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All Russia

The Atlas Obscura Guide To Russia

183 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in Russia

Updated April 11, 2023

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Cities

Top Cities
Moscow
The bright yellow front of Yusupov Palace.
Saint Petersburg
Abandoned salt mine.
Yekaterinburg
Temple of All Religions
Kazan
"The Motherland Calls."
Volgograd
Ulan Ude
All Cities
  1. Irkutsk
  2. Kazan
  3. Kronshtadt
  4. Medvezhyegorsky District
  5. Moscow
  6. Murmansk
  7. Odintsovsky District
  8. Pushkin
  9. Saint Petersburg
  10. Sochi
  11. Solovetskiy
  12. Tula
  13. Ulan Ude
  14. Volgograd
  15. Yekaterinburg
Attractions
Food & Drink
Map
Leaderboards
Stories

Unusual Attractions in Russia

Dargavs

Dargavs, Russia

Dargavs Village

This ancient village and its adjoining cemetery have a beautiful history of death and remembrance.
Looking down the hall to the bunker

Moscow, Russia

Bunker-42

Dr. Strangelove-esque tours reveal the inside a bunker once reserved for Stalin himself.
It contains museums, a market, and a number of exhibits celebrating Russian art.

Moscow, Russia

Izmailovo Kremlin

Moscow's other, lesser known kremlin is a fairytale-like cultural complex modeled after Old Russia.
Abandoned salt mine.

Yekaterinburg, Russia

Psychedelic Salt Mines

It's hard to believe the dizzying patterns covering this abandoned mine are completely natural.
Lenin's Mausoleum

Moscow, Russia

Lenin's Mausoleum

This building holds the embalmed remains of the leader of the Bolshevik Revolution.
Komsomolskaya station.

Moscow, Russia

Moscow Metro Stations

The gorgeous entrances into the city's underbelly look more like grand halls than subway stops.
Children are the Victims of Adult Vices

Moscow, Russia

Children are the Victims of Adult Vices

Thirteen sculptures in central Moscow graphically depicting vices of the modern world.

Moscow, Russia

Museum of Soviet Arcade Games

Immortal combat in a Moscow museum.
See All 183 Things To Do in Russia

Cool Places to Eat & Drink in Russia

Russian Vodka Museum

Saint Petersburg, Russia

Russian Vodka Museum

The past, present, and future of Russia's signature alcohol is remembered in the world's only museum dedicated to the starchy spirit.

Saint Petersburg, Russia

Literary Café

Once frequented by heavyweights of the Russian arts scene, this café is stuck in the 1800s.

Tula, Russia

Tula Pryanik Museum

A tea party concludes each visit to this Russian spice cookie sanctum.

Semenkovo, Russia

Vologda Butter Museum

Slather on the history at an exhibition dedicated to this Russian luxury.
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Unforgettable Experiences Nearby

Explore Russia

Soviet History 28
Museums And Collections 19
Military 18
Sacred Spaces 18
Architectural Oddities 17
Monuments 15
Statues 13
Animals 12
Art 12
Nature 10
Churches 9
Ruins 9

Russia Leaderboard

Places Added

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Recent Russia Activity

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Stories About Russia

The cover of this Red Haggadah from the National Library of Russia, features a search for leavened bread, which is forbidden on Passover.

The Soviet 'Red Passovers' Where Jews Gave Thanks for Communism

Instead of celebrating freedom from Egypt, people celebrated liberation from capitalism.
by Sam Lin-Sommer
March 28, 2023

Podcast: Pushkin’s Duel

How a real-life confrontation seemed to mirror a literary masterpiece.
by The Podcast Team
February 15, 2023

Podcast: Empress Anna’s Ice Palace

The spectacle in St. Petersburg, Russia, was the site of an incredibly strange wedding.
by The Podcast Team
January 25, 2023
The Sahara? Nope. Bunge Land, a geological curiosity north of Siberia, at the edge of the Laptev Sea.

The Curious Case of the Arctic Desert Island That's Not Actually an Island

No one is sure how this geological oddity got there.
by Gemma Tarlach
May 31, 2022
Cryptozoologist Richard Freeman says we "shouldn't be surprised" if hominids like Russia's yeti (known as the almasty) exist, given that other hominids, like Homo floresiensis, died out just 12,000 years ago. This sculpture of an almasty is at an alpine resort in Sochi, Russia.

Could 'Monsters' Exist in the Modern World?

Cryptozoologist Richard Freeman on why we should still believe in unseen animals.
by Sarah Durn
February 28, 2022

Podcast: Lake Karachay

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
by The Podcast Team
February 23, 2022
Snowflakes falling against a birch forest look magical in Russian photographer Alexey Korolyov's Small Comets.

How to Find ‘Comets’ and Other Wonders Just Around the Corner

A nature photographer uses clever camera work to turn his own neighborhood into a visual wonderland.
by Gemma Tarlach
November 19, 2021
Russian Empress Elizabeth used cross-dressing to cement her power. She's shown here in a traditionally male guard uniform.

The Weekly Cross-Dressing Balls of 18th-Century Russian Royalty

How empresses used "metamorphosis" to show their male courtiers who’s the boss.
by Sarah Durn
October 4, 2021

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