Discover Russia

It’s the second day of October, and with it autumn reaches its golden prime! One of the best ways to make the most of the month is to honour one of Russia’s best-known routes - the Golden Ring - by actually setting off on it.

We’ll spare you the full itinerary - you can find it in the autumn edition of our Ultimate Travel Guide. Instead, here are a few crème de la crème stops definitely worth checking out:

🪵 Suzdal - Museum of Wooden Architecture and Peasant Life
Historic wooden houses and churches gathered in one place - basically, old Russia you can walk through.

🔔 Rostov Veliky - Rostov Kremlin State Museum-Reserve
Its cathedral belfry still preserves a complete set of 15 historic bells, including the enormous 32-ton Sysoy bell.

🎨 Yaroslavl - Church of Elijah the Prophet
One of the Golden Ring’s real gems thanks to its remarkably preserved 17th-century frescoes.

👑 Kostroma - Holy Trinity Ipatiev Monastery
A place closely connected with the beginning of the Romanov dynasty.

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October has arrived — but summer is not quite ready to leave. Along Russia’s Black Sea coast, the velvet season is still lingering, bringing with it one of its most magical encounters: dolphins.

At this time of year, dolphins come close to shore in search of fish, often travelling in lively pods. Keep your eyes on the horizon — you may spot them from a boat, from the promenade, or even from the beach.

There is an old belief that seeing a dolphin in the Black Sea is a sign of good fortune — a promise of joy, luck and pleasant news to come.

And if you happen to catch one in a photograph, that counts, too 🍀

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Into the woods, without leaving the city

The weather is still being kind to us - we hope we won’t jinx it! Making the most of it can be a little tricky when we’re all busy and deep in our corporate lives. But weather like this belongs in nature - somewhere you can reconnect with flora, fauna and, more importantly, yourself.

We know that’s not always easy in the middle of a big city, so we picked a few parks that do a surprisingly good job of making you forget you live in one:

🌲Moscow — Meshchersky Park
🌲St Petersburg — Sosnovka Park
🌲Kazan — Gorkinsko-Ometyevsky Forest
🌲Yekaterinburg — Shartash Forest Park
🌲Novosibirsk — Zaeltsovsky Park

So grab something warm, mute the work chat and get lost in the woods.

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One of the culinary stars of Discover Russia’s autumn issue was soup — we explored Russia’s soup traditions in all their depth and diversity.

Today, we’re revisiting that story — and, with appetites suitably whetted, sharing five quintessential Russian first courses that deserve a place on every traveller’s gastronomic itinerary.

No. 1 — Borscht. Perhaps the most recognisable of them all, borscht comes in countless interpretations: the classic version with beef, lighter vegetarian recipes, and even inventive variations with smoked goose. Try them all — each tells a slightly different story of Russian culinary tradition.

No. 2 — Imperial Fish Soup (Tsar’s Ukha). A regal take on Russia’s traditional fish soup, ukha is prepared with several varieties of fish and, in some recipes, elevated with a splash of champagne or vodka. Rich, aromatic and unmistakably Russian.

No. 3 — 24-hour Shchi. A deeply traditional Russian soup made with fermented cabbage, shchi is known for their long, slow preparation, which allows the flavours to develop beautifully.

No. 4 — Pea Soup with Smoked Meats. Thick, hearty and wonderfully warming, this rustic classic is made for the first frosts of the season.

No. 5 — Hearty Solyanka. Bold, tangy and intensely savoury, solyanka is a wonderfully generous soup traditionally made with an assortment of meats, pickles and other robust ingredients. A dish that perfectly captures the hearty spirit of Russian winter cooking.

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Today, in the final days of September, Monday seems to have brought a little sun and warmth back to quite a few Russian cities. What a gift!

So before October fully takes over - and you have to hide under golden leaves and warm up in museums and cafés - go outside and make the most of it. Spend some time by the waterfront, a river or a lake if your city allows it, and pay a little tribute to Indian summer - or, as we call it in Russia, babye leto.

Because, as they say, today is a gift - that’s why it’s called the present.

The photo attached was taken in St Petersburg. We hope you’re somewhere just as beautiful today!

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The river cruise season in Russia is still in full swing. It begins in late April and runs through to early November. Autumn, however, is arguably the perfect time to set sail — at least in the subjective opinion of our executive editor Dasha Chernova. This is when the landscapes along the river reveal their most mesmerising colours, turning the views from your cabin window into a spectacle in their own right.

Here’s a photo diary from a cruise she took last autumn, following this route: St. Petersburg — Vyborg — Konevets Island — Mandrogi — Kizhi — Goritsy — Uglich — Moscow.

Cast off!

The art of preserving summer

One more step in getting ready for the season - this time by putting summer in a jar.

Meet zakrutki - the Russian tradition of home canning. Pickled cucumbers and tomatoes, mushrooms, berry jams, compotes, vegetable salads - if it fits in a jar, chances are somebody has already put it in one.

A page from history:

for generations, this was much more than just a hobby. With fresh produce harder to come by in winter, preserving what summer and autumn had to offer was simply practical. Today, supermarkets have made it far less of a necessity, but the tradition hasn’t disappeared.

And it hasn’t disappeared with younger generations either. With fermentation and gut-friendly foods having their moment, homemade pickles and other fermented goods have found a whole new audience. Not every zakrutka is fermented, of course, but the ones that are can be a very tasty way to add fermented foods to the menu. So if you’re travelling around Russia this autumn, look out for homemade pickles, preserves and jams at local markets, restaurants and family tables.

And remember: in every Russian family, someone’s grandmother makes the best zakrutki - period.

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Haystacks are one of autumn’s quietest signs. Summer gathered and saved for the colder months. A simple, yet timeless detail of the Russian autumn landscape.

Photo: Tula Region

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Twilight-coded

We may not live in Forks, but Russia is vast — everyone can find their own version of it somewhere here. So if you feel like fully embracing autumn’s attack on your emotional state, wait for a grey forecast and head somewhere that looks particularly good wrapped in fog:

Tver — the Volga, old bridges and embankments disappearing into the mist. Main-character suffering guaranteed.

St Petersburg and Vyborg — both have the vibe: one offers canals and façades, the other medieval streets and a slightly mysterious kind of autumn.

Kaliningrad and its region — the Baltic coast, dunes and pine forests when the sea fog rolls in.

Karelia — dark forests, lakes and rocks. Unfortunately, every member of our team sent there to take a proper seasonal photo has mysteriously disappeared. Presumably joined the local vamps.

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Things to bring home from your autumn trip to Russia

Finding yourself in Russia in autumn may say many things about you, but definitely two: first, you like travelling a lot. Second, you’ll need some proper souvenirs to take home. Don’t worry, we’ve got you!

In every issue of our Ultimate Travel Guide, we share ideas for bringing a little piece of Russia back with you. Our team is all for local, thoughtful and sustainable choices - and, honestly, we’re also getting a little tired of fridge magnets.

So here are our top 5 autumn picks:

1. Local honey
A go-to if you’re visiting regions known for it, like Altai, Bashkortostan or the Caucasus. And if you happen to be in Dagestan, look out for urbech - a rich paste traditionally made from ground nuts or seeds.

2. Pastila
Yes, autumn is still very much about apples. Kolomna is famous for this old-school fruit treat, but you’ll find plenty of versions around the country.

3. Berry preserves
We hope you played our Berry Bingo. Now find some of those berries in a jar - lingonberry, cranberry, sea buckthorn and more make perfect edible souvenirs.

4. Herbal tea
Ivan tea, mountain herbs, berry blends - there are hundreds of combinations, and plenty of them taste very much like Russia in autumn.

5. Pine nuts
A little taste of Siberia to take home. Simple, portable and so easy to finish before your flight.

Wait… all edible? Of course! It’s harvest season - we did it on purpose. Next time, we promise something a little less mouthwatering and a little more shelf-worthy. Until then, grab your Friday drink, remember to rest and have a lovely weekend. xoxo

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We asked AI to name seven words it associates with Russia’s golden autumn. Here’s the answer we received:

Indian summer (or bab’e leto)— the last warm days, crisp air, a pause before winter.

The dacha — a wooden house, apples, a cozy blanket, a veranda and the unhurried rhythm of life in the countryside.

Quiet melancholy — a mood straight out of Russian literature, suffused with golden light and a sense of summer slipping away.

Harvest — a feeling of nature’s abundance.

Contemplation — travelling not to tick off a list of sights, but to experience the light, silence, flavours and atmosphere of a place.

A journey by train — a cosy compartment, landscapes unfolding beyond the window, the promise of a long journey.

Tea time — a samovar, fine porcelain, baranki, pastries and conversations by the window.

Of all the options suggested, we would probably choose contemplation — a philosophical way to discover one of nature’s most beautiful seasons. Although the AI’s other answers certainly hit the mark, too.

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Secret location of the day: a hidden urban oasis, where DR’s executive editor is spending the last warm days of the season in search of inspiration.

Blooming hydrangeas, adults and children riding the carousel, jazz melodies drifting from street speakers, and not a trace of the usual hustle and bustle — this is Moscow at this very moment. Let’s keep it in our memories!

📍Statue of Yuriy Dolgorukiy, Tverskaya Square, Moscow

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