Three places in Russia, where everybody wants to spend time again and again

1. Beauty of the Curonian Spit

One well-known scientist Wilhelm fon Gumbolt once said: «You should travel to the Curonian Spit as you travel to Italy and Spain if you don’t want to lose a gorgeous picture of your soul. It is so exceptional place, where you can understand the truly beauty of Nature». If you take tour to Moscow, you can include this beautiful place to your itinerary.

There are a lot of different legends about the emergence of the Curonian Spit. One legend tells us a beautiful love-story between giantess Nirenga and human. Her beloved man lived in a dreamlike castle, which the raging storm was constantly trying to destroy. Nirenga wanted to save it. She decided to build a barrier, gaining full skirts of sand bore and pour it into the sea. Indeed, the main attraction of the braids is wandering dunes. For over two hundred years, protective beach ridge avandyuna protects from the wind and waves of the Baltic Spit. Unforgettable sight opens from the top of the highest dune on the spit, which is called Efa. It's height is about 42 kilometers. From this place you can observe unusual sight of changing the color of the sandy surface of the dunes.

Forest on the spit is called among locals "drunk" or "dancing." Due to the wind under the pine trees are large slope, trees acquire fantastic silhouettes, sometimes intertwined into a tailspin. In the woods grow mushrooms and berries, here you can easily find such animals as an avadger, fox, wild boar or roe.

As a present from this place you should bring amber (pictures, beads, bags, boxes, etc.), sea pebbles. Among dishes of local cuisine are very tasty sun-dried bream, smoked eel, smelt or real Baltic sprats.

2. Karelia – a beautiful dream

Severe northern Karelia beauty always fascinated travelers from all over the world and its ancient monuments of culture involve a great interest of researchers. It's unofficial name is "the lungs of Europe" — in fact, almost 85 percent of the total area of ​​the region is covered by green forests. The country has four national parks, two nature reserves, 46 nature reserves and 108 natural monuments. Here also you can find a White Sea-Baltic Canal, which was built in record time by GULAG prisoners. Tour to St Petersburg can be easily combined with Karelia visit.

Karelia

The first man, who understood that Karelia is a national treasure, a perfect resort, was Russian emperor Peter I in 1719. He noticed that here are a lot of local ferrous mineral keys. They made a resort "Marcial Waters", which is still popular today.

Tourists can spend time with great benefits for health. They can go for boating, rafting down rivers on rafts, jeep tour and quad biking, hunting and fishing generous. Here everyone can see the largest plain waterfall in Europe — Kivatch. Try to unravel the meaning of the petroglyphs Belomorja — Neolithic cave paintings. Visit Valaam archipelago to the north of Lake Ladoga and worship Orthodox shrines in the local monastery, built in the tenth century by monks from the Byzantine Empire. And of course, don’t forget to go to the famous museum Kizhi, where have found home the masterpieces of Russian wooden architecture, which are included in the UNESCO list of World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

3. Astrakhan — a city of islands

The unique natural landscape has given the unofficial name to the oldest city of the Lower Volga region. This is one of the places you have to if you take tour to Russia.

Astrakhan is located in the upper part of the Volga delta on 11 islands formed by numerous canals meandering rivers and canals. The city is famous for its amazing history that goes back more than four and a half centuries. It is very interesting for those people, who are interested in culture, because here meet Asian and Europe traditions. Lovers of antiquity, of course, will not leave indifferent Astrakhan Kremlin and merchant houses of the White City — the historic center of Astrakhan.

Astrakhan

The city has a well— developed hotel infrastructure, so there are no problems with the choice of the place to stay night at. Wealthy travelers will be greeted with open arms in a five star hotel. For those who are used prudently to relate to their budget, the ideal solution would be to rent a flat or room in town. In the center of Astrakhan can be removed quite a decent apartment for 1.5— 2 thousand rubles a day. Astrakhan is still uncrowned capital of the Russian fishing. Volga and Akhtuba with their countless canals and floodplain lakes are a real heaven for fans of fishing. Places with good fishing are far enough away from the city, so it is better to stay in a floating hotel or on a fishing base.