Russia

Moscow's Metro is the busiest in Europe and among the world's most architecturally spectacular — Stalin ordered each station to be a 'palace for the people.' The deepest station, Park Pobedy, is 84 metres underground, deeper than any London Underground station, and its murals depict Russian military victories from 1812 and 1945.

Saint Petersburg was built on 42 islands and is connected by 342 bridges — more bridges than any other city on Earth. Peter the Great was so determined to build his 'window to the West' that an estimated 30,000–100,000 workers died during construction on the swampy Neva delta. The city changed its name three times: St Petersburg → Petrograd (1914) → Leningrad (1924) → St Petersburg again (1991).

Kazan is officially Russia's 'third capital' and the only place in the country where Russian Orthodoxy and Sunni Islam have coexisted within the same Kremlin for nearly 500 years. The city hosted the 2013 Summer Universiade and 2015 World Aquatics Championships, and the 1,000-year anniversary celebrations in 2005 triggered a complete restoration of the Kremlin and old city.

Vladivostok means 'Ruler of the East' in Russian. The city is closer to San Francisco than to Moscow, and was completely closed to all foreigners — and most Soviet citizens — until 1992, classified as a top-secret Pacific naval base. The Trans-Siberian Railway terminates here, 9,289 km and 8 time zones from Moscow.

Ekaterinburg straddles the Europe–Asia continental boundary — there is a literal obelisk monument marking the divide just 17 km from the city centre. The city is also where Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra, and all five of their children were executed in a basement by Bolshevik guards on the night of 16–17 July 1918, ending the 300-year Romanov dynasty.