5 destinations Indians can soon explore visa-free in Russia

As Putin arrives in India tomorrow, India and Russia are close to finalising the visa-free group travel pathway for Indian passport holders. And if this goes as planned, a whole new world of travel will become far more accessible. Russia is a land of depth, of cities that feel like time capsules and others that look like film sets for alternate futures.

Here are five destinations that show different sides of the country’s history, culture and everyday life.

Moscow

Moscow runs on momentum. It’s a fast, efficient city built around institutions, big avenues and grand statements.

The Kremlin and Red Square are obvious stops, but you find the city’s personality elsewhere: in the cafés near Gorky Park, in the bookshops and boulevard walks, in the Metro stations that feel like underground halls. It’s a capital that rewards wandering more than planning.

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Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is where Russia puts its past on display. Its post-industrial outskirts now host Russia’s strongest contemporary art spaces, as well as some of the most striking Soviet-era buildings outside Moscow.

This is the city of the Hermitage Museum, the Winter Palace, the bridges that rise at night, and the golden spire of the Peter and Paul Fortress. Smaller museums, like the Dostoyevsky Apartment,  are where the city feels intimate, almost conspiratorial. Stand on the banks of the Neva late in the evening, and you’ll understand what Russian writers meant when they said the city “thinks for you.”

Tourists walk down stairs at the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. File photo/Reuters

Murmansk

Far above the usual tourist routes, Murmansk offers an entirely different mood.

It’s one of the best places to see the Northern Lights, but the everyday details stand out too: from the fishing ports and wide-open roads, to the neighbourhoods that carry traces of the Soviet decades. Local cuisine here includes Arctic salmon and berries, adding a unique flavour to the northern experience.
It isn’t flashy, but it leaves a strong impression simply because it feels so far from anywhere else.

The Golden Ring

Suzdal, Vladimir, Yaroslavl and Kostroma traditionally form the Golden Ring, a loop of historic towns that preserve old architecture, wooden homes, monasteries and quiet town squares.
Suzdal, in particular, feels like a perfectly kept time capsule, complete with slow rhythms and postcard-like landscapes. Landmarks like Suzdal’s white-stone monasteries and Vladimir’s Cathedral of the Assumption make these towns tangible windows into old Russia. Local treats such as medovukha, a traditional honey drink, offer a taste of the region’s culture.

This region is ideal for travellers who enjoy heritage and slower days, over the rush of big cities.

Tourists ride in an ornate wooden boat along the Kamenka River in the town of Suzdal, northeast of Moscow. File photo/AFP

Kazan

Kazan is the city that complicates every stereotype people carry about Russia. Tatar and Slavic histories coexist in the architecture, in the food, in the sound of the streets. The Kazan Kremlin, with its bright white walls and the Qol Sharif Mosque shimmering like a mirage, is the clearest example of this layered identity.

It’s a place that feels both Central Asian and European, both old and surprisingly modern.

A picture taken on May 15, 2018, shows the Qol Sharif Mosque at the Kremlin in Kazan. File photo/AFP

If visa-free travel happens, Indians will finally experience Russia on the ground through its cities, coastlines and the people who live there. No one place explains the country. The best way to understand it is by seeing how different each region feels.