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Off the beaten path: Russia's lesser-known tourist destinations

World Tourism Day is held annually on September 27

Photo {{sliderIndex+1}} from 10

Erzi, a complex of medieval Ingush towers, in the Caucasus Mountains, Dzheirakh District, Ingushetia

© Mikhail Japaridze/TASS

An aerial view of the St Nicholas Monastery bell tower at the Uglich Reservoir on the Volga River. In 1939, the central part of the ancient town of Kalyazin was flooded to form the reservoir during the construction of the Uglich Dam

© Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS

An ancient burial site in the Chegem Gorge, the Caucasus Mountains, republic of Kabardino-Balkaia

© Denis Abramov/TASS

Lake Onega, the second-largest lake of Europe, located on the territory of republic of Karelia and Leningrad region

© Igor Podgorny/TASS

Lago-Naki, a famous plateau located at an altitude of about 2,000 meters in the Western Caucasus between two rivers, Belaya and Pshehi

© Vitaliy Timkiv/TASS

Town of Plyos, one of the smallest Golden Ring destinations, located on the right bank of the Volga River. Photo: A view of the Resurrection Church’s domes in the town of Plyos, Ivanovo region

© Vladimir Smirnov/TASS

A view of the Rekom sanctuary in the Tsey gorge, the Greater Caucasus

© Kirill Kukhmar/TASS

Teletskoye Lake, the largest lake in the Altai Mountains

© Yevgeny Kurskov/TASS

Ushkaloi watchtowers located in the narrowest space of Argun's canyon in the Chechen republic

© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

Curonian Spit in Kaliningrad region. Photo: A view from the Epha Height on the Curonian Spit

© Vladimir Smirnov/TASS

Read also

Top 10 tourist destinations in Russia

September 27 marks World Tourism Day, an annual event organised by the United Nations World Tourism Organization. Russia's top tourist destinations are well known. But beyond Moscow and St Petersburg, Russia has many more interesting things to explore. See the selection of lesser-known but awesome places to visit in the world's largest country.

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