Moscow

The Russian capital, like Russia itself, is astounding in its vast scale. Moscow is Europe’s largest city, has the world’s deepest-lying metro system and is home to the world’s largest Orthodox church and largest University building. The golden onion-domes of the ancient cathedrals are reflected in the mirror-glass windows of the city skyscrapers, in a dimension where past and present clash and coexist at once. An excursion around the Boulevard Ring Road is like taking a trip through time – Soviet-era Constructivist buildings stand cheek by jowl with Empire-era and Classical buildings, while restaurants and bars are teeming with diners round-the-clock. But there’s still tranquility to be found in Moscow, provided you seek it out in the courtyards of its historic mansions, or the parks at the periphery of the city. In any case, people don’t usually head down to the Russian capital looking for peace and quiet – but rather in search of its thumping heartbeat.