The first mistake many visitors make in Moscow is treating the city like a set of trophies. The Kremlin by nine, Red Square by ten, a metro station by eleven, a museum after lunch, a river cruise, a late dinner, and then the strange feeling that[...]
Saint Petersburg is often introduced as a city of palaces, but that phrase can make the place sound prettier and simpler than it is. The palaces are not ornaments scattered around a northern city. They are the old grammar of Petersburg made[...]
Kazan is one of Russia's best weekend cities because it does not ask the visitor to choose between monument and daily life. The Kremlin rises over the water with white walls, towers, the Kul Sharif Mosque and the Annunciation Cathedral,[...]
The useful version of a Moscow metro and museum day feels as if it has been tested in the street, not assembled from a list of sights. In Moscow, that means starting with two or three central metro stations before the Tretyakov Gallery or the[...]
The useful thing about an evening walk from Zaryadye to the Moskva River is that it does not need to be inflated. Start with Zaryadye Park when the Red Square crowds begin to thin, give the route a clean shape, and the character of central[...]