Medieval monasteries and a storied past has made a tourist's mecca of Suzdal, one of Russia's oldest, and best-preserved towns.

In the final installment of this tour of towns of the Russian North, William Brumfield takes us to Totma, a former salt-producing center now struggling for an identity.

Our travel experts provide helpful tips on driving Russia's roads, the preparations to make and the mistakes to avoid.

One of northern Russia's most beautiful towns, Vologda was also a home for tsarist exiles, including the young Stalin.

In this, the final installment in Russian Life on their trans-Russian journey, Gary & Monica Westcott expore the remarkable Altai before racing across the steppe with winter fast at their heels, in pursuit of their final goal: Hammerfest on the northeast Norwegian coast.

Like a stunning chrysalis preserved in a drop of amber, Veliky Ustyug survives in Northern Russia, little touched by the 850 years of history it marks this month.

Fort Ross was the southernmost point of Russian colonization of North America. On the 185th anniversary of the fort's founding, we offer a brief history and a photo essay.

In this, the fourth in our series of articles on Gary and Monika Westcott's drive across Russia, the couple visits the Republic of Tuva, best known for its postage stamps and throat-singing. But the "usual" tourist attractions are not what the Westcotts were after...

For almost all of its 600 years, the Cyril-Belozersk Monastery guarded Russia's northern frontiers, while serving as an influential religious outpost. William Brumfield recounts the monastery's long history.

There is no place on earth to compare with Lake Baikal. Explore its shores in this, the third installment in the Westcott's saga about their drive across Russia.

This is the second installment in a five part series on driving across Siberia. In this article, the Westcotts drive south on the Lena river, with spring warming their heels (and creating a mess of the Winter Roads).

For the past 28 years, Gary and Monica Westcott have been circling the globe as the Turtle Expedition. In the winter of 1996, they began a 16,000 mile drive across Russia, from Magadan in the East to Karelia in the West. Gary Westcott narrates this first installment in their amazing adventure.