiles, meals, excursions) starts from 1,5 thousand US dollars per person, this price does not include flights to/from Norway.
9. Khuzhir
Here you can meet shamans with iPhones, rocks, Baikal omul, the Museum of Local Lore. N. M. Revyakina. The main thing is the unique landscape and nature. Special energy. Tourists disembark both on foot and by private transport from ferries that arrive here with enviable regularity. Olkhon is the place where a person is best separated from the rapid flow of city life, stopping to comprehend and contemplate life. There is no placer of Michelin restaurants, almost no roads, no noise, little illumination. There are many sincere people, nature, air and, most importantly, freedom.
There are three hotels in the vicinity of Khuzhir: the branded Baikal View with a swimming pool – from 5 thousand rubles, the Daryan’s Estate with a bathhouse – from 1,5 thousand, and the Olkhon camping hotel with a shower that is open until 22:00 – from 3 thousand. ATV rental – 1 thousand rubles per hour. Shaman services – from 500 rubles to infinity. Khuzhir is the most expensive city, popular among foreign tourists.
8. Vladivostok
Vladivostok does not have a lot of attractions, there are no World Heritage Sites. But. This is the final and / or initial station of the Trans-Siberian Railway – a particularly popular tourist round of Russia among foreigners.
Separately, the city deserves to be in the ranking of the most popular tourist destinations in Russia. It is worth visiting here: Popov Island – a unique untouched corner of nature with a marvelous landscape, the Golden Horn Bridge, a seaside safari park – a place where you can meet the rarest Amur tigers. Separate attention should be focused on the developed restaurant culture, Far Eastern cuisine, which has no analogues. Vladivostok is easy to recognize by the abundance of Japanese cars on the streets. This is the place to be for divers. A large number of underwater fauna and marine attractions are concentrated here.
Hostels – from 400 rubles / night. Hotels – from 2,5 thousand. Not the cheapest city in Russia.
7. Nizhny Novgorod
One of the most important cultural and economic cities in Russia, where tourists from all over the world flock, deserving the seventh place in the ranking. Nizhny Novgorod was founded by the Grand Duke of Vladimir, Yuri Vsevolodovich, in 1221. And three hundred years later, a stone Kremlin was built, which no one took for 500 years. Nizhny Novgorod is recognized as the largest city of river tourism in Russia in the federal rating.
In the evenings, tourists flock to Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street, where attractions and musicians meet. The area is full of lights and fun, bars and restaurants are buzzing until the morning. During the day, guests create the historical architecture of the streets, fortifications, monasteries, rich in eight hundred years of history.
The prices are affordable. For a double room in a decent hotel, you will have to pay from 2 thousand rubles. The hostel will cost 250 – 700 rubles / bed. The entrance fee to the Kremlin is 150 rubles.
6. Kazan
The capital of the Republic of Tatarstan attracts tourists with its original Russian architecture of fortifications and merchant buildings, Orthodox churches. The city was ranked third in Europe and eighth in the world in Tripadvisor’s ranking of the fastest growing tourist cities. The Kazan white-stone Kremlin is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Here you can taste many types of fish from the Volga basin, which are cooked in any local restaurant.
You can stay overnight in a hostel for less than 300 rubles, in a hotel for 1500 and more. An excursion to the Hermitage-Kazan, which is located on the territory of the Kremlin, will cost 250 rubles.
5. Belokurikha
Mountains, forest, clean air, natural water, thermal springs – this is Altai. All the beauty of this region, unique on the planet, is concentrated in Belokurikha. This is a resort city of federal significance, where the Chinese, Kazakhs, people from the Far East of the Russian Federation, and Europeans prefer to relax. This is the place where people come either to be treated with mineral waters, or to create nature, resting from the hustle and bustle.
The resort has several lifts, about four slopes, excluding children’s, a small water park has been arranged at the sanatorium, the number of hotels will satisfy any demand. Wildlife protection forums are regularly held here, including the UNESCO “Siberian Davos”. You should definitely visit the marals, where red deer are bred.
Prices are at a very democratic level. An apartment for 3 – 5 beds will cost 0,8-2 thousand per day, a hotel room – from 1 to 3 thousand rubles. Renting cottages is in particular demand – from 2 thousand rubles for a house with a sauna, a small pool, the Internet and other benefits.
4. Derbent
It is considered the most ancient city in Russia, if you do not take into account the Crimean Kerch. Derbent is located in the Republic of Dagestan on the shores of the Caspian Sea. This place is located between three cultures: Islam, Christianity and Judaism, which is reflected in the smallest details of the old city, a piece of which and some individual buildings are recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage of Humanity.
There are many hotels and mini-hotels for every taste and budget. You should definitely get acquainted with the local cuisine. There are several museums of different kinds. Derbent is one of the few monuments of Persian culture and military glory. Still, the main attraction is the life of the local population and its hospitality.
The price tags are at a very democratic level, you can stay in a hostel for 200 rubles / night, in a mini-hotel for 3 thousand and more.
3. Moscow
Moscow is always mentioned when listing the leading cities of the planet: New York, London, Tokyo, Dubai and so on. But only in Moscow lives such a number of billionaires, which is not found in most countries of the world, the most record according to Forbes. The city is immersed in expensive cars, hotels, boutiques, showrooms. Life here does not stop for a minute, all restaurants, nightclubs and bars are open until the last visitor. Foreign tourists prioritize St. Petersburg and Moscow, leaving out the rest of the cities in their rating of Russian cities.
What to see in Moscow: foreign tourists walk along Red Square, where a huge ice rink is flooded in winter, the largest military parade in the post-Soviet space takes place in May, but the most attractive place for foreigners is the mausoleum where Lenin was embalmed. Always crowded in the Tretyakov Gallery and the State Museum of Fine Arts. The sights of Moscow do not end there, but only begin.
Moscow is the third city in the rating for Russian tourism among foreigners, second only to St. Petersburg and Sochi.
2. St. Petersburg
Of the advantages: a huge number of world museums, architectural monuments, a huge number of recreational areas around the city. St. Petersburg can also be safely called the tourist capital of the Russian Federation. Every year up to 3 million foreign tourists and the same number of compatriots arrive here.
What to see in St. Petersburg? – everything: the Hermitage – one of the richest museums on the planet, Peterhof – the royal court with gilded fountains, St. Isaac’s Cathedral, the Peter and Paul Fortress, Nevsky Prospekt and many more, there is not enough ink to list. This city is unique and compares favorably among other Russian cities with a pronounced architectural ensemble of literally every street, drawbridges, river channels, white nights.
Pricing in St. Petersburg is democratic, there are a huge number of hostels, where a bed costs from 200 rubles per night. A hotel room will cost 3-50 thousand rubles / night. A high, stable flow of foreign tourists and the greed of businessmen have made St. Petersburg one of the most expensive cities for tourism in Russia in the ranking.
1. Sochi
Of the advantages: ski slopes, mineral waters, beaches, bars and restaurants, modern architecture, many sports facilities, the Olympic Village.
A subtropical climate prevails here. The city is located on the Black Sea coast. The backdrop for the wealth of hotels, restaurants and housing developments is the Caucasus Mountains. Since late autumn, the ski resorts of Krasnaya Polyana open their doors. Some locals grow tangerines, which have a peculiar and pleasant taste.
Pricing in Sochi is at a high level. The cost of living starts from 1000 rubles per day and ends in infinity. A four-room apartment with a decent renovation will cost 4 – 6 thousand / day, a double room “Standard” in a hotel on the first line will cost at least 4 thousand.
Sochi is a Russian city leading in terms of the influx of tourists from neighboring countries and the CIS, the first in the ranking due to its developed infrastructure and services. Sochi won the championship only thanks to the demand among compatriots, foreigners drop in here infrequently.