The mind,” Hedrick Smith wrote in The Russians, “is ill-equipped to comprehend the meaning of a nation that encompasses eleven time zones.” But Russia is very dear to us, and we do our best to comprehend, enjoy, and encompass it.

 

We and our sterling Russian associates (the country’s finest, we’re proud to note) arrange private trips that roam across all those time zones. We delight in showcasing the august wonders of Moscow and St. Petersburg (if you haven’t seen them, you must). We’ve arranged private helicopter charters in the Kamchatka Peninsula, a rare natural wonder. We’ve sent private travelers all along the fabled Trans-Siberian Railway and its many tributaries and marveled at the world’s deepest and oldest lake, astounding Baikal, the Pearl of Siberia. We’ve delved into the countryside of Tuva, home of the sublime throat singers, and taken Volga River cruises, visiting villages out of the pages of Turgenev. We’ve roamed the towns of the Golden Ring, a veritable garden of onion-dome churches, explored the arctic tundra of Wrangel Island and Yakutia, and been struck nearly breathless by the opulence of Tsarkoe Selo, palace home of the tsars.