Tourism in Russia

Russia is not the typical country for westerners to go to during their vacations though it has got a lot to offer: Russia has rich cultural heritage, embodied in the cities of Moscow with Tretyakovskaya Gallery[?], Bolshoy Theater[?] or the Kremlin's collections, and Saint Petersburg on river Neva, close to the Baltic Sea, with its famous "white nights", the art collections of the Hermitage Museum or the Russian Museum[?].

In the countryside there are many little towns with old cloisters[?] and castles. There are cities with an own rich tradition like Kaliningrad (formerly Koenigsberg) on the Baltic Sea coast, Novgorod on Lake Ilmen[?], Tver[?], Nizhni Novgorod[?], Kirov, Ekaterinburg or Rostov[?].

Famous for tourists are trips on the big rivers like Volga, Lena or Enissey[?] as well as trips on the famous Trans-Siberian Railway to Vladivostok on the Pacific Ocean. Russia is not only cold: The coasts of Black Sea and Caspian Sea offer a climate like the Mediterranean Sea. A famous city for vacations on the beach is Sochi.

The Crimea is also a favourite vacation resort; even though this autonomous region is in Ukraine, many people associate it with Russia because of its long historical connection to Russia. Yalta is the best known vacation center, though Sevastopol is also well known.

Russia is famous for vodka and for various foods, including caviar, borscht, shashlik[?] and potato pancakes[?].