Russian Hotels  Hotel accommodation in Russia

Russia has both extensive coastlines bordering the Arctic Ocean and Northwest Pacific, as well as smaller coastlines on the Baltic, Black and Caspian Seas. Russia is bordered by Norway and Finland to the northwest, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, and Ukraine to the west, Georgia and Azerbaijan to the southwest, Kazakhstan, China and Mongolia to the south, Japan (via strait) and North Korea to the southeast. The American state of Alaska lies opposite the easternmost point of Russia across the Bering Strait.

Russia also administers the exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast on the Baltic coast located in between Poland and Lithuania.

Climate ranges from steppes in the south to humid continental in much of European Russia; subarctic in Siberia to tundra climate in the polar north; winters vary from cool along Black Sea coast to frigid in Siberia; summers vary from hot in the steppes to cool along the Arctic coast.

Below are some representative Russian cities:

- Moscow — Russia's gargantuan capital is one of the world's greatest cities and has endless attractions to offer an adventurous visitor

-Irkutsk — the world's favorite Siberian city, located within an hour of Lake Baikal on the Trans-Siberian Railway

-Kazan — the capital of Tatar culture is an attractive city in the heart of the Volga Region with an impressive kremlin

-Nizhny Novgorod — often overlooked despite being one of the largest cities in Russia, Nizhny Novgorod is well worth a visit for its kremlin, Sakharov museum, and nearby Makaryev Monastery

-Saint Petersburg — Russia's cultural and former political capital is home to the Hermitage, one of the world's best museums, while the city center is a living open air museum in its own right, making this city one of the world's top travel destinations

-Sochi — Russia's favorite Black Sea beach resort has been largely unknown to foreigners, but that is set to change in a major way when it hosts the 2014 Winter Olympic Games

-Vladivostok — often referred to (somewhat ironically) as "Russia's San Francisco," full of hilly streets and battleships, this is Russia's principal Pacific city and the terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway

-Volgograd — formerly Stalingrad, the scene of perhaps the deciding battle of World War II, and now home to a massive war memorial

-Yekaterinburg — the center of the Urals region and one of Russia's principal cultural centers is a good stop on the Trans-Siberian Railway and an arrival point for visitors to the Urals, the second russian financial center.