Ekaterinburg is St Petersburg’s contemporary, but the two cities come from completely different traditions – Ekaterinburg supplied the capital with troops and weaponry to fight its wars, and later with the manufactured luxury goods that went along with the wealth of Empire.

Most notoriously, however, the Tsarist Royal Family became unwilling guests here in 1918 after their blundered “escape to Paris” bid failed so dismally. Under the control of hard-line Communists from the shop floors of Ekaterinburg factories, the Romanovs were first placed under house-arrest – and then murdered at point-blank range in the basement of their residence, a crime which sent shock-waves hurtling around Europe.

The building no longer stands, but a chapel on the site marks the spot. However, this charming region in the Urals Mts can offer much more than these memories and the museums of Jewellery and Militaria. Here is where Europe ends and Asia officially begins – an excursion to the border-marker can also be stretched to include some recreation-time at Lake Peschanoe.

If 36 hours on a train from Moscow leaves you wanting to stretch your legs, you can go hiking into the Urals (with a local guide who’ll help you pick mushrooms and berries – in season! – if you want to do the full “Russian” thing!). There are a number of hiking options that range from a leisurely stroll to an 18km hike. In winter there are fantastic options to ski, ice-fish or travel by dog sled.

For those with more cultural interests there is a choiceof old villages (preserved as living museums) to see, and for those who have a deep interest in the Romanov murders, there is an alternative option to visit a Monastery on the spot where the bodies were secretly buried deep in the forests. All in all Ekaterinburg has something for everyone, and with our pick’n’mix options on page12, you can choose the activity you’d most like to do. Ekaterinburg is best visited by rail – usually as part of a Trans-Siberian trip.