Vladivostok in 3 days

Russky Bridge (the Russky most — the cable-stayed bridge connecting the Vladivostok mainland to Russky Island across the Eastern Bosphorus Strait; the centrepiece of the APEC 2012 infrastructure programme): the bridge (the statistics of the Russky Bridge (2012): main span 1,104 m — the longest cable-stayed span in the world at the time of completion (now the 4th longest, overtaken by the Çanakkale Bridge (2022) in Turkey at 2,023 m, the Stonecutters Bridge (2009) in Hong Kong at 1,018 m and the Sutong Bridge (2008) in China at 1,088 m); total length 3,100 m; height of the main pylons 320.9 m (the tallest cable-stayed bridge pylons in the world — higher than the Eiffel Tower at 330 m, the pylon tips are occasionally obscured by cloud); 168 stay cables; cost $1.1 billion USD; construction (2008-2012); the bridge carries 4 lanes of traffic (no rail or pedestrian lanes); the APEC 2012 summit infrastructure (the Russian government built three major bridges in the Vladivostok area for the APEC 2012 summit to demonstrate Russia's Far East development ambitions: the Russky Bridge (mainland to Russky Island), the Golden Bridge (over the Golden Horn Bay) and the reconstruction of the Federal University campus on Russky Island as the APEC summit venue)); the view (the view of the Russky Bridge from the mainland shore of the Eastern Bosphorus Strait — the most dramatic bridge-and-sea panorama in Russia; the two 320 m pylons visible from most viewpoints in Vladivostok).

Primorsky Aquarium (the Primorsky Okeanarium — opened September 2016 on Russky Island; the largest aquarium in Russia (the second largest in Eurasia after the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium): the scale (the total volume of water in all tanks: 23,000 cubic metres; the 11,000 specimens of 500 species of marine life from the Pacific Ocean; the main tank (the "Wonders of the Sea" tank: 7,000 cubic metres, the largest aquarium tank in Russia: the transparency 32 m wide × 7 m tall; the largest species visible in the main tank include the beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas — the white whale of the Arctic Ocean (the Russian name is "beluga" = "white one"), the Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens — the most distinctive pinniped of the Bering Sea), the California sea lion and the giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini — the largest octopus species in the world; up to 9 m arm span, 50 kg; the Pacific Northwest (from California to Alaska) and the coast of Primorsky Krai are the primary range))); the dolphins and beluga show (the educational shows with the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and the beluga whale; the beluga whale show is the primary attraction for Russian domestic tourists visiting the Primorsky Aquarium); the sea otter exhibit (the sea otters (Enhydra lutris) from the Kamchatka coast — the species that the Russian and American fur traders hunted to near-extinction in the 18th-19th centuries; the current population in Kamchatka has recovered to approximately 25,000 animals).

Russky Island coastal walk (the forested island across the Russky Bridge from central Vladivostok — the largest island in Peter the Great Bay; 100 km² of forested hills, rocky Pacific coastline and empty bays): the coastline (the Pacific Ocean coastline of Russky Island — the rocky shore of the Japan Sea; the most scenically wild accessible coastline within 30 min of central Vladivostok; the capes (Cape Batory, Cape Gamova, the lighthouse points) overlooking the open Sea of Japan with the Korean and Chinese coasts beyond the horizon (Korea is 200 km southwest; Hokkaido is 350 km southeast)); the wildlife (the Russky Island wildlife: the spotted seal (Phoca largha — the Pacific spotted seal; the common pinniped of the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk; colonies on the rocky shores of the southern Russky Island coast, most visible October-February before the breeding season); the Steller sea eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus — the largest eagle in the world by wingspan (2.2-2.5 m) and the rarest; the Primorsky Krai coast and the Kamchatka Peninsula are the primary nesting areas; the Russky Island Steller sea eagles (the non-breeding visitors) are visible from the coastal cliff paths, particularly in winter when the eagles follow the fish schools along the ice edge)); the Russky Island military history (the island is covered in the remnants of Soviet-era military fortifications (the Cold War-period concrete gun batteries, the underground fuel storage tunnels, the radar installations) — the island was a Soviet military zone until 2012 when it was opened for the APEC summit and the Federal University campus construction).

Vladivostok evening food culture (the most Japan/Korea-influenced Russian city in the country): the Japanese right-hand drive cars (Vladivostok has the highest proportion of Japanese right-hand drive cars in Russia — the import of used Japanese cars through the Vladivostok port has been the primary source of personal vehicles in the Russian Far East since the 1990s; Japanese cars (primarily Toyota, Nissan and Subaru) manufactured for the Japanese domestic market (and therefore right-hand drive) dominate the Vladivostok streets; the Japanese car culture of Vladivostok (the car market (the "Zеlenyi Ugolok" — the "Green Corner" used car market, the largest used car market in Russia, primarily Japanese imports) is a unique institution of the Russian Far East)); the food scene (the Vladivostok restaurant scene is the most Japan/Korea-influenced in Russia: the ramen (the Japanese noodle soup, introduced by the large Japanese expat community in Vladivostok before 1917 and re-imported by the Japanese restaurant culture of the 21st century); the Korean barbecue (the Goryeo-in — the Korean diaspora of Vladivostok (the descendants of the 150,000 Koreans deported from the Vladivostok region to Central Asia by Stalin in 1937 (the "Koryo-saram deportation" — the forced deportation of the Soviet Korean community to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan); a new Korean community has re-established itself in post-Soviet Vladivostok); the sushi (Vladivostok has the freshest sushi in Russia — the Pacific fish (the flounder, the halibut, the sea bass) and the sea urchin from the adjacent Sea of Japan coast; the sushi bars of Vladivostok are the most authentic in Russia).

Svetlanskaya Street (the main street of Vladivostok (named for the corvette "Svetlana" which transported the first Governor-General of the Primorsky Territory to Vladivostok in 1862) — the central commercial avenue of the city, running east-west along the slope above the Golden Horn Bay): the pre-revolutionary architecture (the Svetlanskaya Street is lined with the finest surviving early 20th-century commercial architecture in the Russian Far East: the Art Nouveau merchant houses (built 1900-1917 during the boom years of the Trans-Siberian Railway and the rapid commercial development of Vladivostok); the buildings (the Kunst und Albers department store (1914 — the most important commercial building in Vladivostok: built by the German merchant house Kunst und Albers (Gustav Kunst and Gustave Albers, Hamburg) who were the most important traders in Vladivostok from the 1870s to 1917 (the firm dominated the retail trade of the Russian Far East for 47 years); the Neo-Baroque building (the pilastered stone facade, the decorative gables, the corner turret) is now a multi-tenant retail and office building but the facade is fully preserved); the Vladivostok History Museum (the local history museum in the former 19th-century Merchant Club building on Svetlanskaya — the history of Vladivostok from the Manchu period (the region was part of the Qing Empire before 1860 when Russia acquired it by the Convention of Peking) through the Russian Imperial period, the Russian Civil War (the Japanese occupation of Vladivostok 1918-1922), the Soviet period and the post-1992 opening.

Pacific Fleet Military History Museum (the Muzey Tikhookeanskogo Flota — the naval museum of the Pacific Fleet of the Russian Navy; located on the Korabelnaya Naberezhnaya (the warship embankment) below Svetlanskaya Street): the museum (the museum complex includes the main building and the outdoor ship display on the embankment): the S-56 submarine (the Shchuka-class diesel-electric submarine (S-56 — "Schuka 56", meaning "Pike 56") built 1939 and served as a Pacific Fleet submarine in World War II; the submarine conducted 8 war patrols in the northern Atlantic and Arctic Ocean after being transferred to the Northern Fleet via the Arctic passage in 1942; the submarine is credited with sinking 3 enemy vessels; the most decorated Soviet submarine of World War II): the interior tour (the cramped internal spaces of the submarine — the torpedo room (the 4 forward torpedo tubes, each loaded with a 533 mm steam-driven torpedo), the conning tower (the narrow steel ladder to the bridge deck), the engine room (the two diesel engines and the electric motors that propelled the submarine on the surface and submerged respectively), the crew quarters (the hammocks slung between the machinery)); the warship display (the outdoor collection on the Korabelnaya Naberezhnaya embankment: the destroyer Besposhchadny (the "Merciless" — the late Soviet-era destroyer), the submarine S-56 (the museum submarine), the minesweeper and the torpedo boat from the World War II period).

Amur Bay sunset walk (the western shore of the Vladivostok Muravyev-Amursky Peninsula facing Amur Bay — the most atmospheric sunset location in Vladivostok): Amur Bay (the large bay on the western side of the Vladivostok peninsula (the eastern side faces the Golden Horn Bay and the Sea of Japan; the western side faces Amur Bay — the 65 km wide bay at the entrance to the Amur River estuary); the Sportivnaya Harbour (the yacht marina on the Amur Bay shore of Vladivostok — the recreational harbour where the Vladivostok sailing community moors their yachts; the most pleasant waterfront promenade in the city: the yacht pier, the café and restaurant strip (the Sportivnaya Harbour waterfront (the most popular leisure waterfront in Vladivostok — the broadwalk with the sailing club, the restaurants, the ice cream stalls and the view of Amur Bay and the distant green hills of the Amur Bay shore))); the sunset (the Amur Bay sunset — the sun sets over the Amur Bay and the low hills of the Khasan district to the southwest, creating the most dramatic sunset sky in Vladivostok (the cloudbase over the Sea of Japan in summer (July-August) produces the most spectacular multi-coloured sunset effects); the Pacific Ocean horizon visible from the Amur Bay shore (no land between Vladivostok and the coast of Korea, 200 km to the southwest, on clear days the Korean hills visible on the horizon)).

Vladivostok departure (the Trans-Siberian Railway westbound or return flight to Moscow): the Trans-Siberian Railway (the Rossiya (Train 1 and 2) — the named express between Moscow Yaroslavsky Station and Vladivostok: the most famous long-distance train journey in the world; the total journey time (train 2, Vladivostok to Moscow): 6 days 2 hours 10 minutes; departure from Vladivostok Monday, Wednesday, Friday; the time zones crossed (the Trans-Siberian crosses 11 time zones (11 hours) between Moscow and Vladivostok — the eastern terminus station clock at Vladivostok railway station shows Moscow time (the Russian Railways operates all national schedules on Moscow time, regardless of local time); the route (the first 100 km west through the birch and pine forests of the Sikhote-Alin Mountains, then the flat taiga of the Amur River region, then the lakeside run along the southern shore of Lake Baikal (hours 75-85 from Vladivostok), then the Siberian plain to the Ural Mountains and the European Russia); the compartments (the coupe (4-berth sleeping compartment), the platzkart (the open-plan 54-berth carriage — the most social and cheapest Trans-Siberian option), the SV (2-berth luxury compartment)); the flight (the Vladivostok to Moscow flight: 8 hours non-stop; Vladivostok International Airport (VVO — 44 km north of the city centre; taxi ₽1,000-1,500); flights operated by Aeroflot, S7 (Siberian Airlines) and Yakutia Airlines).