A Russian cruise

Waterways crisscross St. Petersburg, a Western European-feeling city that’s also home to the Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood. (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)

Chicago Tribune

Nov. 30, 2016 1:56 PM PT

A river cruise like Viking¿s Waterways of the Tsars”is an ideal way for first-time visitors to get a sense of sprawling, surprising Russia.

The Hermitage in St. Petersburg is one of the finest art museums in the world, with more than 3 million items in its collections. (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)

Passengers return to the Viking Ingvar longship during a 13-day cruise in Russia. (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)

Among the buildings on the island of Kizhi in Lake Onega are the Church of the Transfiguration, which has 22 onion domes, and the Church of the Intercession, with nine domes. (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)

Crowds are a fact of life at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)

The GUM department store on Red Square was built in the late 19th century and housed 1,200 stores before the 1917 revolution. Closed in 1928 by Joseph Stalin, it reopened in 1953. (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)

The gold-domed Cathedral of Christ the Saviour sits on the north bank of the Moscow River. (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)

The Annunciation Cathedral is one of several buildings inside the Kremlin. (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)

The Church of our Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg. (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)

St. Petersburg is often called the Venice of the North, as it was built on the Neva River delta and is laced with canals and rivers. (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)

St. Basil’s Cathedral on Moscow’s Red Square was built in the 16th century at the behest of Ivan the Terrible. (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)

Moscow’s modern downtown may come as a surprise to visitors expecting to find a grim, gray capital. (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)

St. Basil’s Cathedral on Moscow’s Red Square was built in the 16th century at the behest of Ivan the Terrible. (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)

In Mandrogy, traditional Russian-style bath houses give visitors a chance to try a steam bath followed by a plunge into the icy cold Svir River. (Terri Colby / Chicago Tribune)