Sakhalin Island
This extraordinary new addition to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk's otherwise ho-hum architectural ensemble is a staggeringly impressive golden-domed cathedral, which…
Must-see attractions in Russian Far East
Zarya Centre for Contemporary Art
Vladivostok
The full renovation and repurposing of a former clothing factory into a giant creative complex containing offices, studios, cafes and work spaces is one…
Yakutsk
At Permafrost Kingdom, two neon-lit tunnels burrowed into a permanently frozen hill have been filled with dozens of fabulous, never-melting ice sculptures…
Vladivostok
A fully militarised zone for most of the past 150 years, this big island just offshore has been reinvented as a business and academic centre and is home…
Vladivostok
This massive new development on Russky Island is one of Vladivostok's planned key attractions and opened with great fanfare in 2016. It's a vast space in…
Russian Far East
Tynda’s pride and joy has four rooms of BAM relics and photos – sadly all devoid of English labelling – as well as exhibits on native Evenki culture, WWII…
Sakhalin Island
The pagoda-roofed Sakhalin Regional Museum has a strong exhibit (sadly in Russian only) exploring the Japanese/Soviet overlap of the city’s history,…
Land of the Leopard National Park
Russian Far East
Created in 2012 by the merger of several smaller reserves, this vast tract of forest wilderness is still slowly developing as a tourist destination, but…
Museum of Sakhalin Island: A Book by AP Chekhov
Sakhalin Island
Based on Chekhov’s seminal account of his few months working as a doctor on Sakhalin in the 1890s, this museum provides insight not only into life on…
Yakutsk
This park, on the site of the original hunting settlement that later became Yakutsk, contains a series of excellently preserved historic buildings that…
Russian Far East
Housed in a former tsarist-era trading house and Soviet-era HQ for the Communist Youth League (Komsomol), this impressive museum has 26 halls containing…
Vladivostok
Vladivostok’s well-oiled funicular railway makes a fun 60-second ride up a 100m hill every few minutes (unless the old girl is experiencing one of her…
Yakutsk
This popular zoo is some distance from Yakutsk, but it's well worth the trouble of getting out here if you're interested in the fascinatingly hardy fauna…
Archaeology & Ethnography Museum
Yakutsk
These two separately run museums are in the same building; sadly, neither enjoys the luxury of signage in English. On the bottom three floors you'll find…
Yakutsk Regional History Museum
Yakutsk
A good place to delve deeper into Sakha culture, the Regional History Museum contains local minerals, information on the region’s first Russian settlers…
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
Housed in an attractive half-timbered building overlooking the bay, this museum features an imaginative mix of relics and murals that outline Kamchatka’s…
Vladivostok
This recently redone museum dates from 1890 and offers three floors of galleries, although there's little in the way of English labelling. Exhibits delve…
Yakutsk
If time is limited, don't miss this excellent museum, with Sakha-themed exhibits covering local craftmaking traditions (mammoth tusk carvings, reindeer…
Vladivostok
Perched near the waterfront, the S-56 submarine is worth a look. The first half is a ho-hum exhibit of badges and photos of men with badges (all in…
Vladivostok
Vladivostok was building a massive new cathedral on its central square at the time of writing, and it's set to be one of the city's most recognisable…
Russian Far East
Run by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve is a unique slice of the Primorsky region and a vital remaining habitat for…
Yakutsk
Khomus (Jew’s harps) play a big part in Sakha culture. Concerts occur year-round, when performers imitate natural sounds such as a horse neighing. The…
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
This new museum was just about to open during our last visit to Kamchatka, and a quick peek inside as they were putting up the display revealed an…
Russian Far East
A five-minute walk west from the centre on ul Lenina is a complex containing Birobidzhan’s Jewish culture centre, Freud, and a synagogue with a small…
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
Petropavlovsk's largest and most impressive church is this golden-domed stunner, which sits on an outcrop from where it is visible from all over the city…
Gaivoron Biological Research Centre
Russian Far East
The Far East is all about its Amur tigers, and you can see a couple here at the Russian Academy of Sciences biological research reserve, run by Dr Victor…
Russian Far East
This iconic and rather aggressive looking statue is Tynda's most obvious sight. It's dedicated to the massive human effort (both voluntary and not) needed…
Vladivostok
Just beyond Russky Island, Popov Island is better regarded for its beaches and filled with many guesthouses and dachas. You’ll probably need to stay…
Treasury of the Sakha Republic
Yakutsk
Pay a visit to this unique museum for a look at Yakutia's rich mineral wealth combined with fine craft traditions. You'll see exquisite carvings in…
Vladivostok
If you’re a bit of a car (or Soviet) nerd, the Antique Automobile Museum is an absolute classic. A room full of Sovietmobiles (motorcycles too) from the…
Municipal Museum of Regional Studies
Russian Far East
This proud town museum has several rooms of photos and artefacts showing how Komsomolsk rose from a pioneer camp in 1932 to an industrial Soviet city. It…
Yakutsk
True permafrost nerds might check out the Permafrost Institute, about 2km west of the city centre. It has a lab that stays a constant –6°C, but high…
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
Originally built in 1857 to commemorate the victory over the British and the French in the Battle of Petropavlovsk, this wooden chapel was destroyed in…
Yakutsk
Despite its rather exciting-sounding name, this one-room museum is rather a let-down due to its total lack of signage in English. On the plus side, there…
Vladivostok
Of Vladivostok's multiple, numbered defensive forts, No 7 (14km north of the centre) gets our vote. It has 1.5km of tunnels, pretty much untouched since…
Vladivostok
This Soviet battery, now a military museum, was built in 1933–34 and housed 75 soldiers at its peak. Underground you can explore the guts of the battery,…
Vladivostok
This gorgeous tsarist-era building in the centre of Vladivostok is the latest big cultural institution to open a Far Eastern campus. Once complete, the…
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
Yes, there are beaches in Kamchatka too, and this one has gorgeous views of the bay and the distant snow-covered mountains, though it's unlikely you'll…
Vladivostok
On the site of an old artillery battery overlooking Sportivnaya Harbour, this museum has cannons outside, a six-room indoor exhibit of photos and many,…
Sakhalin Island
This museum has a modest permanent collection of pre-Soviet Russian oil paintings and Korean and Japanese textiles upstairs, and changing exhibits…
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