"Russia is truly an inscrutable land that defies simple explanation. Winston Churchill famously described Russia as a “riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”, which sounds about right for a country that spans not one, but two continents. Russia has a past that ranges from the indulgent decadence of its czarist times to the dreary grays of its Soviet experiment. Just now throwing off the shackles of communism fully, Russia is modernizing and changing at a frantic pace in order to catch up to the rest of the world in terms of wealth and standard of living.
The best time to visit Russia is in May, June, September and October, when temperatures are mild by Russian standards. Rainfall usually occurs in July and August, while the winter months of November through March are below freezing, with short, dark days. The climate of Russia varies from Arctic and forest tundra to forests and semi-deserts. Hotels in Russia come in every imaginable style and mode, offering travellers a choice ranging from refurbished grandiose palaces to quaint countryside inns.
This is a land of rich culture and soaring achievements, with writers and artists the caliber of Leo Tolstoy and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Russia possesses every kind of geography, from majestic mountains to grassy plains, to beautiful rivers and lakes, treacherous shorelines and arctic icebergs. This is the largest country in the world, where one can stand on its opposite shores and see both the United States and Sweden. Russians are known to be intense and resilient, yet by and large possessing fun-loving, generous and hospitable natures.
Moscow, Russia’s capital, is a city filled with the Kremlin and hundreds of historic buildings, including monuments to its days as the Soviet Union. St. Petersburg offers the grandeur of Russia’s past, and has the image of being its most Western European styled city. Known as the city of palaces, St. Petersburg is filled with hundreds of baroque- and neoclassical-styled buildings. Many resorts abound throughout Russia, from seaside villas on the Black Sea to ski chalets on Mount Cheget.
So much of what Russia is today is a product of a past that is both illustrious and forbidden, with the Soviet Union-era times representing a period that most Russians would like to forget. However, with the dismantling of its former communist empire, Russia has experienced a revival of interest in its national heritage. Visitors are flocking to Russia after fifty years of not freely being able to. Whether they come curious about its distant or recent pasts, they come guaranteed to have much to do and see.