On the 1st of August 2.20pm Moscow time a total solar eclipse will cross the territory of Russia. It will last for only 2 minutes but the opportunistic travel companies already estimate the profit brought by the eclipse. Where to observe the black solar circle and how much it costs?

Not so long ago a new tendency appeared in tourism: instead of having a rest in a noisy crowd at a hot beach people seek quietness and isolation, seek those few places on the planet where mobile phones do not work, where there are no artificially created things, and where no one can draw you away from enjoying wild nature.

Lake Baikal has perfect conditions for mirages formation. The number of days with mirages at Baikal normally varies from 2 to 16; while seeing them is a great luck for tourists, the local fishermen often tell about ancient castles, old ships and trains, and even UFO witnessed above Baikal.

The ski resort Krasnaya Polyana is located at a height of 550 metres above sea level, 45 kilometres distant from Adler. It is quite a new and rapidly developing resort that has skiing slopes of various difficulty categories which can cause interest in both ski beginners and professionals.

There are two zones with famous names at Kamchatka: the Valley of Geysers and the Valley of Death. While quite many people have read about the first zone, the second one is less known and infamous for animals and birds’ mass mortality.

Despite the high prices, the Northern capital of Russia remains attractive for travellers. According to the Investments and Strategic Projects Committee of St. Petersburg administration, 4.5 million tourists visited the city in 2006; 2.5 million of them came from abroad, which is 10% more than in 2005.

The image of Karelia, one of the Russian regions, is first of all associated with a land of blue lakes. Indeed, here there are a lot of lakes – over 61 thousand. In a number of lakes per 1000 square kilometres Karelia takes the first position in not only Russia but amongst the world’s regions also.

A short guide to the best open-air places in Moscow to go to.

More and more foreign tourists to the Russian city of Tobolsk express interest in the thematic excursion called “Last Mile of the Romanovs Family”. According to the chairwoman of the Committee for Travel and Investments of Tobolsk`s administration Alexandra Strunkina, in 2008 the city will host the first group of tourists from Switzerland interested in this exact route.

Moscow is a huge city not only on the surface but underground also: multiple labyrinths, shelters, secret constructions, abandoned mines, catacombs, and bomb-shelters. The underground spaces of Moscow keep mysteries and legends, which open only to dare-devils ready to start on a dangerous journey.

Many Kuril citizens know what the roads were like when the islands were populated by Japanese. It is said that if a Japanese man carted and noticed a pit on the road, he stopped and didn’t go on his trip unless he evened the pit, unlike Russians.

For more than a hundred years the Sanduny Bath House (or the Sanduny) remains a symbol of the Russian bath tradition. Since the very opening day it has been one of the centres of social life in Moscow: something like an English club for the noblemen and a health centre for ordinary people.

Ice-diving in the Arctic is considered to be one of the most extreme kinds of sports. Nevertheless, the number of people willing to get a thrill increases annually. Despite the severe conditions of diving in the White Sea it remains one of the most popular places for diving in the country.

Creation of the Japanese Garden in Moscow turned into a huge scientific and social experiment. The Russians were doing something they had never done before, and the Japanese later confessed that it was the hardest project in their practice, and therefore, their favourite one. As a result, a wonderful landscape so untypical for Russia was created on a territory of 2.7 hectares.

A pearl of Russian nature, Seliger Lake, is situated in the centre of the country between Moscow and St. Petersburg, amongst the forest territory of Valdai Hills. Seliger is a big and beautiful system of lakes linked by effluents, with a lot of small islands and is surrounded by forests, including pine woods rich in mushrooms and berries.

National parks are a comparatively new form of environment protection in Russia. Creation of national parks on the territory of the country started in the early 80`s of the 20th century, and at the moment there are 35 parks of this type. The majority of Russian national parks are located in the European part of the country; the westernmost park – the Curonian Spit – is in the Kaliningrad Region.

Four thousand years ago the local dwellers suddenly left the town Arkaim located in the south of the present Chelyabinsk Region and burnt the empty settlement. The town had a circular structure coordinated with the stars order. Many believe in mystical characteristics of the area and link it with the legends of ancient Siberia and the Urals.

All geysers in the Valley differ from each other: the geyser called Triple is remarkable for its grey-brown colouring of geyserites; the Sugar geyser looks like a huge lily flower; the Big geyser has the highest fountain, while the Small geyser is the most powerful in the quantity of water debouched per day.

Kungur Ice Cave is one of the biggest caves in the world and the only in Russia cave purposely equipped for excursions. This unique natural monument, surrounded with multiple legends, is located in the Urals, between Perm and Yekaterinburg.

One of the most interesting sightseeing spots in the Amur Region is the so-called dinosaur cemetery near the village Kundur. It was discovered in 1990 during building of a new road. On the whole there has been found several thousands of dinosaur bones, which attract many followers of cultural tourism to the region.