Where to go on holiday in Russia
Russia has thousands of holiday routes: seaside resorts, mountain destinations, historic cities, Lake Baikal, Kamchatka and both capitals. Planning is easier when the key details about a destination are collected in one place.
This section gathers guides to cities and resorts across the country, with short descriptions, seasonal climate, popular hotels with real guest reviews and selections of places to visit.
Choose a city from the list below, read the full guide and pick accommodation for your dates. The destination list is updated regularly.
Gagra
Gagra is an Abkhazian resort with a five-kilometer pebble bay and a preserved early-20th-century "Russian Riviera" ensemble. On a single walk through Old Gagra you'll take in the colonnade, Primorsky Park, the 1902 Gagripsh restaurant, and the Abaata fortress, and on a day trip from town you can reach Lake Ritsa via the Yupshara Canyon or head up to the panoramic viewpoint on Mount Mamdzyshkha.
Air temperature in July: +27° during the day, +21° at night
Popular hotels in Gagra
Moscow
Moscow is a capital with a thousand-year history and a density of landmarks on every block. The Kremlin and Red Square, Zaryadye Park right beside the Moskva River, the Tretyakov Gallery in Zamoskvorechye and the 325 hectares of VDNKh let you build a programme for any budget and season. The 1935 Metro, the MCC and four MCDs link one end of the city to the other in about an hour.
Air temperature in July: +24° during the day, +15° at night
Popular hotels in Moscow
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city of orderly embankments, palaces, and museums all within a couple of kilometers of Palace Square. People come for a weekend for the Hermitage and the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, the White Nights with bridge openings in June–July, and day trips to Peterhof, Pushkin, and Kronstadt. In winter the Mariinsky Theatre and queue-free museums join the lineup.
Air temperature in July: +22° during the day, +14° at night
Popular hotels in Saint Petersburg
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad is Russia's only Baltic city, where the Gothic Cathedral with Kant's grave, the half-timbered Fishing Village and the villas of Amalienau share space with the B-413 submarine at the Museum of the World Ocean. People come for the weekend to catch organ concerts on Kant Island, see the amber and take radial trips to the sea — to Svetlogorsk, Zelenogradsk and the Curonian Spit.
Air temperature in July: +22° during the day, +15° at night
Popular hotels in Kaliningrad
Krasnodar
Krasnodar is southern Russia's capital and a convenient base for trips to the sea and the mountains of Adygea. The pedestrian Krasnaya Street, the reconstructed Triumphal Arch, and Galitsky Park with the FC Krasnodar stadium make for a self-contained weekend storyline, while Sennoy Market and the signature food scene make it one of the south's leading gastro hubs.
Air temperature in July: +31° during the day, +20° at night
Popular hotels in Krasnodar
Sochi
Sochi is Russia's largest resort, stretching for 145 kilometres along the Black Sea: the beaches of Adler and Lazarevskoye, the subtropical Arboretum, the Olympic Park and the Stalin-era Sea Port. In an hour the Lastochka whisks you from the sea to Krasnaya Polyana, where cable cars and slopes climb to 2,320 metres. Summer brings the beach season and festivals, winter the skiing and Matsesta.
Air temperature in July: +26° during the day, +20° at night
Popular hotels in Sochi
Yalta
Yalta is the main resort on Crimea's Southern Coast, with a subtropical climate, imperial palaces and a kilometre-long seafront promenade. In summer daytime temperatures stay at +25…+28 °C, and in September the velvet season leaves the sea warm but without the crowds. Livadia and Vorontsov palaces, the Swallow's Nest, the Ai-Petri cable car and the Nikitsky Botanical Garden are all within an hour of the centre.
Air temperature in July: +28° during the day, +21° at night
