From the blog

Moscow · 20 October 2026 · Dmitry Volkov

Seven Metro stations worth a detour

Most visitors see Komsomolskaya, take the photo under the chandeliers and stop. It is the right place to start, but the Moscow Metro has over two hundred stations and at least six more that deserve a change of line.

• Mayakovskaya. Stainless steel arches and 34 ceiling mosaics of Soviet skies. Stand in the middle and look up.
• Novoslobodskaya. Thirty-two stained glass panels made in Riga, lit from behind. Best after eight in the evening.
• Ploshchad Revolyutsii. Seventy-six bronze figures. Rub the dog's nose for luck; the whole city does.
• Kievskaya, Circle Line. Mosaics of Ukrainian harvests framed in gold. Our night tour starts here.
• Arbatskaya. Baroque in a bunker: 250 metres long, 41 metres down.
• Elektrozavodskaya. Three hundred and eighteen lamps set into the ceiling like a factory floor.
• Avtozavodskaya. Marble columns and mosaics of car workers. Nobody goes, which is the point.

All seven are on our Moscow Metro by night walk, or you can do them yourself with a day pass for about €4.

Siberia · 9 October 2026 · Olga Beketova

What to pack for Baikal in February

Minus twenty sounds frightening and feels fine, as long as you dress for it. Baikal in winter is a dry cold with sun most days, which is easier on the body than a damp zero in London. This is the list we send every traveller, tested over nine winters.

• Base layer: merino top and bottoms. Cotton gets damp and stays damp.
• Mid layer: a fleece or light down jacket.
• Shell: a windproof jacket and over-trousers. Wind off the ice is the real enemy.
• Feet: we lend you felt valenki boots and ice grips. Bring two pairs of wool socks.
• Hands and head: mittens over thin gloves, a hat that covers your ears, a buff for your face.
• Eyes: sunglasses. The glare off the ice is serious.
• Camera: spare batteries kept in an inside pocket. Cold kills them in minutes.

Leave the heavy ski jacket at home. Layers you can take off in the hovercraft matter more than one thick coat. See the Winter ice of Lake Baikal trip for dates.

Travel tips · 2 October 2026 · Sergei Andreyev

Tea, cards and five time zones: life on the Trans-Siberian

People ask what you actually do on a train for two days. The honest answer is not much, and that is the point. Here is a typical day on the Moscow to Irkutsk run.

06:30. The samovar at the end of the carriage has been hot since five. Someone from the group is already there with a glass in a metal holder. Birch forest outside, the same as last night.

09:00. Breakfast from the provodnitsa, the carriage attendant: porridge, bread, cheese. She also sells instant noodles, chocolate and the best tea on the train.

11:40. Twenty minutes at Omsk. Everyone gets off to walk the platform, buy smoked fish from a woman with a pram full of it, and breathe. The train leaves exactly on time. Always on time.

Afternoon. Cards, a book, a nap, the window. The clocks on the platforms stay on Moscow time while the sky says otherwise. By Novosibirsk you are three hours ahead of your phone.

Evening. Dinner in the restaurant car if you want a table, or noodles and a beer in the compartment if you do not. Lights go down around eleven. The train rocks you to sleep.

Seven days of this, broken by Kazan and Yekaterinburg, and then Baikal. See the Moscow to Lake Baikal by train itinerary.

Golden Ring · 18 September 2026 · Maria Lebedeva

The Golden Ring in winter: better than summer?

Summer is when everyone comes to Suzdal. The coaches arrive at ten, the trading rows fill up and the churches get a queue. In January there are no coaches. There is snow on the domes, smoke from wooden chimneys and a silence you can hear.

Three reasons to come between December and February:

• Empty churches. You can stand alone under Rublev's frescoes in Vladimir for as long as you like.
• The banya. It is good in summer and life-changing at minus fifteen. Our guesthouse heats it every evening.
• Prices. The guesthouse and the minibus cost us less in winter, so the tour does too. Ask us.

One honest warning: the days are short, with light from about nine to four. We plan the walking for the middle of the day and save the mead tasting for the dark. See the Suzdal and Vladimir tour.