Russia

Russia, the largest country in the world, was built to impress.

You feel it in the grandeur of St. Petersburg – all canals and crumbling elegance – steeped in literary references and adorned with monumental statues.

You feel it in Moscow’s thundering pace and brutalist swagger, where golden domes rise above Soviet scars. And you feel it in the space between cities. Endless birch forests, rusting train stations, villages held together with wire and willpower. The country’s vast landmass encompasses icy Siberian wastelands, glacier-capped mountains, sprawling forests and deep lakes.

For anyone with the remotest interest in history and culture, a trip to Russia is nothing short of extraordinary.