Moscow is the capital city of Russia it is also the largest city as well as the largest metropolitan area in Europe and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is home to one of the largest numbers of billionaires in the world, not surprisingly it is also a major political and financial centre.

Some of Russia’s earliest roots are in Moscow, the Kremlin still shows off the grandeur of Muscovy’s grand princes and St Basil’s Cathedral shows the defeat of the Tatars and a bit closer to time now on Red Square, the founder of the Soviet state lies embalmed. A once oppressed state Moscow is now moving into the 21st century, embracing the global culture of the modern era and becoming a must visit destination. Which means it is now much easier to get  flights to Moscow departing from most major UK airports.

A good time to visit Moscow is in late spring when the city comes to life with flowers ready for their festive city days. There is plenty for all to enjoy, Russia is world renowned for its architecture with such glorious buildings as Saint Basil’s Cathedral, with its graceful domes, as well as the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and the Seven Sisters. There are also many parks and gardens in Moscow including 4 botanical gardens, meaning it is a very green city compared to others of the same size. You can also find many museums showing the history of Russia and its social struggles as well as galleries featuring many famous artists.

Moscow is also known for its vibrant night life one of the most popular nightlife areas is around Tverskaya Street full of with many expensive, luxurious bars and restaurants here you can party with the rich new Russians and celebrities. On one of the busiest shopping streets in Moscow you can find boutique stores such as Bulgari, Tiffany & Co., Armani, Prada and Bentley.

There are five primary commercial airports serving Moscow with many serving carriers which means its good to get cheap flights here and all the airports have good transport links.

St Basil's Cathedral

Picture courtesy of thisisbossi

If you fancy some more unusual activities while on holiday have a look at the five below:

Swimming with pigs – Most people when they go on an exotic holiday dream about swimming with dolphins, well if you have already done that and want to swim with a different mammal if you go to Big Major Spot Island in the Bahamas you can now swim with pigs. A family of brown and pink boars and piglets live freely on the beach and frequently swim in the crystal clear waters greeting people who arrive on boats. These pigs are used to human contact mainly because many locals bring them food.

Volcano Surfing – If you have surfed most of the exciting waves around the world of snowboarded on some the most exhilarating snow covered peaks and you need a new rush why not try Volcano surfing? You travel down Nicaragua’s Cerro Negro Mountain dressed in protective jump suits, knee-pads and helmets and on specially-constructed plywood boards. Although Cerro Negro is Central America’s youngest volcano which appeared in April 1850 and is still active the only real danger is he risk is getting some scratches if you fall off.

Rooftop walking tour – When you visit most European cities you generally find yourself on a walking tour of which ever city you are in, which after a while can get a bit boring however if you visit Stockholm you can now do an organised tour of the city with a bit of a difference, a rooftop tour. Setting off from the roof of Stockholm’s old parliamentary building you can see superb views of the city and the historic Gamla Stan area, before moving on to other historical buildings in the city, although travelling from building to building does mean going back down to ground level, but the views seen does give a different insight to the city.

Tectonic diving – For any diver you are always wanting find new underwater experiences and now you can do something that not many people unless in a submarine get to do, which is swimming right between the tectonic divide of two continents, Europe and the Americas. To experience this you need to visit a dive spot in Iceland called the Silfra Rift, which is part of the awe-inspiring Thingvellir national park. During the dive you can see the meeting point of the North American and Euro-Asian tectonic plates and explore the craggy rocks and dramatic chasms that score the divide as well as enjoying extraordinarily good visibility of up to 100 metres.

Train as an astronaut – Did your childhood dream of becoming an astronaut not really materialise? Well now you can make these dreams come true, well sort of, you won’t go up into space but you can experience all aspects of space travel from training including training in mission simulators and performing a space shuttle mission. All this takes place at the Kennedy Space Centre and you even firsthand information from a veteran NASA astronaut. And if you have got money to spend you can go one better and book a full on zero gravity flight.

Volcan Surfers on Cerro Negro

Picture courtsey of H Dragon

Switzerland was the home of ski holidays and there are many that will tell you that it is still the place to go if you want to enjoy skiing and traditional Swiss hospitality for your ski holiday, with some great ski deals which can often include a free ski pass.

Saas Fee has lots of gentle blue runs to progress to up the mountain, including on the glacier, where the snow is usually excellent, the best time to ski is usually March or April as the lower slopes can be in the shade in the earlier part of the year, Geneva is 140 miles away.

Verbier is a great chalet style resort for the more advanced skier, with extensive but challenging slopes and plenty of off piste and long bump runs. This is one of the few Swiss resorts to boast a seriously lively après-ski scene, starting on the mountain, which includes a pay-as-you-soak hot tub at Chalet Carlsberg and ending next morning at places such as Pub Mont Fort and the Farm Club, 100 miles from Geneva airport.

Laax is a snowboarder’s paradise with a huge terrain park and pipe here, which are among Europe’s best and often stage high-profile competitions. Snow boarders enjoy great free riding too, with lively bars and a clubs for that important après ski, 93 miles from Zurich airport.

Zermatt started life as a simple farming village, but developed from a mountaineering centre to the top class ski resort that we know today. A car free village, unless you are resident, with electric buggies operating from the hotels to collect you from the transfer transport. There are excellent terrains beneath the shadow of the Matterhorn better suited to good skiers and accessed from Sion 50 miles, or 150 miles from Geneva airport.

St Moritz home to the famous Cresta Run toboggan course and is full of upmarket shops, gourmet chefs, and other after ski activity. There are lots of long, wide, well-groomed runs with varied terrain with 350 Km of pistes in three separate areas, most are on open slopes above the trees, 137 miles from Zurich airport.

Long gone are the days on cruises where the only activities were deck quoits and shuffleboard, now you are more likely to enjoy rock climbing, surfing or even a spot of golf. Many cruise lines now offer a wide range of activities for guest on board to keep them fit and active during their stay like Royal Caribbean’s bigger vessels offer ‘Flowrider’ surf machines and they have real ice rinks.

The smaller ships often have platforms from which you can swim, windsurf, waterski or kayak in port, as well as rock climbing walls which the Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas boasts to have the largest along with the longest running track on deck at around half a mile long.

For tennis and golf fans many ships offer shortened tennis on their all-weather sports courts and many ships have putting greens, simulators and driving cages. Some Costa and Celebrity vessels have real grass. For a touch of British class Some Celebrity ships have half an acre of real grass for croquet or boules and P&O ships offer cricket bats, balls, pads and wickets to use in a netted area. They also hold five-a-side football tournaments, as do Royal Caribbean.

You may think that was probably as much sporting activities they cut fit onto cruise ships however as well many cruise ships offering state of the art gym facilities some Royal Caribbean ships have a full-size boxing ring where you can use the coach’s training pads, sparring with a punch bag or mirror boxing.

flowrider

Picture courtesy on unfoldedorigami

The Swiss village of Les Cerniers has set the bar for sustainable style and ethical adventure holidays in the Alps, here you can stay in futuristic pods in the resort of Whitepod which is made up of low-impact structures. This resort offers comfort and relaxation but with minimal impact on the environment. You can stay in either one of the 15 domes or go higher up to the dorms-based refuge, and enjoy a base camp” chalet with a restaurant and amenities including 7km of ski runs and lifts for guests’ exclusive use. There are also other activates available like dog-sledding, snow-shoeing and cross-country skiing that can minimise your carbon foot print.

Aspen, Colorado won one of the 2006 Responsible Tourism Awards thanks to the efforts of the Aspen Skiing Company, it is pioneering in environmentally friendly skiing as well as, investing in local farmland. Aspen is normally considered a play ground for the rich and famous which pushes everything to the extreme and most people probably don’t recognise the resorts green credentials and sustainability. It’s also pocket friendly as well with many chalets at reasonable prices meaning you don’t have to break bank to enjoy this eco friendly resort.

Europe, especially Switzerland seem to be steaming ahead with eco friendly resorts with Saas Fee in Switzerland been ranked as one of the best in the world. Saas Fee is a typical picture perfect village with hotels and shops that blend in ideally with the more traditional wooden chalets and farmhouses. There are many places in Switzerland that are now car free and this has also been introduced into ski resorts like Saas Fee, there accommodation here is also eco friendly like their bio chalets that were renovated according to environmental standards and using sustainable materials and the apartments and hotels which were built to high environmental standards.

Saas Fee

Picture courtesy of unovar