Simon Richmond, Mark Baker, Marc Bennetts, Stuart Butler, Trent Holden, Ali Lemer, Tatyana Leonov,

Tom Masters, Kate Morgan, Leonid Ragozin, Regis St Louis, Mara Vorhees

Russia

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Welcome to Russia . . . . . . .6

Russia’s Top 20 . . . . . . . . .10

Need to Know . . . . . . . . . 20

First Time Russia . . . . . . 22

What’s New . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Getting Your Visa . . . . . . 25

If You Like . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Month by Month . . . . . . . .31

Itineraries . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Great Train Journeys . . . 39

Russian Adventures . . . . 43

Regions at a Glance . . . . 49

MOSCOW . . . . . . . . . 54Sights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Tours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95Festivals & Events . . . . . . . 96Sleeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98Eating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103Drinking & Nightlife . . . . . 109Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . 113Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115Information . . . . . . . . . . . . .117Getting There & Away . . . 118Getting Around . . . . . . . . . 120Around Moscow . . . . . . .121Country Estates . . . . . . . . 121

Istra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123Borodino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

GOLDEN RING . . . . 125Vladimir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126Suzdal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130Plyos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136Kostroma . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137Yaroslavl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142Rostov-Veliky . . . . . . . . . . 147Pereslavl-Zalessky . . . . . . 150

Sergiev Posad . . . . . . . . . 153

ST PETERSBURG . . 156Sights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

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Contents

Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193Tours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195Festivals & Events . . . . . . 196Sleeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196Eating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200Drinking & Nightlife . . . . .206Entertainment . . . . . . . . . .209Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211Information . . . . . . . . . . . . 212Getting There & Away . . . 214Getting Around . . . . . . . . . 216Around St Petersburg . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Peterhof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217Pushkin (Tsarskoe Selo) . . . . . . . . 219

Pavlovsk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222Gatchina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223Kronshtadt . . . . . . . . . . . . 224Leningrad Region . . . . . . 225Vyborg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225Staraya Ladoga . . . . . . . . 228Tikhvin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .230

WESTERN EUROPEAN RUSSIA . . . . . . . . . . . 232South of Moscow . . . . . 233 Tula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233Yelets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238Voronezh . . . . . . . . . . . . . .240Oryol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242North & West of Moscow . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Smolensk . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246Tver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253Torzhok . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256Veliky Novgorod . . . . . . . . 257Staraya Russa . . . . . . . . .264Pskov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265Stary Izborsk . . . . . . . . . . 270Pechory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

KALININGRAD REGION . . . . . . . . . . 273Kaliningrad . . . . . . . . . . . . 275Yantarny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285Svetlogorsk . . . . . . . . . . .286Zelenogradsk . . . . . . . . . . 288Kurshskaya Kosa . . . . . . . 289

NORTHERN EUROPEAN RUSSIA . . . . . . . . . . . 291Republic of Karelia . . . . 293Petrozavodsk . . . . . . . . . . 293Kizhi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .298

Northern Lake Ladoga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .299Sortavala . . . . . . . . . . . . .299Valaam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .300White Sea . . . . . . . . . . . 301Kem & Rabocheostrovsk . . . . . . . 301Solovetsky Islands . . . 301Arkhangelsk . . . . . . . . . 306Kola Peninsula . . . . . . . 312Apatity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312Kirovsk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313Lovozero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315Teriberka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316Murmansk . . . . . . . . . . . 317Vologda . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324Kargopol . . . . . . . . . . . . 329Kenozero National Park . . . . . . . . 331

VOLGA REGION . . . 332Nizhny Novgorod . . . . . . . 334Kazan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .340Ulyanovsk . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347Samara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .350Samara Bend . . . . . . . . . . 354Tolyatti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354Saratov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355Volgograd . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357Astrakhan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361Elista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

RUSSIAN CAUCASUS . . . . . . . 369Kuban Steppe . . . . . . . . 372Rostov-on-Don . . . . . . . . . 372Starocherkasskaya . . . . . 375Krasnodar . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375Black Sea Coast . . . . . . 377Sochi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378Adler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385SAMI MAN WITH REINDEER

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Krasnaya Polyana . . . . . .386Mineral Water Spas . . . 389Mineralnye Vody . . . . . . .390Pyatigorsk . . . . . . . . . . . .390Kislovodsk . . . . . . . . . . . .394Central Caucasus . . . . . 398Dombay & Teberda . . . . .398Arkhyz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .402Nalchik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .403Elbrus Area . . . . . . . . . . . .405

THE URALS . . . . . . . .411Perm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414Kungur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418Yekaterinburg . . . . . . . . . . 419Around Yekaterinburg . . . . . . . . . . 427Ganina Yama . . . . . . . . . . 427Nevyansk . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427Nizhnyaya Sinyachikha . . . . . . . . . . .428Ufa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .428Ufa to Chelyabinsk . . . . . .430Zyuratkul National Park . . . . . . . . . .430Taganay National Park . . . . . . . . . . 431Chelyabinsk . . . . . . . . . . . 432

WESTERN SIBERIA . . . . . . . . . . 435Tyumen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437Tobolsk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .440Omsk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .443Novosibirsk . . . . . . . . . . . .444Tomsk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .450Novokuznetsk . . . . . . . . . 455Sheregesh . . . . . . . . . . . . 456Altai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458Barnaul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459Biysk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .463Gorno-Altaisk . . . . . . . . . .465

Lake Manzherok . . . . . . .466Lake Teletskoe & Artybash . . . . . . . . . . . . 467Chemal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .468Chuysky Trakt . . . . . . . . . 470Onguday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471Chibit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471Aktash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472Kosh-Agach . . . . . . . . . . . . 473

EASTERN SIBERIA . . . . . . . . . . 475Krasnoyarsk Territory & Khakassia . . . . . . . . . . 478Krasnoyarsk . . . . . . . . . . . 478

Divnogorsk & Ovsyanka . . . . . . . . . . .485Abakan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .486Around Abakan . . . . . . . . .488Minusinsk . . . . . . . . . . . . .488Shushenskoe . . . . . . . . . .489Sayanogorsk . . . . . . . . . .490Tuva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491Kyzyl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493Around Kyzyl . . . . . . . . . . . 497Western Tuva . . . . . . . . . . 497Kyzyl to Mongolian Border . . . . . .498Western BAM . . . . . . . . . 499Tayshet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .499Bratsk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .499

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Contents

Severobaikalsk . . . . . . . . .500Around Severobaikalsk . . . . . . . . .503Nizhneangarsk . . . . . . . . .503Baikalskoe . . . . . . . . . . . .503Lake Baikal . . . . . . . . . . 504Irkutsk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .505Listvyanka . . . . . . . . . . . . 516Port Baikal . . . . . . . . . . . . 519Olkhon Island . . . . . . . . . . 519Slyudyanka . . . . . . . . . . . . 521Arshan & Tunka Valley . . . . . . . . . . . 523Eastern Baikal . . . . . . . . . . 525Selenga Delta . . . . . . . . . . 525Ust-Barguzin . . . . . . . . . . 526Svyatoy Nos Peninsula . . 526Barguzin & The Barguzin Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527Southern Buryatiya & Zabaikalsky Territory . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527Ulan-Ude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528Around Ulan-Ude . . . . . . . 534Chita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535

RUSSIAN FAR EAST . . . . . . . . . 540Eastern Trans-Siberian . . . . . . . . 542

Blagoveshchensk . . . . . . 542Birobidzhan . . . . . . . . . . .544Khabarovsk . . . . . . . . . . .544Vladivostok . . . . . . . . . . . . 551Eastern Bam . . . . . . . . . 561Tynda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561Komsomolsk- na-Amure . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562Sakha Republic & Magadan Region . . . . 565Yakutsk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565Magadan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 572Sakhalin . . . . . . . . . . . . 573Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk . . . . . 574Kamchatka . . . . . . . . . . 579Petropavlovsk- Kamchatsky . . . . . . . . . . . 581Around Petropavlovsky- Kamchatsky . . . . . . . . . . .586Mt Avachinskaya & Mt Koryakskaya . . . . . . 586Nalychevo Nature Park . . . . . . . . . . . .586Yelizovo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587Paratunka . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587Valley of the Geysers . . . 588Lake Kurilskoe . . . . . . . . . 588Mt Mutnovskaya . . . . . . . 588Esso . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589

Russia Today . . . . . . . . . 592

History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595

Russian People . . . . . . . 626

Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632

Performing Arts & Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635

Literature & Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . . 640

Architecture & Visual Art . . . . . . . . . . . . 646

Food & Drink . . . . . . . . . 652

Landscape & Wildlife . . .660

Directory A-Z . . . . . . . . . 666

Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . 676Language . . . . . . . . . . . . 691Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 701Map Legend . . . . . . . . . . .717

SURVIVAL GUIDE

UNDERSTAND

SPECIAL FEATURES

Getting your Visa . . . . . . 25

Great Train Journeys . . . 39

Russian Adventures . . . . 43

Kremlin 3D Illustration . . . . . . . . 70

Hermitage 3D illustration . . . . . . . . .172

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Tsarskoe Selo

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St Petersburg

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Start in Moscow where the Kremlin, Red Square, the Tretyakov Gallery, a performance at the Bolshoi Theatre and riding the grand metro system must all be factored into your schedule. Stretch your legs in the revamped Gorky Park and along the embankments by the Moscow River.

Save a few days for trips to the historic and serene Golden Ring towns of Sergiev Posad, Suzdal and Vladimir.

Break your journey between the two big cities at tourist-friendly Veliky Novgorod. It’s home to an impressive riverside kremlin, ancient churches and a wonderful open-air museum of wooden architecture.

The historic heart of St Petersburg offers the incomparable Hermitage and Russian Museum, as well as the opportunity to cruise the city’s rivers and canals. Enjoy some of Russia’s top restaurants and bars, and attend first-rate performances at the Mariinsky and Mikhailovsky Theatres.

If you have the time, venture out to grand palaces set in beautifully landscaped grounds such as Peterhof and Tsarskoe Selo, easy half-day trips from the city.

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Situated on a stunningly attractive natural harbour, the port of Vladivostok is worth a couple of days’ sightseeing before boarding the train. An overnight journey west will take you to your first stop at Khabarovsk, a lively city with a lingering tsarist-era charm located on the banks of the Amur River.

Two more days down the line hop off the train at Ulan-Ude, the capital of Buryatiya, where Russian, Soviet and Mongolian cultures coexist; from here you can venture into the steppes to visit Russia’s principal Buddhist monastery, Ivolginsk (Ivolga) Datsan.

The railway then skirts around the southern shores of magnificent Lake Baikal. Allow at least three days (preferably longer) to soak up the charms of this beautiful lake, basing yourself on beguiling Olkhon Island. Check out historic Irkutsk on the way to – or back from – the lake.

Flush with oil wealth, happening Krasnoyarsk, on the Yenisey River, affords the opportunity for scenic cruises along one of Siberia’s most pleasant waterways. Siberia’s capital of Novosibirsk offers big-city delights, including the gigantic Opera & Ballet Theatre. Detour slightly from the main Trans-Siberian Railway line to Tomsk, the ‘cul-tural capital of Siberia’, to hang with its lively student population and admire the city’s treasure trove of wooden architecture.

Crossing the Urals into European Russia, spend a day or so in Yekaterinburg, a historic, bustling city well stocked with interesting museums and sites connected to the murder of the last tsar and his family. Perm is also doing an excellent job of reinvent-ing itself as a cultural centre; use it as a base from which to make trips to an ice cave at Kungur and the Gulag labour camp Perm-36, preserved as a museum.

Finally, take a reviving break in the Golden Ring towns of Yaroslavl or Vladimir, which is also the access point for the idyllic village of Suzdal: all are stacked with beau-tiful, old onion-domed churches. You should then be fortified for the bustle of Moscow and St Petersburg.

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Spend a few days in the booming capital of the region, the port of Vladivostok, taking in its beautiful location, thriving food and bar scene, great new arts centre and ocean-arium, and constantly improving infrastructure. Next, head north to the attractive city of Khabarovsk by the Amur River, using this as a base for a side trip to Birobidzhan, the sleepy yet interesting capital of the Jewish Autonomous Region. Continue west to lively Blagoveshchensk with its splendid tsarist architecture (China is on the opposite bank of the Amur River).

An overnight train will transport you to Tynda, the main hub on the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM), which has a museum dedicated to this other Trans-Siberian rail route. Continue by train to Neryungri, where you have a choice: either fly or endure a very bumpy all-day ride in a Russian UAZ 4WD or van to Yakutsk, the extraordinary perma-frost-bound capital of the Sakha Republic. In Yakutsk, visit the Permafrost Kingdom and Mammoth Museum. If it’s the summer sailing season, cruise to the scenic Lena Pillars on the Lena River.

Backtrack to Neyrungri, reboard the BAM and take it through to the attractive city of Komsomolsk-na-Amure, built from scratch in the 1930s and decorated with some amazing Soviet-era mosaics.

Return by train to either Khabarovsk or Vladivostok, from where you can fly over the Seat of Okhotsk for a spectacular climax to the trip in Kamchatka. Be prepared to spend several days planning your outdoor adventures (and likely waiting for good weather) in the volcano-studded peninsula’s capital, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Splash out on a helicopter tour to the amazing Valley of the Geysers, the bear hot spot of Lake Kurilskoe or the fuming caldera of Mt Mutnovskaya. Finally, make your way north to the lovely Evenki village of Esso, friendly to independent travellers with cheap guesthouses, public hot springs and well-mapped trails for trekking.

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Starting in Moscow, head east towards Nizhny Novgorod where the river can be viewed from above on a cable-car ride. Spend a day or so here enjoying the town’s kremlin and museums. Consider making a day trip by hydrofoil to Gorodets, known for its folk arts.

The next major stop is the intriguing Tatarstan capital of Kazan with its World Heritage Site–listed kremlin that includes an enormous mosque and a small satel-lite branch of St Petersburg’s Hermitage. The Volga continues to guide you south past Lenin’s birthplace of Ulyanovsk and Samara, from where you can hike in the rocky Zhiguli Hills or search out the town’s several offbeat design and cultural sights.

The 17-hour train journey to Volgograd, a city entirely rebuilt after Russia’s bloodi-est battle of WWII, is worth it to see the amazing 72m-tall statue of Mother Russia Mamaev Kurgan. The Volga spills into the Caspian Sea at Astrakhan, the jumping-off point for exploring the glorious natural attractions (including rare flamingos) of the Volga Delta; this is the home to the endangered sturgeon, the source of Beluga caviar.

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Volga Route to Astrakhan

From Moscow follow the Volga River north to Tver where Catherine the Great used to pause on cross-country journeys. Make a side trip to serene Lake Seliger.

Top up on big-city culture and fun in St Petersburg, then take the train to Petrozavodsk to access Lake Ladoga and the island of Valaam, home to a beguiling working monastery. Return to Petroza-vodsk, where you can board a hydrofoil that will zip you across Lake Onega to the island of Kizhi, an architectural reserve that includes the astounding Transfigu-ration Church, a symphony of wooden domes, gables and decoration.

The White Sea is the location of the Solovetsky Islands; the beautiful land-scapes and monastery here were also the setting for some of the most brutal scenes in Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago. More offbeat adventures, including top fishing sites, await in the Kola Peninsula.

Finish in Murmansk by checking out a decommissioned nuclear icebreaker and the giant concrete soldier Alyosha. In the summer, the sun never fully sets, while in winter you may witness the amazing northern lights.

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The violence in parts of the Caucasus in recent decades has put off visitors, but this beautiful and multifaceted region of Russia is actually an amazing and, for the most part, safe place to travel, offering beaches, mountains and a fascinating mix of cultures.

Start in cosmopolitan Rostov-on-Don, where you can take a stroll or cruise along the Don River. Upriver it’s worth making a day trip to the Cossack capital of Staro-cherkassk. Take an overnight train south to the coasal resort of Sochi to experience the glamour of the Russian Riviera as well as Stalin’s extraordinary dacha. Next, head inland on another overnight train to the relaxing Mineral Waters spa town of Kis-lovodsk. Hire a taxi for a spectacular jour-ney over the Gum-bashi Pass to the even more stunning mountain resort of Dom-bay. After a few days of hiking or skiing (depending on the season), hop on a series of marshrutky (fixed-route minibuses) via Nalchik to the big daddy of the Greater Caucasus range, Mt Elbrus. If you’re plan-ning to climb Europe’s tallest peak, you’ll need to set aside at least a week. If not, ride the cable cars up the mountain for out-of-this-world views.

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Adventures in the Caucasus

Begin in the oil-rich city of Tyumen, full of traditional architecture. Journey northeast to Tobolsk, whose splendid kremlin lords it over the Tobol and Irtysh Rivers; the last tsar and his family were exiled here before their fateful journey to Yekaterinburg.

Next, head south to Barnaul, the gateway to the mountainous Altai Repub-lic. Here you can arrange a white-water rafting expedition or plan treks out to the pretty village of Artybash and beau-tiful Lake Teletskoe. Stop in Gorno-Altaisk to register your visa. Drive along the southern section of the panoramic Chuysky Trakt, a helter-skelter mountain road leading to yurt-dotted grasslands.

Return from the Chusky Trakt to Biysk, take a bus to Novokuznetsk and then a train to Abakan to arrange onward travel to Tuva. This remote and little-visited region, hard up against Mongolia – with which it shares several cultural similari-ties – is famed for its throat-singing no-mads and mystical shamans. Kyzyl has a good National Museum and Cultural Centre and can be used as a base for ex-peditions to pretty villages and the vast Central Asian steppes.

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38

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UR TRIP ItIn

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717

Walking Tour detourWalking Tour

Path/Walking Trail

BankEmbassy/ConsulateHospital/MedicalInternetPolicePost OfficeTelephoneToiletTourist InformationOther Information

AirportBorder crossingBus

CyclingFerry

U-Bahn/Underground station

MonorailParking

Metro station

Petrol stationS-Bahn/Subway stationTaxi

Train station/RailwayTram

Other Transport

LighthouseHut/Shelter

Beach

LookoutMountain/VolcanoOasisParkPassPicnic AreaWaterfall

River, CreekIntermittent River

Swamp/Mangrove

Reef

Canal

Water

Dry/Salt/Intermittent Lake

Glacier

Beach/Desert

Airport/Runway

Cemetery (Christian)

Cemetery (Other)

Park/Forest

Mudflat

Sportsground

Sight (Building)

International

DisputedRegional/SuburbMarine ParkCliffWall

Capital (National)Capital (State/Province)City/Large TownTown/Village

State/Province

LaneTertiary

TollwayFreewayPrimary

StepsPlaza/Mall

Pedestrian overpass

Secondary

Unsealed roadRoad under construction

Tunnel

Cable car/Funicular

BeachBird SanctuaryBuddhistCastle/PalaceChristianConfucianHinduIslamicJainJewishMonumentMuseum/Gallery/Historic BuildingRuin

Sento Hot Baths/Onsen

ShintoSikhTaoistWinery/VineyardZoo/Wildlife SanctuaryOther Sight

DivingBodysurfing

Sleeping

Eating

Entertainment

Shopping

Drinking & NightlifeCafe

CampingHut/Shelter

Canoeing/KayakingCourse/Tour

SkiingSnorkellingSurfingSwimming/PoolWalkingWindsurfingOther Activity

Tube station

T-bane/Tunnelbana station

Gate

Information Routes

Boundaries

Hydrography

Areas

Geographic

Population

Transport

Sights

Activities,Courses & Tours

Sleeping

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Entertainment

ShoppingNote: Not all symbols displayed above appear on the maps in this book

Map Legend

©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd

Regis St LouisSt Petersburg Regis grew up in a small town in the American Midwest – the kind of place that fuels big dreams of travel – and he developed an early fascination with foreign dialects and world cultures. He spent his formative years learning Russian and a handful of Romance languages, which served him well on journeys across much of the globe. Regis has contributed to more than 50 Lonely Planet titles, covering destinations across six continents. His travels have taken him

from the mountains of Kamchatka to remote island villages in Melanesia, and to many grand urban landscapes. When not on the road, Regis lives in New Orleans.

Mara VorheesRussian Caucasus & Moscow Mara writes about food, travel and family fun around the world. Her work has been published by BBC Travel, Boston Globe, Delta Sky, Vancouver Sun and more. For Lonely Planet, she regularly writes about destinations in Central America and Eastern Europe, as well as New England, where she lives. She often travels with her twin boys in tow, earning her an expertise in family travel. Follow their adventures and misadventures at

www.havetwinswilltravel.com.

©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd

on the beautiful beaches of Southwest France with his wife and two young children. His website is www.stuartbutlerjournalist.com.

Trent HoldenWestern European Russia A Geelong-based writer, located just outside Mel-bourne, Trent has worked for Lonely Planet since 2005. He’s covered 30-plus guidebooks across Asia, Africa and Australia. With a penchant for megacities, Trent’s in his element when assigned to cover a nation’s capital – the more cha-otic the better – to unearth cool bars, art, street food and underground subcul-ture. On the flipside he also writes books to idyllic tropical islands across Asia, in

between going on safari to national parks in Africa and the subcontinent. When not travelling, Trent works as a freelance editor, reviewer and spends all his money catching live gigs. You can catch him on Twitter @hombreholden.

Ali LemerGolden Ring Ali has been working for Lonely Planet as a travel writer and editor since 2007. Besides authoring articles for lonelyplanet.com on Japan, Scotland and the US, she’s written for several travel magazines and authored guidebooks on Bali, Hawaii and Russia; she also co-edited an anthology of personal narratives from migrant Australian authors called Joyful Strains: Making Australia Home. A

native New Yorker, Ali has also lived and studied in Chicago, Prague, the UK and Melbourne, Austral-ia, where she became naturalized several years ago. She currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.

Tatyana LeonovThe Urals Tatyana is a travel writer and editor based in Sydney, Australia when she’s not on the road. She’s written for Lonely Planet Asia magazine and lone-lyplanet.com, as well as a heap of other magazines, newspapers and websites from around the world. Check out www.tatyanaleonov.com.au for more.

Tom MastersRussian Far East Dreaming since he could walk of going to the most obscure places on earth, Tom has always had a taste for the unknown. This has led to a writing career that has taken him all over the world, including North Korea, the Arctic, Congo and Siberia. After graduating with a degree in Russian literature from the University of London, Tom went to work in Russia as a journalist at the St Petersburg Times. He now indulges his love of communist architecture by living

on Karl-Marx-Allee in Berlin’s Friedrichshain, but still returns regularly to the former Soviet Union for work. Tom can be found online at www.tommasters.net.

Kate MorganWestern European Russia Having worked for Lonely Planet for over a decade now, Kate has been fortunate enough to cover plenty of ground working as a travel writer on destinations such as Shanghai, Japan, India, Russia, Zimbabwe, the Philippines and Phuket. She has done stints living in London, Paris and Osaka but these days is based in one of her favourite regions in the world – Victoria, Austral-ia. In between travelling the world and writing about it, Kate enjoys spending time

at home working as a freelance editor.

Leonid RagozinMoscow & Eastern Siberia Leonid studied beach dynamics at the Moscow State University, but for want of decent beaches in Russia, he switched to journalism and spent 12 years voyaging through different parts of the BBC, with a break for a four-year stint as a foreign correspondent for the Russian Newsweek. Leonid is currently a freelance journalist focusing largely on the conflict between Russia and

Ukraine (both his Lonely Planet destinations), which prompted him to leave Moscow and find a new home in Rīga.

OUR STORYA beat-up old car, a few dollars in the pocket and a sense of adventure. In 1972 that’s all Tony and Maureen Wheeler needed for the trip of a lifetime – across Europe and Asia overland to Australia. It took several months, and at the end – broke but inspired – they sat at their kitchen table writing and stapling together their first travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap. Within a week they’d sold 1500 copies. Lonely Planet was born.

Today, Lonely Planet has offices in Franklin, London, Melbourne, Oakland, Dublin, Beijing and Delhi, with more than 600 staff and writers. We share Tony’s belief that ‘a great guidebook should do three things: inform, educate and amuse’.

Published by Lonely Planet Global LimitedCRN 5541538th edition – March 2018ISBN 978 1 78657 362 9© Lonely Planet 2018 Photographs © as indicated 201810 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Printed in ChinaAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, except brief extracts for the purpose of review, and no part of this publication may be sold or hired, without the written permission of the publisher. Lonely Planet and the Lonely Planet logo are trademarks of Lonely Planet and are registered in the US Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Lonely Planet does not allow its name or logo to be appropriated by commercial establishments, such as retailers, restaurants or hotels. Please let us know of any misuses: lonelyplanet.com/ip.

Although the authors and Lonely Planet have taken all reasona-ble care in preparing this book, we make no warranty about the accuracy or completeness of its content and, to the maximum extent permitted, disclaim all liability arising from its use.

OUR WRITERSSimon RichmondRussian Caucasus & St Petersburg Journalist and photographer Simon has specialised as a travel writer since the early 1990s and first worked for Lonely Planet in 1999 on their Central Asia guide. He’s long since stopped counting the number of guidebooks he’s researched and written for the company, but coun-tries covered including Australia, China, India, Iran, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mon-golia, Myanmar (Burma), Russia, Singapore, South Africa and Turkey. For Lonely

Planet’s website he’s penned features on topics from the world’s best swimming pools to the joys of Urban Sketching – follow him on Instagram to see some of his photos and sketches.

Mark BakerKaliningrad Region & Volga Region Mark is a freelance travel writer with a pen-chant for offbeat stories and forgotten places. He’s originally from the United States, but now makes his home in the Czech capital, Prague. He writes mainly on Eastern and Central Europe for Lonely Planet as well as other leading travel publishers, but finds real satisfaction in digging up stories in places that are too remote or quirky for the guides. Prior to becoming an author, he worked as

a journalist for The Economist, Bloomberg News and Radio Free Europe, among other organisa-tions. Instagram: @markbakerprague Twitter: @markbakerprague

Marc BennettsNorthern European Russia Marc is a Moscow-based journalist and writer whose work has appeared in the UK’s Guardian and Times, as well as other UK and US newspapers. He is the author of three books: Football Dynamo (Virgin, 2008) about Russia’s football culture, Kicking the Kremlin (2014, Oneworld), about the anti-Putin protest movement and I’m Going to Ruin Their Lives (Oneworld, 2016), about how Putin has retailated. Marc has lived in Russia since 1997.

Stuart ButlerWestern Siberia Stuart has been writing for Lonely Planet for a decade and during this time he’s come eye to eye with gorillas in the Congolese jungles, met a man with horns on his head who could lie in fire, huffed and puffed over snow-bound Himalayan mountain passes, interviewed a king who could turn into a tree and had his fortune told by a parrot. Oh, and he’s met more than his fair share of self-proclaimed Gods. When not on the road for Lonely Planet he lives

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