Visit Veliky Novgorod

The Kul Sharif mosque inside a Kremlin, the capital of Tatarstan where minarets and domes share a skyline.

Onion domes over meadows: five monasteries and thirty churches in a town with no buildings taller than two storeys.

Explore Carcassonne, a fortified medieval city in southern France. Walk the double ring of ramparts of the Cité de Carcassonne (a UNESCO World Heritage site with 52 towers), admire the Basilica of Saints Nazarius and Celsus (known for its 12th-century stained glass and Gothic choir), and cross the Pont Vieux (a 14th-century stone bridge offering panoramic views of the city).

Crooked wooden wharf houses of the old Hanseatic trading quarter.

Fairytale medieval walled city, UNESCO-listed.

Hanseatic gables, the House of the Blackheads and St Peter’s spire, ringed by Europe’s finest Art Nouveau streets.

Visit Saint Petersburg, Russia's imperial capital. See the Hermitage Museum (one of the world's largest art museums, housed in the Winter Palace with over 3 million items), walk along Nevsky Prospect (the city's main avenue with historic buildings and shops), explore the Peter and Paul Fortress (the original citadel and burial site of Russian tsars), and admire the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood (a 19th-century church with intricate mosaics and onion domes).

Visit Novosibirsk, Russia's third-largest city and the unofficial capital of Siberia. Explore the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre (one of the largest opera houses in Russia, known for its grand architecture and performances), walk across the Ob River on the Kommunalny Bridge for panoramic views, and see the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (a historic Orthodox church built in the late 19th century). Don't miss the Novosibirsk Zoo, home to over 11,000 animals including rare species like the snow leopard.