Russia's luxury spa vacations and day spa resorts

The luxury spa vacations scene in Russia has seen rapid growth (both inner tourism and international tourism as well). The rich cultural heritage of Russia and great natural locations place it among the most popular tourist destinations in the world and natural healing waters from hot springs and mineral springs are the perfect base to build a day spa resort for tourists to experience spa vacations.

Getting beyond the luxury spa vacations and day spa resorts that are available, main tourist routes in Russia include the Golden Ring of ancient cities, cruises on the big rivers like Volga, and long journeys on the famous Trans-Siberian Railway.

A Snapshot of Russian Tourism

Russia’s most popular tourist destinations are in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Moscow and Saint Petersburg feature world-renown museums like Tretyakov Gallery and Hermitage, as well as famous theaters like Bolshoi and Mariinsky. The cities also feature ornate churches like Saint Basil's Cathedral, Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Saint Isaac's Cathedral and Church of the Savior on Blood, impressive fortifications like Moscow Kremlin and Peter and Paul Fortress, and beautiful squares like Red Square and Palace Square.

Palaces and parks of extreme beauty are found in the former imperial residences in Moscow (Kolomenskoye, Tsaritsyno) and Saint Petersburg (Peterhof, Strelna, Oranienbaum, Gatchina, Pavlovsk, Tsarskoye Selo).

Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, shows a unique mix of Christian Russian and Muslim Tatar cultures. While Veliky Novgorod, Pskov and the cities of Golden Ring (Vladimir, Yaroslavl, Kostroma and others) have at best preserved the architecture and the spirit of ancient and medieval Rus', and also are among the main tourist destinations.

The Majestic Black Sea

The warm subtropical Black Sea coast of Russia is the site for a number of popular sea resorts, like Sochi, known for its beaches and wonderful nature. The mountains of the Northern Caucasus contain popular ski resorts, including Dombay.

The most famous natural tourist destination in Russia is lake Baikal, named the Blue Eye of Siberia. This unique lake, oldest and deepest in the world, has crystal-clean waters and is surrounded by taiga-covered mountains. Other popular natural destinations include Kamchatka with its volcanoes and geysers, Karelia with its many lakes and granite rocks, Altai with its snowy mountains and Tyva with its wild steppes.

A Look at Russian Luxury Spa Vacations and Spa Towns

Dagomys is a microraion of Sochi, Russia, known for its resorts, vacation spots and tea plantations. It was developed as a resort since before the Russian Revolution, when a botanical garden was founded by order of Nicholas II. A modern hotel complex was opened there in 1982.

Kislovodsk was founded in 1803 as a military station. It is named after the many mineral springs around the city where the healing power of water can be sampled.

Pyatigorsk means "five mountains" in Russian and is so called because of the five peaks of the Beshtau of the Caucasian mountain range overlooking the city. It was founded in 1780, and has been a health spa with mineral springs since 1803. Many tourists use the healing spring water every year.

Zheleznovodsk translates as Iron Waters as the mineral waters there were believed to have high content of iron. Zheleznovodsk, along with Pyatigorsk, Yessentuki, Kislovodsk, and Mineralnye Vody, is a part of the Caucasus Mineral Waters, a renowned Russian spa resort for luxury spa vacations.

Sochi is a resort city and great site for luxury spa vacations, just north of the northern Republic of Georgia border and the southern Russian border fronting the Black Sea. It sprawls along the shores of the Black Sea and against the background of the snow-capped peaks of the Caucasus Mountains.

Staraya Russa is a balneologic resort, celebrated for the natural healing waters coming from its mineral springs used for baths, drinking, and inhalations; medicinal silt mud of the Lake Verkhneye and Lake Sredneye and mud from artificial reservoirs.

Yessentuki has many mineral springs, with about twenty being of medical value. Sodium carbonic hydrocarbonate-chloride (i.e. salt-alkaline) water of springs #4 and #17, which have made the health resort popular, are the most famous and therapeutically valuable. The hot springs (35.5°–46°C) similar to the waters of springs #4 and #17 in their structure have been led to the surface in the vicinities of the village of Novoblagodarnoye.

Alongside with mineral waters, the medical establishments of Yessentuki use sulphide silt muds from Tambukan Lake, which is located 8 kilometers southeast of Pyatigorsk. Climatotherapy, electrochromophototherapy are widely used and the health resort specialises in treatment of patients with diseases of digestive organs as well as those with a metabolic disorder.

Other towns and cities with hot springs or mineral springs that are ideal locations for luxury spa vacations and day spa resorts include Zelenogradsk, Marcial, Vladikavkaz and Inozemtsevo.