Russia

Russians love their sport, with football and ice hockey being the two most popular games. The traditional sport of Bandy (a team sport similar to ice hockey but played on a larger surface with a round ball and shorter sticks) is also extremely popular. Volleyball, basketball, gymnastics, figure skating, speed skating, tennis, and gymnastics also enjoy a loyal following.

Spanning Europe and Asia as it stretches from the Baltic to the Pacific, Russia is far-and-away the world's largest country and, fittingly, it offers nearly as vast a range of experiences.

Moscow mesmerises around the clock, offering crimson-painted, onion dome-topped, and former communist-centric cultural sights by day and evenings full of throbbing nightlife. St. Petersburg sparkles with an elegant, waterside cityscape in addition to grand palaces, captivating museums, and graceful displays of ballet.

Further afield, you'll find dozens of compelling towns, cities, and gingerbread villages, full of smiling locals who will offer a warm welcome - and perhaps some warming vodka - shredding any preconceptions you may have had about what Russians are like. The regions of Altai & Karelia alongside the Urals and the Caucuses are just the start of the stunning natural splendour, and the nation is home to perhaps the world's most epic train journey: the Trans-Siberian Railway.