Kiji Island, Russia

There is a distinctive atmosphere on this little island, measuring several square kilometres, in Lake Onega in northern Russia. All its secrets will be revealed to you - after a very long boat ride - at the Museum of Architecture and Ethnology, an open-air museum devoted to preserving the buildings on Kiji Island. These include the Cathedral of the Transfiguration - particularly impressive with its 22 aspen-shingled onion domes - and the Church of the Intercession of the Virgin (1764), as well as isbas, a windmill, barns and Russian baths.