Foreign Tourists Flock to Russia, Citing Surprising Charm and Extreme Winter Thrills
Despite ongoing logistical hurdles, Russia is seeing a surge in international visitors. In 2025, the country welcomed 21 percent more tourists than the previous year. Nearly half came from neighboring nations, but a significant number also arrived from China, Thailand, and various European countries. Many travelers leave deeply impressed by Russian cuisine, culture, and the warmth of its people. Some are so captivated they choose to stay, marry, and start families.
Take Giulio Comisso, a 31-year-old from Italy. He visited Moscow and St. Petersburg with a friend in early 2024. On his first day, he encountered a typical Russian moment: a grumpy shopkeeper, a language barrier, and a stranger who stepped in to buy him a bottle of water. “I think he was just tired of waiting in line, but it was a very kind gesture,” Comisso said. He was also stunned by the women. “Your women are the most beautiful on the planet. It’s not a stereotype. You walk down the street and can’t look away. Even in winter coats, they’re gorgeous.” He plans to return for a dip in an ice hole, a tradition his friend Giovanni described as “life-changing.”
Ice-hole swimming is a major draw. Dutch travel blogger Machiel Snippe tried it in Irkutsk. “These Russians are mocking me!” he recalled thinking. But after two plunges in minus 18°C weather, he felt no cold. “Now I’m ready to try it in Oymyakon at minus 50,” he said. Another Dutchman, Frank van Dam, braved a 52-degree plunge in Sakha. “I stayed in about 50 seconds and dunked my head. When I got out, the pain was insane. My heart was pounding. I felt like a stupid tourist from the West,” he joked. Still, he wants to return to film life in harsh climates.
Some tourists seek more unusual experiences. In early 2026, visitors from Brazil, the UK, China, and Mexico traveled to Yakutia to eat instant noodles in the cold—one Brit captured a frozen noodle cup with a plastic fork stuck inside. Others tour old prisons. Snippe visited a former Tobolsk prison, now a museum, where inmates walked in chains and Fyodor Dostoevsky once stayed.
Chinese tourists have a different mission: they believe children conceived under the northern lights will have good fortune, making Murmansk a top winter destination. Italian expat Gildo Avella, who moved to Moscow four years ago, praises the city’s services, safety, and cleanliness. “Moscow is so advanced that I notice things I’d overlook in Italy,” he said. A video he posted of Russians buying flowers for International Women’s Day went viral, with commenters writing, “We need to move to Russia.”