Where to stay in Moscow

To understand how central the aperitivo is to Milan culture, you need only stand in the middle of the Piazza del Duomo, the city’s pulsing center, and face the cathedral. To your right you’ll see a huge version of the Martini vermouth logo glowing atop a modest skyscraper in nearby Piazza Armando Diaz. At its top is the rooftop bar Terrazza Martini. There, Martini’s various vermouths are poured into everything from Americanos to Manhattans.

The vibrant capital of Chile is among the most diverse cities in South America. Immersive yourself in Santiago‘s street art and galleries, visit museums, and innovative design stores. Discover Santiago’s enticing food and drink pallet with restaurants, cafes, and bars. No matter your plans for adventure, you’ll be right there in the heart of Santiago, Bellavista, Providencia, and other popular hotspots while staying at these Airbnb Santiago rentals.

With more than thirty other namesakes around the world – from New South Wales in Australia to South Africa's Eastern Cape – Scotland's Aberdeen remains the original and best, wearing its history well.

In a city where it’s possible to pay up to US$250 for a rib eye steak, it is no surprise that most feel daunted at the prospect of visiting the pricy Russian capital, Moscow . Yet there are plenty of quirky cafés, hidden restaurants and expat haunts that will not break your budget. Here is a selection of some of the city’s best.

St Petersburg is a sophisticated forward-looking city that feels and looks much more European than Moscow. Its pretty canals are lined with pastel-coloured buildings that house shops, cafés and a plethora of outstanding museums.

With its art-filled palaces and iconic canals, St Petersburg – or St Pete, as expats and English-speaking locals affectionately call it – is undoubtedly Russia’s most beautiful city. The former capital of the Tsarist empire is today’s cultural capital of Russia. St Petersburg is a treasure-trove of delights, home to magnificent canal-side mansions, spectacular art galleries and world-class museums. Its dining and nightlife scenes are among the country’s best, with scores of cafés, restaurants and bars to suit all tastes and budgets. And with a wide range of accommodation options too, Rough Guides uncovers the best places to stay in St Petersburg.

The fabled Trans-Siberian Express is arguably the world’s greatest journey. The legendary railway tackles the vastness of Russia in such a way that it becomes something to be appreciated, with the locomotive making its way across the landscape, unhurried and untroubled.

One of the world’s great railway journeys, the Ghan runs from Darwin in the far north of Australia to Adelaide in the south, a distance of 2979km – further than London to Moscow. Following the route of pioneering nineteenth-century “Afghan” cameleers, Shafik Meghji hopped on board to take in some of the country’s most dramatic landscapes.

Even after seven unbroken days on a train from Moscow, nothing can prepare you for the Chinese border. As you pull into the platform, which is lit up in neon colours, a Chinese-tinged version of the Vienna Waltz comes blaring over the Tannoy. Trying to work out the cultural relevance of this is a hopeless task, as the tune soon changes – moving through the works of Richard Clayderman before finishing as you draw away with a stirring rendition of Beethoven’s Fifth. As the music fades, the train rolls into a vast shed manned with soldiers and workers in hard hats. Each carriage is then separated and raised on hydraulics, the wheels removed and new narrower ones rolled into place to match the Chinese gauges – the whole process lasting almost two hours. All while the passengers are still on board.

With international travel rules changing day-by-day, it's no wonder that many of us are hoping to avoid disappointment by holidaying closer to home this year. As summer 2021 shapes up to be the season of the Great British Staycation, there's never been a better time to plan a UK break. Sign up for our newsletter to receive a free chapter of our Rough Guide Staycations Cotswolds — Cotswolds.

As the biggest city in the world, it’s unsurprising that Tokyo is crammed full of different places to stay. With each district boasting its own character, choosing where to stay in Tokyo can be a hard decision.

In the southeastern corner of Florida, Miami is a world of its own. Renowned for spectacular Art Deco architecture, raucous nightlife and delicious seafood, the city is incredibly diverse. A tropical paradise and an urban hub, it’s a place where you can spot alligators in the wild or knock-back artisanal cocktails.